Monkey = Off Back

What a game!! I was watching at my buddy's house and we Tivo'd the game so we could watch it without commercials. We had about a 45 minute delay going into the game, and we started to catch up to real-time near halftime. At that point, the Pat's were up 21-6. Anyhow, at half-time we went outside to throw the football around, came back in and the Tivo malfunctioned!! We spent the next 5 minutes trying to fix it, realized it was beyond repair, and then just decided to give up & watch it in real time. We turn on 'real-time TV' and it's 21-21. I was floored. Couldn't believe it. Now THIS was the game I was hoping for....

A note to Pats fans: Going down the stretch I thought there were some bad calls in favor of the Colts (non-call on a blatant PI and a terrible roughing the passer call). But that doesn't really matter, and in the grand scheme of things, no one (except maybe you Pats fans) will remember that stuff.

Peyton Manning won. He won in dramatic, come from behind fashion and he beat the team that has repeatedly put him out of the playoffs in the past. Kinda reminded me of a Steve Young moment. I thought he played a very composed game, ran the no-huddle really well and made some big throws when his team really needed him. It was great to watch. This game alone puts Peyton into my top 10 QB list. His stats & regular season record are super impressive, but they weren't enough for me. I tend to weigh 'big game performances' much higher than other people. It means a lot that he was able to win in such a tough, gutsy way. What a performance!!!

I know Peyton still has to win the Super Bowl on Feb. 4th. However, it almost seems as if this game was the one that mattered the most. Maybe it's because Peyton has lost the AFC Championship game before. I hope he wins. Go Colts!

Below is an excerpt from a previous entry about Peyton's crummy playoff past, written after last year's loss to Pittsburgh...

"To be honest, I still think he'll win the Super Bowl, eventually. He's good enough that I feel like EVENTUALLY, the cards will fall in his favor. But at this point, Manning has made a name for himself as a choker. To reverse his reputation, Manning would have to win the Super Bowl in a come-from-behind, only man for the job, ice water in his veins way. Anything less than a spectacular and heroic performance will leave doubt in the minds of everyone who has ever watched him play. Including me. Until that happens, Peyton Manning is NOT one of the best 15 or so QBs of all-time. All those haters who think Manning is a better QB than Brady are idiots. Those that say he is an all-time great are simply wrong and care more about stats and games against the Texans than they should."

I think that was a very honest and accurate assessment at the time. I stand by it. And I'm glad to see that Peyton's had the type of performance that makes me believe he's the kind of winner that can be mentioned with some of the greats. He's no Tom Brady, but we can get into that at a later date.... :)


The Camp Guy