This comes from an angry troll reader named Steve Hatch. He takes exception with the way Peyton Manning went about padding his stats this year and he comes to the pigskin poker table with an ace up his sleeve called the Cold, Hard Football Facts. We were impressed enough to post his rant here on the main story page, rather than in the Mail Pouch.
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I know how you guys think Manning is overrated. I agree and here is my reasoning - with Cold, Hard Football Facts behind it.
Peyton Manning is inarguably one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL. Is he the best QB in the game? Maybe. But I don't think so. Manning is great but he is a guy who has put up huge numbers because of the system in which he plays. Many would argue that the Colts' system works so well because of the way Manning runs it. Maybe that is true.
But the fact remains that Manning's record-breaking season was made possible because he was put or, rather, he intentionally put himself into position to break the records. Think I am overstating the facts? Think I'm a Manning hater? I'm not. Just look at the Cold, Hard Football Facts and decide for yourself.
Fact: The Colts scoring offense is unbalanced
Three teams this year have scored 50-plus offensive touchdowns: Indianapolis (59), Kansas City (56) and San Diego (50).
• Kansas City has 26 passing TDs and 30 rushing TDs
• San Diego has 27 passing TDs and 23 rushing TDs
• Indianapolis has 49 passing TDs and just 10 rushing TDs
That ratio is ridiculous, especially for a team that has the AFC's leading rusher, Edgerrin James, in the backfield. James has 333 carries for 1,550 yards this year and only has 9 rushing TDs. That is TD for every 37.0 carries.
The accumulated totals for EVERY OTHER running back in the NFL this year are 11,609 carries and 345 touchdowns. That is a ratio of one TD every 33.6 carries. Think Edge is better than the league average? I do.
During one six-game stretch this year - Weeks 7-12 - Manning had 27 touchdown passes. Over that same stretch, the Colts rushed for just one touchdown. From Week 7 to Week 12, James carried the ball 120 times for 639 yards and had just one rushing TD to show for it. What a joke.
Fact: One-third of Manning's touchdown passes have been for 5 or less yards
Manning has thrown 49 TDs this year. Sixteen of them – 32.6 percent – were for 5 or less yards. While a lot of passing touchdowns are short tosses, 16 of them seems excessive. Comparing Indianapolis with Kansas City and San Diego, here are the touchdowns that the teams have scored from 5 yards or less this year.
• Indianapolis – 16 passing TDs, 7 rushing TDs
• Kansas City – 4 passing TDs, 19 rushing TDs
• San Diego – 5 passing TDs, 14 rushing TDs
If Manning (and the Colts) ran their offense in a manner remotely similar to some of the league's other elite offensive teams, Manning would have about 10 fewer passing TDs.
To put it another way: Trent Green of Kansas City and Drew Brees of San Diego would be closing in on the TD pass record themselves if they led such an intentionally unbalanced offense.
Fact: Manning runs up the score
For the first part of the year Manning was doing fine. Over their first eight games the Colts won by an average of 11.8 points. Then Manning somehow got confused and thought he was in college again where margin of victory actually matters.
In Week 10 against Houston, with a 35-0 lead, he was still is throwing. He threw two late interceptions that gave Houston the field position they needed to score their only points. In fact, in the final quarter, with Indy sporting a 42-7 lead, Manning came out and attempted four straight passes before being intercepted. Final score: 49-14. Said Manning after the game: "We're the kind of offense that's score, score, score, attack, attack, attack."
The following week, playing a beat up Chicago team that had very little chance to score 20-plus points, Manning was still throwing midway through the third quarter with a more-than-comfortable 24-point lead.
The next week, versus Detroit, Manning reached a new low. Late in the third quarter, leading the Lions 34-9, Manning was still throwing the ball. With just over 2 minutes to go in the third, Manning hit Marvin Harrison from 5 yards for his sixth TD of the game.
Manning didn't play in the fourth quarter, apparently feeling the 32-point, 41-9 lead would be sufficient.
Those are the facts and you can take them for what they are. Is Manning a great QB? Yes. Is he the greatest QB ever? Hardly. He is a great player, but he is a product of the system. Look at it this way: if you switched Manning with Kansas City's Trent Green we would all be raving about how Green is the greatest QB ever.
