Terry Bradshaw Lambasts Peyton Manning

Ugh. Terry Bradshaw. Anyone remember his role as Matthew McConaughey’s Dad in “Failure to Launch”? Homeboy had a naked room. A room designated to be occupied, by Bradshaw, only when he could cut loose and get naked.

I understand that it was fictitious, but in my mind’s eye, when I think of Terry Bradshaw, I don’t think of a Hall of Fame QB with 4 Super Bowl rings. I think of the weird Dad from that failure of a RomCom, hanging around buck-naked reading a magazine. Don’t know what that says about me, but whatevs.

You see, Bradshaw fancies himself a bit of a performer. He currently stars in a one-man show most adroitly called “America’s Favorite Dumb Blonde”.Per PFT Commenter of  SBNation, Bradshaw said this about Peyton Manning, a 5-time NFL MVP:

"“Peyton Manning, considered the best quarterback to play the game today. Nobody would argue with that — if you like winning good during the season and losing Super Bowls, that’s your guy.”"

Tsk tsk, Terry. When you were playing ball, you had the Steel Curtain. You had Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. You benefited from the Miraculous Reception. Did you win 4 Super Bowl rings? Yup. Did you carry those teams to those 4 titles? Nope.

Bradshaw has a history of lambasting Denver Broncos quarterbacks. He used to often criticize John Elway and said that the team “babied” him.

As one of the talking heads for Fox NFL Sunday, Bradshaw often plays the clown. It seems he’s so fond of that costume that he’s decided to tour the country in a one-man clown show. If you’d like to read a review of Bradshaw’s stage show, again so perfectly titled, you can read one here. And you should follow PFT Commenter on Twitter. He’s hilarious.

At the end of the day, Peyton Manning is what he is. He’s a guy who raises all ships. He can take a team with deficiencies in talent and make them a 13-3 Super Bowl contender. He’s a guy who leads by example, a NFL quarterback who kids can look up to. He’s a guy who set a new NFL record with 55 TDs and 5,477 yards passing. He also happens to have a Super Bowl ring. He’s been to the top of the mountain.

There’s no getting around his playoff record. He’s played in the post-season 23 times. He’s won 11 games and lost 12. He’s been one and done in the post-season 8 times. He’s 1-2 in the Super Bowl.

As such a prolific player in the regular season, why is his playoff record sub .500? The answer is simple. Manning’s level of play covers a lot of holes. A lot. And in the regular season, a team can get away with that. But in the playoffs, EVERYONE is good. The opposing defenses are the best, as are the offenses.

And oftentimes, it’s been too much for him to overcome individually. To win the Super Bowl, it takes a 100% team effort. It can’t be one guy. And that has been Manning’s downfall.

Look at last season. Think of all of the injuries and obstacles the Broncos had to overcome just to make it to the Super Bowl. By and large, it was the play of Peyton Manning that facilitated the opportunity to play in the big game. But when the chips were down, the Denver Broncos, as a team, weren’t up to snuff with the Seattle Seahawks.

Thankfully, the Broncos are healthy again. John Elway knows that as important as it is to have a guy like Peyton Manning, you gotta put the pieces around him, and not just on offense. With the moves Elway has made in free agency and the draft, it’s clear that Elway is harkening back to the days of yore. Elway knows what it’s like to carry a team to the Super Bowl and fall short as a one-man army.

In 1997 and 1998, Elway finally had all of the pieces around him, both on offense and on defense. And it resulted in back-to-back Super Bowl titles and he rode off into the sunset. Don’t be surprised if Manning’s legend follows a similar path.