Denver Broncos: Super Collapse on the Grand Stage?

  Coming off of an abysmal performance from Super Bowl XLVIII(48), The Denver Broncos are being called everything under the sun. More importantly, the person getting majority of the blame is Peyton Manning. There has been talks of Manning's career/legacy being tarnished due to the beating that the Broncos took from the Seattle Seahawks with a score of 43-8.

 There had been talks the entire two weeks leading up to the big game, mostly focused on two people. One of the people being Manning, the other being Seahawks cornerback, Richard Sherman. We knew going in to the game that it couldn't end in a tie so, realistically, one of the teams had to lose.

We knew this, right?

I believe that one thing that has people being so hard on Manning, is Manning himself. It's not something that was done purposely, he is an NFL icon, and is coming off of his fifth MVP season (most in NFL history). He has an excellent regular season record through his career, but a beyond mediocre post-season record that he's heavily criticized of. With this being his third Super Bowl appearance and coming up short in the previous one to the New Orleans Saints, Manning was expected to cap off this MVP season with not only another Super Bowl victory but MVP of the game as well. Instead, he and the Broncos get pummeled. The game started off with a Broncos safety, literally the first 12 seconds in to the game, and after that it was no looking back, the Broncos never had the lead and to make matters worse, Manning had only one touchdown compared to his two interceptions, one of the interceptions was taken run back for a touchdown by linebacker, Malcolm Smith (Super Bowl MVP). Manning finished the game 34/49 280 yards passing.

  Like every one else, I think Manning played terrible, well, it was an overall terrible performance by the entire team, minus wide receiver, Demaryius Thomas who had over 100 yards receiving and the Broncos only touchdown. However, I don't think this loss hurts Manning's legacy/career. He has taken two different organizations to the Super Bowl, has five MVP titles, and will more than likely hold the all-time touchdowns and passing yards by the time he hangs up his cleats. But, I know there are the people that are saying statements such as: "He's 11-12 in the playoffs" or my favorite "He went to the Super Bowl three times and only won one of the times, the reason you go is to win". People seem to act as if Peyton Manning was the only player that was preparing for this game and watching film. People are so focused on the "player" and not the team aspect of the sport that they forget that the Broncos also have 11 other guys on the defensive side of the ball that have to do their jobs in order to help the team be successful. People have to just fully accept this outcome for what it is, the Seahawks were the better team, they were more prepared and they showed that throughout the entire game.

  The Broncos were destroyed on the biggest stage of them all, that's why the media is so critical of Manning, right? But, what if it's a close game and Manning throws an interception on the game winning drive or he comes up just short of the victory? Does the criticism go away?..... More than likely not. You'll just hear more of the "he's not clutch in the playoffs" talk.

   Let's be honest, if the Seahawks played either the Patriots or the Chargers it would have been the same outcome. The Seahawks were better than the Broncos, and the Broncos were better than the Patriots and Chargers, it's simple math A>B and B>C so A>B>C. Manning and the Broncos have a lot to celebrate still, it was a great season for the organization, they know what they need to focus on this off-season and they were in a game that 30 other teams wanted to be in. I'm not saying Manning is better than Brady or Montana or even Favre, but I am saying his legacy is in no way tarnished by this loss, and will still go to the Hall of Fame and will finish a top three quarterback when it's all said and done.