Manning Does NOT Win the Big One

I just wanted to weigh in really quick on the whole Super Bowl thing. First of all, I am supremely disappointed that the Saints did not make it. I have never been a Saints fan, but I loved to see something from New Orleans doing well. Second, the Bears are the worst good team I've ever seen. I watched most of the game, and the reason that the Bears were winning at first was because New Orleans kept shooting themselves in the foot. Actually, that is why Chicago won. The Bears did a pretty good job on defense, but the Saints played horrendous - four fumbles?!? If Brees and N.O. could have got their heads out of their rear ends for ONE DRIVE in the first quarter, Rex Grossman would have done his typical deconstruction job. Instead, they let him get his confidence back.

Now to the AFC. I can't stand either team - I'm glad that the Patriots and their arrogant fans will finally have to deal with the fact that their superior, genetically bred superheroes choked. Yes, the Patriots and Tom Brady choked. Now I'm sure Patriots apologists like ESPN's Bill Simmons will come up with hundreds of reasons why this is not the case. But when you have a team down 21-3, at home, in the first half -- well there is no reason you should lose. Case closed. And when Brady came out to lead the triumphant charge, he threw a bad INT. The only two people on those two teams I wanted to do well was Heath Evans - the N.E. running back who I knew in high school - and Tony Dungy. I loved Dungy at Tampa and thought he got rooked. I think he is a great man and a great coach. And I am excited for the significance of Dungy and Lovie Smith (the first two African-American head coaches in the Super Bowl) being in the big game - not excited about the countless times we will hear that in the next two weeks.

The biggest thing is Peyton Manning. I think he is funny and a great player - I don't like him though. Don't ask me why - probably due to the fawning he has always received for stats that ultimately don't mean anything. Already, I have heard or read at LEAST ten times that he "finally won the big one." Did I miss something? Isn't the Super Bowl in two weeks? What did he win? He won an AFC title game - nothing more. If that is the "Big One" and worth all of this "Manning finally overcame the monkey on his back" hoopla, then that means the Buffalo Bills of the 1990s are the greatest team ever. No, he GOT TO the Big One. That is one step further than he ever got in the NFL. But it is also a bigger stage for him to choke on. That should get the Manning-lover all worked up.