You know I'm not a huge Payton fan, I disagree with you about yesterdays game. I thought he played great. That was an incredible defensive performance by Baltimore and Manning made some incredible throws to soften that D up. The were able to run the ball because the Baltimore safties were backed up 25 yards from the LOS in the 4th quarter. He's stat line may have been ugly but he played a great hard nosed football game against a great defensive team. I give Dungy some props also for getting he's D ready to play really well two weeks in a row. That was one of the better playoff games I have watched in a long time. The qualtity of play on both sides of the ball was terrific. Great D isn't boring to me and yesterdays game featured it.
Yeah, I didn't find the game boring, either. No quarterback would have had a good game against that Ravens defense yesterday. Marino, Elway, Montana, Baugh- they all would have had problems. I was disappointed with the result because I'm a big Steve McNair fan. His skills are diminishing. Maybe he has one more decent season. In the championship game we'll see what the Colts defense brings to the table. They have played well the past two weeks, but did not face a quality offense. I believe they would beat the Patriots again, but would have trouble stopping the Chargers offense.
I'm just curious if you would've felt he played a great game if they ended up losing 20-9 or something along those lines? McNair had a couple of costly turnovers deep in Indy territory and the Heap fumble cost them points as well. This game could've easily gone the other way and people would've been perfectly justified in blasting Mannings performance.
If they lose 20 to 9 and they lose because of the Manning turnovers sure that's a different story. That wasn't the case was it. You have to look at the game and what was going on in that game. In the second half of that game he was under incredible pressure. He's awareness and cool in the pocket along with some unreal throws while being under pressure were simply amazing. He made the Ravens back off down the stretch of that game through sheer determination. That game was as tough a fought game as you every see in todays NFL. Manning out toughed the Ravens D.
