For Peyton Manning, MVP awards and Lombardi Trophies never have converged in the same season.
Never in the same season has he put together passing records with a Super Bowl ring.
So there is an encouraging omen for the Broncos in their quest to win it all this season: Manning has not been lighting up the stat line.
Manning was the NFL’s MVP in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2013. In none of those five seasons was there a celebration after the final game. His two best statistical seasons were in 2004 and 2013, when he set single-season touchdown pass records with 49 and 55, respectively. No brass ring either time.
The one time Manning hoisted the Lombardi Trophy — in a driving Miami rain to cap the 2006 season with the Indianapolis Colts — he had three touchdown passes against seven interceptions in four postseason games.
Those 2006 postseason numbers in sequence again: three touchdowns, seven interceptions and 4-0.
There has to be a lesson in there somewhere.
“It takes a team,” Broncos running back C.J. Anderson said. “It’s a team game. That and execution. I don’t think we want to throw interceptions to prove your point. But if we execute and everybody’s on the same page, we can play with anybody.”
Much has been made of Manning’s pedestrian performances late this season. After starting the 2014 season with 22 touchdown passes against only three interceptions through seven games, Manning in his last nine games threw 17 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.
Perfect! It might seem counterintuitive, but in the large sample size that is Manning’s 17-year career, it has been proved that when he is at his best, his teams haven’t won Super Bowls.
And in the one postseason when he statistically was at his worst, Manning drove off with a Cadillac Escalade as the Super Bowl MVP.
There has to be an explanation.
“I guess there may be, but I’m not sure I know the answer to it,” Manning said. “This is 2015. … Anything that’s happened in the past, past six or seven years ago, I’m not sure the impact that it has on this particular game.”
The game is Sunday when the Broncos play his former team in an AFC divisional playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The winner advances to the AFC championship game. The loser is done for the season.
Too often for a quarterback who has often been among the best to play, Manning’s teams have been done sooner than expected. His overall postseason record is 11-12, with an 89.2 passer rating. In his three regular seasons with the Broncos, Manning is 38-10 with a 107.8 rating.
Most years, Manning has been the team. He carried Indianapolis from 2003-10 to the postseason, and the Broncos in 2012 and 2013. This season, as Manning struggled through having a strained quadriceps down the stretch, the Broncos got stronger in other areas.
Anderson rushed for 767 yards in the final eight games. The improved running game seemingly complemented the Denver defense, which finished No. 3 in the league.
Unlike in other years, Manning, who says he feels much better after giving his legs a rest during last week’s first-round bye, doesn’t have to go into this postseason feeling like he has to win a playoff game by himself.
He’s 38 years old now. He said he’ll come back and play next season at 39. His contract with the Broncos will expire while he’s 40.
If he gets that second Super Bowl ring, it won’t matter how he played in the years he won them. Only that he did.
“I can’t speak to the window,” Manning said. “I’ve been asked about the window for 10 years, it seems like. I think our team’s played with a sense of urgency all season.”
See that? Manning didn’t say he’s been playing with a sense of urgency. He said the team has.
Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com or
Postseason Peyton
Since Peyton Manning started winning NFL MVP awards in 2003, he has lost playoff games in which he played well, and won a couple games in which his stats say he didn’t play well:
5 best playoff stat games in defeat (since 2003)
Season … Opp … C … A … Y ….. TD … INT … Rtg … Result
1. 2010 … Jets ……….. 18 … 26 … 225 … 1 … 0 … 108.7 … L, 16-17
2. 2007 … Chargers … 33 … 48 … 402 … 3 … 2 ….. 97.7 … L, 24-28
3. 2005 … Steelers ….. 22 … 38 … 290 … 1 … 0 ….. 90.9 … L, 18-21
4. 2009 … Saints …….. 31 … 45 … 333 … 1 … 1 ….. 88.5 … L, 17-31
5. 2012 … Ravens …… 28 … 43 … 290 … 3 … 2 ….. 88.3 …L, 35-38
5 worst playoff stat games (since 2003)
Season … Opp … C … A … Y ….. TD … INT … Rtg … Result
1. 2003 … Patriots ……. 23 … 47 … 237 … 1 … 4 … 35.5 … L, 14-24
2. 2006 … Ravens …….. 15 … 30 … 170 … 0 … 2 … 39.6 … W, 15-6
3. 2004 … Patriots ……. 27 … 42 … 238 … 0 … 1 … 69.3 … L, 3-20
4. 2006 … Chiefs ……… 30 … 38 … 268 … 1 … 3 … 71.9 … W, 23-8
5. 2013 … Seathawks … 34 … 49 … 280 … 1 … 2 … 73.5 … L, 8-43
