He's had some high points to be sure, but overall? 8 out of 13 seasons his teams are 1 and done, first round exits. The one time his team won it all, he threw a total of 3 TD's that post season(with 8 interceptions). In the Super Bowl, his career totals are 3 TD/4 INT. He just hasn't consistently played well in the post season. After his first 5 years, in 4/15 games he's put up a sub-80 rating, 12/15 games were sub-100.
In the 10 games since that Super Bowl win in 2006, Manning has a total of 1 game with a QB Rating below 80. That was the Super Bowl against the Seahawks. On the flip-side, he has 3 games with a QB Rating above 100. And his lowest QB Rating discounting the Super Bowl against Seattle was 87.9 against the Ravens in 2009.
The guy has been pretty damn consistent of late. In fact, he's been pretty damn consistent over the last decade. The only bad games he's played in that span of time were 2004 AFCCG vs. New England, the first two games of his Super Bowl run, and the Super Bowl loss to Seattle. That's 4 out of 17 games against the best of the best.
But I ask again, in the playoffs has Manning generally approached, met or exceeded what he does during the regular season? If he doesn't match or raise his level of play, should he be considered a good post season QB?
Yes. Because the playoffs are played against the best of the best. Manning setting the bar incredibly high during the regular season doesn't make him a lesser player.
If he had the same playoff stats with Terry Bradshaw's atrocious career QB Rating hovering around 70...would that make him a good post-season QB? After all, he's elevating his play. It's such an illogical argument. Give me the guy that's one of the best there is in NFL history during the regular season and only great in the playoffs over the guy that's nothing special in the regular season and great in the playoffs.
Guys like Montana, Warner, Rodgers, and Brees are INCREDIBLY rare. Most great regular season QBs set the bar too high to actually elevate their performance in the post-season when they come up against only playoff caliber teams.
Is a losing record and 89.2 career playoff passer rating good to you?
Yep, it is. Manning's 89.2 career playoff passer rating is good for 10th best all time among the 50 QBs that qualified.
Wins and losses fall on the team...not a single player. I think it's crazy how people try to put the team's success and failure on the back of one player. Nobody ever blames an OT or a LB or a WR for the team losing the Super Bowl. But somehow the wins and losses are on the QB. That's nuts. Why doesn't Mean Joe Greene get the credit for the Steelers winning four Super Bowls? Or Franco Harris? Or John Stallworth? Or Lynn Swann? Or Jack Lambert? Or Jack Ham? Or Mel Blount?