Peyton Manning got his second Super Bowl title, but he didn’t get it with a usually successfully playoff formula. The Broncos relied far more on their defenses; his numbers were unusually mild.
Manning averaged under 180 passing yards in the playoffs. In the past 25 years, only two other quarterbacks (among those who won the whole thing) have averaged fewer passing yards in their playoff games. Both also came from teams with great defenses – Trent Dilfer and Russell Wilson.
| AVERAGING UNDER 200 PASSING YARDS (1991-2015) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | G | Pct | YPG |
| Trent Dilfer | 2000 | 4 | 48% | 147.5 |
| Russell Wilson | 2013 | 3 | 63% | 174.7 |
| Peyton Manning | 2015 | 3 | 55% | 179.7 |
| John Elway | 1997 | 4 | 58% | 181.5 |
| Tom Brady | 2001 | 3 | 62% | 190.7 |
| Tom Brady | 2004 | 3 | 68% | 195.7 |
Manning also threw only 2 TD passes in the team’s three playoff games. In the Super Bowl, he finished with 2 fewer touchdown passes than Budweiser endorsements (I found the Budweiser shout-outs to be annoying; rather than being a genuine moment to reflect on a great career, he chose to cash in on some kind of product placement deal he’d worked out with the game’s largest advertiser). Anyway, of the 50 quarterbacks who’ve won Super Bowls, only seven others have finished the postseason with fewer touchdown passes than games played. That’s going all the way back, including the lower-scoring ‘60s and ‘70s.
The only other time this happened in the last 10 years, remarkably, also was with Peyton Manning – he didn’t put up big numbers when the Colts won following the 2006 season. Prior to him, you’re looking at Tom Brady in 2001 (who back at that time didn’t have the ability to dissect secondaries – that team was built more on defense and the running game).
| FEWER TOUCHDOWN PASSES THAN GAMES (50 Super Bowls) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | G | Pct | TD | Int |
| Len Dawson | 1969 | 3 | 51% | 2 | 1 |
| Bob Griese | 1973 | 3 | 65% | 2 | 2 |
| Jim Plunkett | 1983 | 3 | 65% | 2 | 2 |
| John Elway | 1997 | 4 | 58% | 3 | 2 |
| Trent Dilfer | 2000 | 4 | 48% | 3 | 1 |
| Tom Brady | 2001 | 3 | 62% | 1 | 1 |
| Peyton Manning | 2006 | 4 | 63% | 3 | 7 |
| Peyton Manning | 2015 | 3 | 55% | 2 | 1 |
But ultimately, Manning got his second title. And as many grade quarterbacks, numbers of championships is one of the first categories they look at.
—Ian Allan