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 After collecting his fifth National Football League most valuable
player award on Saturday, Manning's place in the Canton, Ohio shrine
is assured but the heavy loss against the Seattle Seahawks has left
a cloud over his legacy.
With one Super Bowl win in three attempts, his historical impact
will be left for others to debate in the coming years but on Sunday,
the only thing on Manning's mind was where it all went wrong.
"I think we played a great football team," the 37-year-old Manning
told reporters. "We needed to play really well in order to win and
we didn't come anywhere close to that.
"We weren't sharp offensively from the get go."
It was hardly a Hall of Fame worthy first quarter for Manning, who
watched the opening snap sail over his head for a safety to put
Denver in an early hole.
Manning, who tossed for a record 5,477 yards during the regular
season, completed just two passes for 5 yards and an interception
that the Seahawks turned into a touchdown and a 15-0 first-quarter
lead.
"The turnover on the first play of the game to give them a safety is
not the way you want to start a game," Manning added. "For whatever
reason, we couldn't get much going after that.
"Give Seattle credit, they are an excellent football team and they
caused a lot of our mistakes.
"At the same time, we just didn't play well."
The Denver offense managed just 11 net yards in a miserable opening
quarter but the misfiring continued into the second when Manning was
picked off by Seattle's Malcolm Smith, who returned the ball for a
69-yard touchdown.
The half ended with the highest scoring offense of all-time held
scoreless by Seattle's top-ranked defense and in a shocking 22-0
hole.
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MOUNTING PRESSURE
The situation soon went from grave to terminal when Percy Harvin
returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, handing Manning an
insurmountable 29-0 mountain to climb.
Manning tried, going to the air and completing 34-of-49 pass
attempts for 280 yards, but it was not nearly enough to erase the
deficit.
"We got behind early and never could make a run to catch up," he
said. "We knew they were an excellent defense. They executed better
than we did.
"Certainly to finish this way is very disappointing. It is not an
easy pill to swallow, but eventually you have to."
Thirteen times Manning has taken teams to the playoffs but he has
hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy just the once, a championship less
than little brother Eli, who has twice led the New York Giants to
NFL titles.
Two seasons on from missing a year due to neck surgeries, Manning
produced a campaign for the ages, setting single season marks for
touchdown passes (55) as well as yards.
With the Broncos tipped as Super Bowl favorites right from the start
of season, Manning had been under mounting pressure to prove he can
also get the job done when it counts and turn his record-smashing
campaign into another Super Bowl title.
Manning continued to rewrite the record book at MetLife Stadium on
Sunday, setting a Super Bowl record with 34 completions, but a
second ring once again slipped through his fingers as Seattle's
ferocious defense left the Broncos quarterback under pressure and
flustered.
"He's disappointed like all of us, but he had a tremendous year,"
Denver head coach John Fox added. "I told him he had a great season,
a record-breaking season, and he just came up a little short
tonight."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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