Tip to Stan, PFW says the MVP choice is easy
He directed the Colts to a record 23 regular-season wins in a row, has seven fourth-quarter comeback wins this season and posted nine 300-yard games in ’09. Yet numbers alone are not what separates Manning from the rest. What separates him is that Manning is the first QB in two generations to call his own plays, adding greatly to his level of responsibility.
Although Manning gets suggestions and some direction from offensive coordinator Tom Moore, the fate of the Colts’ offense is not simply in his hands but also in his head. He decides where the ball goes and how it will get there, making him a throwback to one of his forefathers in a Colts uniform, the great Johnny Unitas. The difference is when Unitas was calling plays, he wasn’t doing it against defenses substituting players and changing coverages on every snap.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan put it best when he said of Manning, “He’s still the same guy that destroys everybody. He’s phenomenal. I respect him more than any player in the NFL. He may go down as the best of all time.”
That may be debatable. What is not is who the MVP in the NFL is. There’s Peyton Manning and then everyone else.
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