Seriously, what is up with these guys?
It seems they have a serious blood oath against Peyton Manning. For folks that say they are the "emotionless arbiter of all things pigskin," these guys really seem to get pissed when a well-known pundit doesn't take any and every opportunity to bash Manning. Their latest hate fest against arguably the best QB on the planet comes in response to an article by John Clayton at ESPN, who in our eyes is the Yoda of Pro Football Guruness. Apparently, for the Patriots fans posing as objective fact finders at CHFF, Clayton doesn't do enough Manning bashing to satisfy their taste for blood. Clayton suffers from, in their own words, Spinal Manningitis:
The "obvious" in their minds is that Peyton Manning sucks, and their anger is in response to Clayton's assertion that Manning will benefit from the new rule that allows QBs to use their own footballs in games, rather than allowing the home team to handle the footballs. This rule was actually suggested by Patriots QB Tom Brady. Brady went to Manning with the idea (the two are good friends) and they both successfully lobbied the competition committee to install the rule this past Spring.
Now, while we at Stampede Blue admit Clayton's article is a bit oddly worded, it seems clear that Clayton suggests that Manning will really benefit from this new rule. Stampede Blue's assumption is that ALL QBs will benefit from this, including the guy that first suggested it: Tom Brady. The article does not suggest that the reason the Colts are 3-6 in playoffs the last 7 years is because of "wet footballs," which is the conclusion CHFF came to after reading Clayton's piece. I remember reading Clayton's article a while back, shrugging my shoulders, and continuing on with the rest of my life, which includes the following activities: cleaning up cat poop, deciding whether or not to cook or order out, installing new Energy Star ACs in my apartment, etc.
For the trolls at CHFF, Clayton's article was confirmation that the mainstream media does not do enough Peyton Manning bashing when, in their minds, it is so obvious that he sucks.
We at Stampede Blue wonder.
As I've stated before, these guys are nothing more than Patriots fans that just hate the Colts but lack the brass balls to just come out and say what they are. Instead, like cowardly hacks, they put up a false facade of objectivity and pander to the anti-Manning establishment that resides in the black hole known to the rest of America as "New England." If Peyton Manning is, "by any statistical measure or fact-filled observance... not a very good postseason player," then it would help CHFF's cause if Manning did indeed have bad numbers in his playoff career. Unfortunately for CHFF, Manning's numbers in the post season are as follows:
Peyton Manning: He's completed 59.5% of his passes for 2,461 yards with 15 TDs and 8 INTs.
Manning's post season QB rating: 88.5
Just so you know, that's a very good post season QB rating, especially for a guy that hasn't played with a defense until the 2005 season. For the sake of comparison, here are some other QB post season stats:
Tom Brady: He's completed 61.3% of his passes for 2,493 yards with 15 TDs and 5 INTs.
Brady's post season QB rating: 89.4
Ben Roethlisberger: He's completed 60.5% of his passes for 1,210 yards with 10 TDs and 8 INTs.
Roethlisberger's post season QB rating: 86.8
As you can see, the cold hard facts don't seem to back up the claims supported by the folks at Cold Hard Football Facts. We at Stampede Blue suggest they remove their Patriot swelled heads from their collective behinds and actually have FACTS to back up their claims before they bash Mr. Manning or the Yoda of Football Guruness again.