Reggie Wayne on Peyton Manning: "When it comes to the postseason, he struggles"

For a decade, Reggie Wayne caught passes from Peyton Manning as the Colts went on an incredible run of success.  Manning will wind up in the Hall of Fame once he's done and Wayne may join him, but this morning on NFL Network, Wayne wasn't too kind to his former teammate.

He mentioned that the pick-six in the 2009 Super Bowl wasn't his fault and indicated that it was Manning's, and then Wayne also talked about how number 18 struggles in the postseason.

"It's a great legacy quarterback and I'm part of that, also," Wayne said, according to NFL.com.  "And when it comes to the postseason, he struggles.  There's a lot of one-and-dones in there.  I just think this is a bigger -- it's bigger for him to get this.  Seventeenth time going up against Tom Brady.  If you look at the wins versus losses, it favors Tom Brady.  So I think it's a bigger situation for Peyton."

Sunday's game against the Patriots is certainly going to have an impact on Peyton Manning's legacy, especially since the game stands between him and another shot at winning his second Super Bowl.  Wayne realizes how big the game could be for Manning's legacy, too.

"It's a huge legacy for Peyton Manning because as we all know, he's on the back-end of his football career," Wayne added.  "And then he's going against his arch-nemesis Tom Brady.  The schedule during the regular season is built around these two great quarterbacks, and so now they're in the playoffs.  So if Peyton can't beat Tom Brady, the stigma will be, well he's one of the greatest regular-season quarterbacks to ever play the game."

It's surprising to hear Wayne talk like this about Peyton Manning, as the two played together for a decade and were a very successful duo.  And, of course, his statements aren't entirely accurate, despite what the public may believe.  Manning's postseason stats really aren't that much worse when considering that the level of opponent is increased in the postseason, and of course he has a lot of playoff losses because he's made the playoffs a lot.  Manning has had some rough moments in the playoffs, but the perception that he struggles in the playoffs is overblown.  You'd think Wayne, who is one of the most successful postseason wide receivers in history, would know that, but perhaps he's trying hard to sound unbiased as he joins NFL Network.  Either way, it's weird to see him talking so negatively about Manning and he's not totally accurate about the quarterback's playoff struggles, either.