Why Peyton Manning Should Retire - 2016

Peyton Manning is one of the greatest NFL Quarterbacks of all-time.

Now that he won Super Bowl 50 and is also the NFL All-Time Career Leader in Passing Yards, Passing Touchdowns, Wins, and other key stats, Peyton Manning can (and should) retire and "go out on top".

He is probably a guaranteed top-5, likely top-3, and arguable #1 of all-time.

Career NFL statistics as of 2015
	Passing attempts:	9,380
	Passing completions:	6,125
	Completion Percentage:	65.30%
	TD–INT:	539–251
	Passing yards:	71,940
	Passer rating:	96.5
	Win-Loss (Regular Season):	186-79
	Winning % (Regular Season):	70.19%
	Super Bowl Champion	2 times
	MVP	5 times
	First-Team All-Pro	7 times
	Pro Bowl	14 times

In fact, up until his loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, Peyton Manning was considered by many to be the #1 quarterback of all-time.

Losing again in the Super Bowl really made him look like a "choker" in the game it mattered most; some even called him the "best Regular-Season quarterback" because he was so terrible in the Playoffs. Moreover, losing again in the Super Bowl (1 out of 3 in his career to that point) still kept him so far from one of his biggest competition for #1 quarterback of all-time: Tom Brady, who had 3 career Super Bowl championships already. Brady and the New England Patriots added a 4th Super Bowl championship to that total in 2015, making it even worse for Manning's legacy.

Suddenly, Peyton Manning looked like an all-time legend, but not the best ever. Not #1 of all-time.

He was now injured, old, unlucky, and inefficient. For perhaps the first time in his glorious career, Peyton Manning was a bad quarterback (QB) choice. He threw 17 interceptions (INT) by Week 10! With only 9 Touchdowns (TD) in that span, and with an even worse 4-14 TD-INT count from Week 4 through Week 10, Peyton Manning was hurting his team.
Ironically, even with his poor performance, the Broncos started the season 7-0. But eventually his struggles cost the team, losing two straight.

2015 Games

							Passing									Rushing
Date	Week	Tm		Opp	Result	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Y/A	AY/A	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD
2015-09-13	1	DEN		BAL	W 19-13	*	24	40	60.00	175	0	1	59.9	4.38	3.25	1	-1	-1.00	0
2015-09-17	2	DEN	@	KAN	W 31-24	*	26	45	57.78	256	3	1	86.9	5.69	6.02	0	0		0
2015-09-27	3	DEN	@	DET	W 24-12	*	31	42	73.81	324	2	1	101.7	7.71	7.60	1	-1	-1.00	0
2015-10-04	4	DEN		MIN	W 23-20	*	17	27	62.96	213	1	2	68.9	7.89	5.30	2	-2	-1.00	0
2015-10-11	5	DEN	@	OAK	W 16-10	*	22	35	62.86	266	0	2	62.3	7.60	5.03	0	0		0
2015-10-18	6	DEN	@	CLE	W 26-23	*	26	48	54.17	290	1	3	53.3	6.04	3.65	0	0		0
2015-11-01	8	DEN		GNB	W 29-10	*	21	29	72.41	340	0	1	96.9	11.72	10.17	0	0		0
2015-11-08	9	DEN	@	IND	L 24-27	*	21	36	58.33	281	2	2	78.6	7.81	6.42	0	0		0
2015-11-15	10	DEN		KAN	L 13-29	*	5	20	25.00	35	0	4	0.0	1.75	-7.25	0	0		0

Source: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannPe00.htm


Due to injury and poor performance, Peyton Manning was essentially benched for backup QB Brent Osweiler. Fortunately, Osweiler actually did pretty well, and contributed to the Denver Broncos' Playoff appearance:

2015 Games

							Passing									Rushing
Date	Week	Tm		Opp	Result	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Y/A	AY/A	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD	TD
2015-11-08	9	DEN	@	IND	L 24-27		0	0		0	0	0				0	0		0	0
2015-11-15	10	DEN		KAN	L 13-29		14	24	58.33	146	1	1	72.6	6.08	5.04	3	18	6.00	0	0
2015-11-22	11	DEN	@	CHI	W 17-15	*	20	27	74.07	250	2	0	127.1	9.26	10.74	2	4	2.00	0	0
2015-11-29	12	DEN		NWE	W 30-24	*	23	42	54.76	270	1	1	72.5	6.43	5.83	2	4	2.00	0	0
2015-12-06	13	DEN	@	SDG	W 17-3	*	16	26	61.54	166	1	1	76.8	6.38	5.42	3	1	0.33	0	0
2015-12-13	14	DEN		OAK	L 12-15	*	35	51	68.63	308	0	0	84.4	6.04	6.04	3	10	3.33	0	0
2015-12-20	15	DEN	@	PIT	L 27-34	*	21	44	47.73	296	3	1	83.1	6.73	7.07	5	19	3.80	1	1
2015-12-28	16	DEN		CIN	W 20-17	*	27	39	69.23	299	1	0	100.3	7.67	8.18	3	5	1.67	0	0
2016-01-03	17	DEN		SDG	W 27-20	*	14	22	63.64	232	1	2	76.3	10.55	7.36	0	0		0	0

Source: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/O/OsweBr00.htm

Osweiler had a very respectable 5-2 record. His completion percentage (CMP%) was decent, though volatile; He threw for at least 250 yards (YDS) 5 times; and he threw a lot fewer interceptions (INT)!

If Manning didn't have a reliable backup QB to fill in while he recovered, perhaps he would have stayed in or come back early while still unhealthy. Manning might have continued his terrible season, thrown more interceptions, hurt himself further, and failed to make the Playoffs.

BUT, instead, history was on the side of Peyton Manning this time. Manning was able to return for the Playoffs, fresher and with a better understanding of where he fits on this team.
With a deteriorating body and a highly-weakened throwing arm, Peyton Manning was not likely to win games with the huge offensive prowess he was accustomed to. Instead, he accepted his role as the "game manager", just making sure he didn't screw it up for his league-leading #1 Defense (DEF).

His Playoffs performance was weak, but he was successful in limiting the costly Turnovers (TO).

							Passing									Rushing
Date	Week	Tm		Opp	Result	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Y/A	AY/A	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD
2016-01-17	19	DEN		PIT	W 23-16	*	21	37	56.76	222	0	0	74.4	6.00	6.00	2	-1	-0.50	0
2016-01-24	20	DEN		NWE	W 20-18	*	17	32	53.13	176	2	0	90.1	5.50	6.75	3	11	3.67	0
2016-02-07	21	DEN		CAR	W 24-10	*	13	23	56.52	141	0	1	56.6	6.13	4.17	0	0		0

Of course, his expert football mind and his lifetime of QB experience are extremely valuable yet impossible to truly quantify.

Regardless of whether or not he deserves the credit for the Super Bowl win, his career stats now have him as a 2x Super Bowl Champion (2-2 in 4 appearances).
His second Super Bowl win not only saved him from being labeled the ultimate failure in the Playoffs, but also 2 career Super Bowl wins now put him on-par with many of the other greatest quarterbacks of all-time.

Hall of Famers

Active Player

*Player is not yet eligible for hall of fame

Starts	Player	Record	Team(s), Super Bowls	%	Ref,
6	Tom Brady	4–2	New England Patriots - XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLII, XLVI, XLIX	67%	[1]
4	Terry Bradshaw	4–0	Pittsburgh Steelers - IX, X, XIII, XIV	100%	[3]
4	Joe Montana	4–0	San Francisco 49ers - XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV	100%	[4]
3	Troy Aikman	3–0	Dallas Cowboys - XXVII, XXVIII, XXX	100%	[8]
5	John Elway	2–3	Denver Broncos - XXI, XXII, XXIV, XXXII, XXXIII	40%	[2]
4	Roger Staubach	2–2	Dallas Cowboys - VI, X, XII, XIII	50%	[5]
4	Peyton Manning	2–2	Indianapolis Colts - XLI, XLIV; Denver Broncos - XLVIII, L	50%	[6]
3	Bob Griese	2–1	Miami Dolphins - VI, VII, VIII	67%	[9]
3	Ben Roethlisberger	2–1	Pittsburgh Steelers - XL, XLIII, XLV	67%	[10]
2	Bart Starr	2–0	Green Bay Packers - I, II	100%	[13]
2	Jim Plunkett	2–0	Oakland/L.A. Raiders - XV, XVIII	100%	[14]
2	Eli Manning	2–0	New York Giants - XLII, XLVI	100%	[15]
3	Kurt Warner	1–2	St. Louis Rams - XXXIV, XXXVI; Arizona Cardinals - XLIII	33%	[11]
2	Len Dawson	1–1	Kansas City Chiefs - I, IV	50%	[16]
2	Joe Theismann	1–1	Washington Redskins - XVII, XVIII	50%	[17]
2	Brett Favre	1–1	Green Bay Packers - XXXI, XXXII	50%	[18]
2	Russell Wilson	1–1	Seattle Seahawks - XLVIII, XLIX	50%	[19]
4	Jim Kelly	0–4	Buffalo Bills - XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII	0%	[7]
3	Fran Tarkenton	0–3	Minnesota Vikings - VIII, IX, XI	0%	[12]
2	Craig Morton	0–2	Dallas Cowboys - V; Denver Broncos - XII	0%	[20]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_quarterbacks_with_multiple_Super_Bowl_starts

He will never match Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana (each with 4 championships) and probably won't catch up to Troy Aikman (3 championships), but his 2 Super Bowls finally put him on this same level of achievement as the all-time greats like John Elway, Bob Griese, Bart Starr, Ben Roethlisberger, and brother Eli Manning.
Finally, some justification for his career. Finally, an essential addition to his achievements. Finally, some respect.

Peyton Manning is way more than just his 2 Super Bowl wins, his legendary & expert football mind, his "Omaha" audibles, his TV commercials, and his giant status as hero in millions of people's lives.

We must remember he is an individual and a human being. Perhaps football is so deeply ingrained in who he is and what he does that the two seem to overlap. It might also be too soon and too close to actually playing football that it's very hard to discern.

Peyton Manning will go down in history as an all-time legend, a genius QB, a revolutionary in how Football is studied and played, and a likable guy highly-focused on the process of game preparation.

But it goes even further than that.

Peyton Manning is also going down in history as a record-setter, record-holder, and statistical all-time leader!

Even if he didn't win a second Super Bowl, Peyton Manning's career stats are legendary.

Passing

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	QBR	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1998	22	IND	QB	18	16	16	3-13-0	326	575	56.7	3739	26	4.5	28	4.9	78	6.5	5.2	11.5	233.7	71.2		22	109	6.08	4.84	3.7	1	1	11
1999*	23	IND	QB	18	16	16	13-3-0	331	533	62.1	4135	26	4.9	15	2.8	80	7.8	7.5	12.5	258.4	90.7		14	116	7.35	7.06	2.6	6	7	18
2000*	24	IND	QB	18	16	16	10-6-0	357	571	62.5	4413	33	5.8	15	2.6	78	7.7	7.7	12.4	275.8	94.7		20	131	7.25	7.22	3.4	2	3	18
2001	25	IND	QB	18	16	16	6-10-0	343	547	62.7	4131	26	4.8	23	4.2	86	7.6	6.6	12.0	258.2	84.1		29	232	6.77	5.88	5.0			15
2002*	26	IND	QB	18	16	16	10-6-0	392	591	66.3	4200	27	4.6	19	3.2	69	7.1	6.6	10.7	262.5	88.8		23	145	6.60	6.09	3.7	4	5	14
2003*+	27	IND	QB	18	16	16	12-4-0	379	566	67.0	4267	29	5.1	10	1.8	79	7.5	7.8	11.3	266.7	99.0		18	107	7.12	7.35	3.1	3	4	18
2004*+	28	IND	QB	18	16	16	12-4-0	336	497	67.6	4557	49	9.9	10	2.0	80	9.2	10.2	13.6	284.8	121.1		13	101	8.74	9.78	2.5	2	4	21
2005*+	29	IND	QB	18	16	16	14-2-0	305	453	67.3	3747	28	6.2	10	2.2	80	8.3	8.5	12.3	234.2	104.1		17	81	7.80	8.03	3.6	1	1	18
2006*	30	IND	QB	18	16	16	12-4-0	362	557	65.0	4397	31	5.6	9	1.6	68	7.9	8.3	12.1	274.8	101.0	85.42	14	86	7.55	7.93	2.5	4	4	20
2007*	31	IND	QB	18	16	16	13-3-0	337	515	65.4	4040	31	6.0	14	2.7	73	7.8	7.8	12.0	252.5	98.0	72.97	21	124	7.31	7.29	3.9	1	2	17
2008*+	32	IND	QB	18	16	16	12-4-0	371	555	66.8	4002	27	4.9	12	2.2	75	7.2	7.2	10.8	250.1	95.0	79.02	14	86	6.88	6.88	2.5	4	6	16
2009*+	33	IND	QB	18	16	16	14-2-0	393	571	68.8	4500	33	5.8	16	2.8	80	7.9	7.8	11.5	281.3	99.9	81.2	10	74	7.62	7.51	1.7	7	7	17
2010*	34	IND	QB	18	16	16	10-6-0	450	679	66.3	4700	33	4.9	17	2.5	73	6.9	6.8	10.4	293.8	91.9	73.42	16	91	6.63	6.48	2.3	0	2	16
2011	35	IND		18	0	0		0	0		0	0		0		0							0	0				0	0	0
2012*+	36	DEN	QB	18	16	16	13-3-0	400	583	68.6	4659	37	6.3	11	1.9	71	8.0	8.4	11.6	291.2	105.8	83.16	21	137	7.49	7.89	3.5	3	3	15
2013*+	37	DEN	QB	18	16	16	13-3-0	450	659	68.3	5477	55	8.3	10	1.5	78	8.3	9.3	12.2	342.3	115.1	81.01	18	120	7.91	8.87	2.7	2	2	19
2014*	38	DEN	QB	18	16	16	12-4-0	395	597	66.2	4727	39	6.5	15	2.5	86	7.9	8.1	12.0	295.4	101.5	75.12	17	118	7.51	7.68	2.8	1	1	16
2015	39	DEN	qb	18	10	9	7-2-0	198	331	59.8	2249	9	2.7	17	5.1	75	6.8	5.0	11.4	224.9	67.9	44.96	16	95	6.21	4.52	4.6	4	4	2
Career					266	265	186-79-0	6125	9380	65.3	71940	539	5.7	251	2.7	86	7.7	7.6	11.7	270.5	96.5		303	1953	7.23	7.17	3.1	41	52	271
14 yrs		IND			208	208	141-67-0	4682	7210	64.9	54828	399	5.5	198	2.7	86	7.6	7.5	11.7	263.6	94.9		231	1483	7.17	7.04	3.1	35	46	219
4 yrs		DEN			58	57	45-12-0	1443	2170	66.5	17112	140	6.5	53	2.4	86	7.9	8.1	11.9	295.0	101.7		72	470	7.42	7.61	3.2	10	10	52

A few major statistical milestones in Peyton Manning's career:

1) #1 all-time in Passing Yards (YDS) - 71,940.

2) #1 all-time in Touchdown Passes (TD) - 539.

3) Tied #1 all-time in Regular-Season Wins (W) with Brett Favre. Peyton's 186-79 W-L Record compared to 186-112 for Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre has a significantly higher Winning Percentage (W%) of 70.19% vs. 62.42%.

4) First and currently Only player with 200 Career Wins (including Playoffs). The win at Super Bowl 50 was his 200th.

5) Only player to reach the Super Bowl with 4 different coaches.

6) #1 for Touchdown Passes (TD) in Season - 55.

7) #1 for Passings Yards (YDS) in Season - 5,477.

8) 14 Seasons with 10+ Wins (including 12 straight)
    11 Seasons with 12+ Wins (including 7 straight)

9) Season League-Leader in:
--Completion % (CMP%) - 2x
--Passing Yards (YDS) - 3x
--Passing TDs (TD) - 4x
--QBR (QBR) - 6+x
--Passer Rating (RATE) - 3x (3 straight)
--4th Quarter Comebacks (4QC) - 4x
--Game-Winning Drives (GWD) - 4x

10) AWARDS & HONORS:
--14x Pro Bowl (9 straight)
--7x First-Team All-Pro
--5x MVP (MVP) - 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013
--2x Offensive Player of the Year - 2004, 2013
--Pro Bowl MVP - 2005
--Super Bowl MVP - 2006
--Walter Payton Man of the Year - 2005
--Comeback Player of the Year - 2012
--Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year - 2013

11) #1 Career All-Time Leader in:
--Passing Yards -71,940
--Passing Touchdowns - 539
--Total Offense
--Wins - 186 regular season, 200 including playoffs
--Approximate Value (AV) - 271
--Weighted Approximate Value (WAV) - 177
--Net Yds/Pass Att - 7.23
--Game-Winning Drives (GWD) - 56
--Comebacks (4QC) - 45

12) Career All-Time Leaderboard in:
#2 Pass Completions - 6125 (Brett Favre had 6300)
#3 Passing Yards Per Game - 270.5 (#1 and #2 are still active)
#4 Pass Completion % - 65.3%
#5 Passer Rating - 96.5 (3/4 players are still active)
#3 Playoff Games Started - 27
#6 Games Started - 265 (5 more starts would put him at #4, 20 more starts for #3, 33 more for #1)


If Peyton Manning continues to play:

GOOD --> 
--More Career Passing Yards (already #1)
--More Career Passing Touchdowns (already #1)
--More Career Wins (tied #1)
--More Games Started (33 needed for #1)
--Can become #1 All-Time Career Completions (175 needed)
--More Super Bowls? Unlikely, but at least possible

BAD --> 
--Could drag Career Winning % (W%) below 70% (currently 70.19%)
--Could lower Career Completion % (currently #4 all-time)
--Could lower Career Passer Rating & Career QBR
--Could lower Career Yards Per Game (currently #3 all-time)
--Could hurt Career TD-INT Ratio
--Could get physically injured
--Prevents and/or Delays post-retirement opportunities to be a Football Analyst, Coach, Owner, etc.
--Ruins Peyton's chance to "Go out on top" and retire at the peak - a Super Bowl champion

High School & College

Peyton Manning was competing for the status as #1 QB as far back as High School.

In high school, he led his team with a career 34-5 record.
He was also named the Gatorade Circle of Champions National Player of the Year.

In college, Manning led his team (Tennessee Volunteers) with a 39-6 record.
He broke the Southeastern Conference (SEC) record for career wins.
He won the ESPY for Best College Player.
He was awarded by the National Football Foundation as a National Scholar-Athlete.

NCAA collegiate career statistics
Tennessee Volunteers
Season	Passing							Rushing
	Comp	Att	Yards	Pct.	TD	Int	QB rating	Att	Yards	Avg	TD
1994	89	144	1,141	61.8	11	6	145.2	21	-28	-1.3	0
1995	244	380	2,954	64.2	22	4	146.5	41	6	0.1	0
1996	243	380	3,287	63.9	20	12	147.7	42	-131	-3.1	0
1997	287	477	3,819	60.2	36	11	147.7	49	30	0.6	0
NCAA career totals	863	1,381	11,201	62.5	89	33	147.1	153	-123	-0.6	0

Let's be honest. He wasn't a good runner.

Rushing & Receiving

					Games		Rushing							Receiving
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1998	22	IND	QB	18	16	16	15	62	0	15	4.1	3.9	0.9									62	0	3
1999*	23	IND	QB	18	16	16	35	73	2	13	2.1	4.6	2.2									73	2	6
2000*	24	IND	QB	18	16	16	37	116	1	14	3.1	7.3	2.3									116	1	5
2001	25	IND	QB	18	16	16	35	157	4	33	4.5	9.8	2.2									157	4	7
2002*	26	IND	QB	18	16	16	38	148	2	13	3.9	9.3	2.4									148	2	6
2003*+	27	IND	QB	18	16	16	28	26	0	10	0.9	1.6	1.8	1	1	-2	-2.0	0	-2	0.1	-0.1	24	0	6
2004*+	28	IND	QB	18	16	16	25	38	0	19	1.5	2.4	1.6									38	0	5
2005*+	29	IND	QB	18	16	16	33	45	0	12	1.4	2.8	2.1									45	0	5
2006*	30	IND	QB	18	16	16	23	36	4	12	1.6	2.3	1.4									36	4	2
2007*	31	IND	QB	18	16	16	20	-5	3	4	-0.3	-0.3	1.3									-5	3	6
2008*+	32	IND	QB	18	16	16	20	21	1	12	1.1	1.3	1.3									21	1	1
2009*+	33	IND	QB	18	16	16	19	-13	0	3	-0.7	-0.8	1.2									-13	0	2
2010*	34	IND	QB	18	16	16	18	18	0	27	1.0	1.1	1.1									18	0	3
2012*+	36	DEN	QB	18	16	16	23	6	0	10	0.3	0.4	1.4									6	0	2
2013*+	37	DEN	QB	18	16	16	32	-31	1	1	-1.0	-1.9	2.0									-31	1	11
2014*	38	DEN	QB	18	16	16	24	-24	0	4	-1.0	-1.5	1.5									-24	0	6
2015	39	DEN	qb	18	10	9	6	-6	0	-1	-1.0	-0.6	0.6									-6	0	1
Career					266	265	431	667	18	33	1.5	2.5	1.6	1	1	-2	-2.0	0	0	0.0	0.0	665	18	77
14 yrs		IND			208	208	346	722	17	33	2.1	3.5	1.7	1	1	-2	-2.0	0	0	0.0	0.0	720	17	57
4 yrs		DEN			58	57	85	-55	1	10	-0.6	-0.9	1.5									-55	1	20