Manning Looks to Miami to Cap MVP With Super Bowl

Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning won an unprecedented fourth NFL MVP award; now he wants the Superbowl ring.
Manning Looks to Miami to Cap MVP With Super Bowl
ANOTHER POSTSEASON BECKONS: Peyton Manning wants to cap his MVP season with a Super Bowl victory. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
1/13/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/petytotn.jpg" alt="ANOTHER POSTSEASON BECKONS: Peyton Manning wants to cap his MVP season with a Super Bowl victory. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)" title="ANOTHER POSTSEASON BECKONS: Peyton Manning wants to cap his MVP season with a Super Bowl victory. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1824024"/></a>
ANOTHER POSTSEASON BECKONS: Peyton Manning wants to cap his MVP season with a Super Bowl victory. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
While Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning took home an unprecedented fourth NFL MVP award, you can be certain he’s not satisfied—he wants another Super Bowl ring.

Colts head coach Jim Caldwell said that it is due to his pivot’s insatiable competitive fire.

“He just has an innate will to excel,” Caldwell told the Associated Press.

“He never gets bored with it.”

Manning shared his first MVP award with the late Steve McNair back in 2003.

That year, Indy’s No. 18 completed 379 of 566 passes (67 percent) for 4,267 yards with 29 passing touchdowns in the regular season.

Peyton shone in the first two games of the 2003 postseason, but he threw four interceptions in the AFC championship game and the Colts lost 24–14 to the New England Patriots.

Manning repeated as MVP the following season, finishing the 2004 regular season campaign with 4,557 passing yards, a career-high 49 touchdown passes, and a passer rating of 121.1.

Just like in the 2003 playoffs however, Manning defeated the Denver Broncos and lost to the New England Patriots.

The Colts star signal-caller won the Super Bowl (and Super Bowl MVP) in 2006 season but would not win another league MVP award until 2008.

The fact that he won the accolade during that season was somewhat of a miracle as he missed a bulk of training camp and the preseason because knee surgery.

Manning finished the 2008 season completing 371 of 555 passes for 4,002 yards with 27 TDs.

Again in 2008 he fell short in the playoffs, this time losing to the San Diego Chargers in OT 23–17.

This Time It’s Different


This year, Manning still put up good numbers, going 393 of 571 for a career-high completion percentage of 68.8 percent with 33 TDs, but he did so while the team was undergoing a bit of a renovation.

Caldwell took over for long-time head coach Tony Dungy and 2009 was the first year that Manning didn’t have WR Marvin Harrison as a target.

Anthony Gonzalez, who was expected to pick up the slack for Harrison, suffered a right knee injury in the team’s opener and was subsequently placed on injured reserve.

But good players make the ones around them better and Manning certainly did that.

Wide receiver Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark continued to be targets in the passing game but young receivers Pierre Garcon (765 yards receiving) and Austin Collie (tied for rookie-high 60 receptions) also benefited from Manning looks as well.

“When you lose a receiver that’s been such a constant performer like Marvin Harrison and you replace him with young guys, there’s change there,” Manning told the Indianapolis Colts official Web site.

“I have to believe that the way our team responded to that change … these guys just came to work everyday and didn’t let all these changes affect them.”

Generally speaking, winning the MVP hasn’t translated into Super Bowl success. But the Indianapolis star QB would like history to repeat itself this year.

Super Bowl XLIV will be held in Miami, the site of Manning’s one and only championship win.