Is Peyton Manning the greatest quarterback of all time? He just seems to be indestructible and just keeps winning. The man who outsmarts the other team. The man who beat Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers for Super Bowl 50.

We all know that Manning and “his” Broncos team just defeated the Carolina Panthers for his second ring. He was not the MVP of the league, and certainly not of the big game. Manning showed leadership and played the smartest game he could possibly play. He didn’t force throws like opposing quarterback Newton. He knew what he had to do to win and he executed it perfectly.

If I had to pick two quarterbacks in the NFL that are the complete opposites, I would probably pick Manning and Newton. Manning’s slow methodical offense and Newton’s fast past showmanship are why these two are the complete opposite. When it came down to it, the slow focused offense of Manning outplayed the rushed and forced offense of Newton’s. Newton never looked like he was in control, like his regular season offense was. The Panthers were the team to beat and most everyone thought that they would blow out the Broncos like the Seahawks did in Super Bowl 48, but they looked like they had never seen the field before.

Credit has to be given to the defense of the Broncos, right? The defense held the offense of the Panthers to just 10 points, which is way below their regular season average of 31.2 points per game. The 31.2 points per game ranked them first in the league. The 10 points they scored would have put them at last place in the NFL. This shows that along with Manning’s poised play, the defense was a big key to the win.

When Super Bowl 50 was over, we saw that Manning was the smarter and tougher quarterback. He may be the best of all time. Yes, the defense was probably was the reason that they won, but Manning was smart enough to not take control. He played smart and let the defense take care of the game. We may have witnessed the final game that the “Great Manning” will ever play.