We’re closing in on two weeks since the Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl and my body is slowly adjusting to the next six months without football.

One of the things I keep reading in the days since what I thought was a pretty exciting game between two very good teams and two great quarterbacks is that the interception Peyton Manning threw on his way to the game-tying touchdown drive somehow cheapens his legacy as a star quarterback.

I’ll grant you, Manning has, at times, struggled in big games. But to say throwing a pick-six against New Orleans somehow detracts from him being one of the top quarterbacks of all-time is ridiculous.

First of all, this wasn’t an all-time great Colts team all season long. Sure, they were 14-0 before the coaches pulled the starters against New York. But Indianapolis won eight games by one score or less. Other than a four game stretch of dominance from their third game to their sixth game, when they won games by 21, 17, 22 and 36 points, the Colts generally played competitive games this year. This was a very, very good team, but any belief that this was a dominant bunch was misguided.

Second, the team wasn’t full strength all season. Sure, guys like Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie and Antoine Bethea stepped up during the regular season. But when you lose guys like Anthony Gonzalez and Bob Sanders for almost the entire season it’s eventually going to hurt. And then when your top wideout, Reggie Wayne, hurts his knee heading into the big game it’s going to make it that much tougher.

This was illustrated at least twice during the game – once when Wayne had the chance to catch a touchdown to bring the Colts within a touchdown in the waning seconds of the game and previous to that on the big Tracy Porter interception. Yes, on the pick everyone is criticizing Manning for throwing Wayne does little to help his quarterback out. He got outmuscled to the spot and didn’t do enough to turn into a defender when it was clear Porter had position on him.

That’s not to say Manning is without fault. He wasn’t his typically great self. But let’s also give the Saints some credit. This beleaguered defense was flawed. But throughout the playoffs they showed up when it mattered. After giving up a 70 yard touchdown run to Tim Hightower on the first offensive play of the divisional playoff game against Arizona, the Saints ass-whipped the Cardinals 45-7 the rest of the way – knocking Kurt Warner out of the game in the process.

The following week the Saints were by most statistics outplayed by the Minnesota Vikings. But five turnovers and numerous crushing shots that made Brett Favre’s body match his jersey color later New Orleans outlasted the Purple, claiming the NFC crown in overtime.

Finally, if that’s not enough, let’s look at the history of the Super Bowl. My brother wrote a post during the week leading up to the game asking if Manning vs Drew Brees was the best quarterback matchup in the league’s Super Bowl history. While that remains an arguable point, further analysis of those who have played in the game indicates that just 10 quarterbacks have ever won more than one Super Bowl.

So Manning missed an opportunity to join that crowd. But think about that – over the course of 44 seasons just 10 quarterbacks have won more than one Super Bowl.  And only 28 quarterbacks have ever been at the helm of Super Bowl winning teams. At anywhere from 26 to 32 teams for most of those 44 seasons that’s somewhere well north of 1300 quarterbacks who have started in the NFL during the timespan. Just 10 have won the big game more than once. And just 28 have ever won the Lombardi Trophy.

So sure. Peyton Manning isn’t perfect. He’s had his flaws in big games at times. But without getting into the all-time great numbers he is comfortably on his way to posting for his career he is still comfortably among the greats in terms of Super Bowl output, even with adding the loss to the Saints to his resume.

He’s a 10 time Pro Bowl selection and a five time first-team all pro. Despite the occasional flaws I’d take him at the top of any list of quarterbacks I was putting together if it came down to choosing someone to win the big game. So his legacy remains strong as far as I’m concerned.