They say a picture says a thousand words. That would definitely be the case with this photo of Peyton Manning after a devastating Super Bowl loss to the Saints, 31-17. It shows a wide array of emotions: disgust, embarrasment, sadness, and disappointment of a great year ending on a sour note. In 15 years – maybe even ten, five, or one – maybe even a week – heck, even today: we will say that Peyton Manning “choked” when he threw an interception late in the game. Two weeks prior to the Big Game, Vikings quarterback Brett Favre threw an interception in the NFC Championship game against the Saints, practically allowing New Orleans to clinch a spot in the Bowl of Bowls. The casual fan will say that Brett “choked”.

Usually, I think that’s wrong. I’ve said this time-and-time again, and I’ll say it as long as I live – one guy can not ruin a game, as well as one can’t win it. It goes both ways, really. For example, in the AFC Championship this year, Manning had 377 yards and three touchdowns. The casual fan will tell you that Peyton “won the game by himself”. Not true – at all. The offensive line had to block, the receivers had to catch, and the defense had to stop the Jets stout running attack. People will also say that Brett Favre led the Vikings himself this year. However, those same folks won’t mention that the Vikings have easily the best defensive line in the NFL, a great offensive line, great receivers, and a great running back.

Fans of the NFL talk – a lot – about chokers. Specifically, quarterbacks. Honestly, I think the theory is ridiculous. I won’t say that being a choke artist doesn’t exist, but I will say this: football has always been a team game. When I played, my coach always told me that if all 11 guys did their job, that we could get something done. Sounds hard, but it’s 100 percent true. Obviously, the quarterback is the one under the spotlight. People will talk a lot about the stellar performance of Drew Brees during the Super Bowl, but they won’t talk about the great games of guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks or left tackle Jermon Bushrod.

But hey, that’s to be expected. I’d like to ask a question to every fan out there. When a quarterback throws an interception, who do you blame? I’ll bet you say the quarterback. But you won’t blame the wide receiver who ran a poor or completely wrong route. You won’t blame the left tackle who didn’t block a soul. You won’t blame the center who gave the quarterback a poor snap to work with. Sometimes, when a quarterback just makes a poor throw and/or read, it is his fault. Brett Favre’s NFC Championship interception was his fault. He made 1) a terrible decision, and 2) a poor throw. With a chance to win in field goal range, Favre commited a cardinal sin – threw across the field – right into the hands of Saints cornerback Tracy Porter.

There, he choked. He had a chance to win, and all he had to do was throw the ball away, but he threw victory into the Saints hands – literally. Look, every player has a bad game once in a while. The greats almost never have them, and the legends never have them. But playing quarterback is one of the most demanding things to do mentally, and when somebody makes a mistake, as I like to say, it’s just football. It happens. Unfortunately, when it’s not the grandest of stages, aka the playoffs, fans who don’t look into the situation call it a “choke job”.

That’s just not true. Not only that, it’s idiotic. In the NFL, quarterbacks are exposed time and time again. In the regular season and in the playoffs. Even with the rule changes added this year to help quarterbacks and hurt defenses, teams still averaged nearly two turnovers a game during the regular season. In the playoffs, it doesn’t get any easier. The final eight was the Ravens, Colts, Jets, Chargers, Cowboys, Vikings, Saints, and Cardinals. The Ravens are one of the best defenses in NFL history, the Colts – don’t let the stats fool you – have the fastest front four I can remember, led by Dwight Freeney. The Jets ranked No. 1 in most categories this year. The Chargers have been a great defense since starting off rather slow.

The Cowboys have a tremendous linebacking core, led by DeMarcus Ware. The Vikings are a ferocious defense, and are relentless in their pass rush. The Saints are an unbelievably opportunistic defense. They have ballhawks in the secondary like future Hall of Famer Darren Sharper and a guy starting to come into his own, Tracy Porter. And the Cardinals defense was much better this year, thanks to a very good secondary. Joe Flacco struggled against the Colts ferocious pass rush. Would you say he choked? Kurt Warner threw an interception and struggled against the turnover happy Saints defense. Did he? And lastly, Tony Romo was bad against a tough Vikings defense. Did he pull one of his “usual” choke jobs?

Then, in the Super Bowl, Peyton Manning threw a pick against the Saints in the Bowl to lose the game. Did he choke? Or were the Saints just better that day? Those are questions I’d like all NFL fans who buy into the “choker” notion to ask themselves.

Another thing that bothers me: the theory about Super Bowl rings. I don’t think having Super Bowl rings necessarily makes you great; nor do I think that no Super Bowl rings make you an average quarterback. Here’s a question: how many teams do you think this year were at least average? I would say quite a few. The Texans, Panthers, Titans, Dolphins, 49ers, Steelers, Jaguars, Broncos, Falcons, Bears, and Giants are in the tier of not great, but certainly not unbearable. The Jets, Ravens, Patriots, Packers, Eagles, Cardinals, and Cowboys are in the tier of very good, and the Colts, Chargers, and Saints are in the level of having an elite season.

That’s 21 teams who are to be taken seriously. 21 teams who are A) tough to plan for, B) tough to execute against, and C) both. What’s sad is, only 12 of those teams go to the playoffs, eight win a playoff game, and four go to championship games. One – just one – can cry tears of joy at the end of the year. This year, that team happens to be the New Orleans Saints. Only one quarterback gets to say at the end of the year that he reached his goal – at least I hope that’s his goal.

And in this league, there are lots of great quarterbacks. But only one gets the great accomplishment. But that doesn’t mean the others aren’t great.