Peyton Manning became a world champion for the second time on Sunday, but compared to other Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, his performance was downright lousy. Was it the worst ever?
It’s in the discussion.
Manning completed 13 of 23 passes for 141 yards, zero touchdowns and threw one interception in the 24-10 Super Bowl 50 victory over the Panthers. That combined for a quarterback rating of 56.6. Among other Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks with at least 10 pass attempts in the game, that's the third-worst quarterback rating of all time. Manning beat out only John Elway (Super Bowl XXXII) and Earl Morrall (Super Bowl V).
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But diving into each of those games, Manning might really be the worst of the worst. Elway actually ran in a touchdown, which doesn’t factor into his quarterback rating. And Morrall came in in relief for Johnny Unitas, so it's harder to criticize him for a partially-played game. Combining Morrall and Unitas also paints a pretty ugly picture, because Unitas completed just three of nine passes for 88 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble. But again, that's a little bit of apples and oranges considering they were two quarterbacks in one game.
And keep in mind: Manning's third-worst passer rating doesn't even include his two fumbles (one lost).
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There are other examples of barely-used quarterbacks who finished with higher passer ratings — like Bob Griese in Super Bowls VII and VIII — so there is some subjectivity in this exercise.
But given the statistical information available, Manning really does look like a strong contender for worst quarterback performance in a Super Bowl by a winning team. Not that that's going to bother him — because he got the second ring he has long coveted.
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Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Cam Newton and Petyon Manning combined for two of the worst performances by quarterbacks in Super Bowl history.
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Manning was aided by his team's stellar defense, and also by the fact that his counterpart at quarterback also had a particularly poor showing. Cam Newton finished with a 55.4 passer rating in the big game, the 10th worst QB rating of all time by any quarterback in a Super Bowl.
Adding Manning and Newton's game passer rating together is 112, which is the lowest added total of two Super Bowl quarterbacks' passer rating ever. No wonder the game was so ugly.