Unfortunately for Peyton, Super Bowl XLVIII does little to affect his legacy

2014's internet-saturated sports culture is one that demands instant over-analysis. Our ever-so-short attention spans make every game a new first impression, a chance to refresh and edit our opinions of every player worth remembering. It's a culture in which LeBron goes from "choker" to "clutch" in less than a year, in which one game makes Jay Cutler "soft" and Joe Flacco "elite".

As a result, you've probably read at least five different articles today reflecting on what last night's 43-8 Super Bowl thumping means for Peyton Manning's legacy. I'm here to tell you that last night's game does absolutely nothing to change Manning's legacy. In fact, it was Peyton's failure to change his legacy last night that should stand as the biggest takeaway from last night (other than that the Seahawks are really good, of course).

Lets take a look at Manning's career entering last night's game. In his 16 season career, Peyton has undoubtedly separated himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. His regular season accomplishments are too lengthy to even attempt to list, but the highlights include a record five MVP awards, records for most passing touchdowns and yards in a season, and a ridiculous seven appearances on the AP's All Pro first team. He either leads or threatens the lead in nearly every major passing statistic. He's clearly in the very exclusive conversation for greatest quarterback of all time.

At the same time, Peyton's otherwise sparkling resume has always had one glaring blemish on it; a history of coming short in big games. Stemming back to his college days at Tennessee (where he infamously never beat SEC rival Florida), Manning has a laundry list of underwhelming performances in big games.

That's not to say he's incapable of playing well under the spotlight. Facing off against arch-rival Tom Brady in the AFC Championship game this year was certainly a big game, and Manning was surgical in leading his Broncos up and down the field against New England's depleted defense. It's not the first time Manning has brought his dominant regular season form to the postseason either; performances like his perfect QB rating of 158.3 in the 2003 Wild Card (ironically against the Broncos) have brought his overall postseason numbers up to a respectable 64.3% completion percentage, with 37 touchdowns against 24 picks in his 23 career playoff games.

However, Bill Parcells once famously said that you are what your record says your are, and in the playoffs Peyton is a sub-500 quarterback (11-12) with 8 one-and-dones, a losing record (1-2) in the Super Bowl and a litany of embarrassing meltdowns. No matter how hard Manning's many defenders try to ignore this fact, this is a relevant aspect of Manning's legacy. Even Manning's one Super Bowl win, the only thing separating himself from endless Marino comparisons, came in a postseason in which he threw 7 interceptions against only three touchdowns.

Right or wrong, Peyton had a chance to change all of that last night. A win last night would have given Manning multiple rings. It would have made him the first quarterback in history to win a championship with two different franchises. It would have finished off his finest statistical season with a championship, an accomplishment Tom Brady failed to manage in 2007. It would have, for most people, made any argument about Manning's so-so postseason resume a tired, moot point.

Instead, Manning's Broncos were thoroughly dominated, making all the hype about the #1 offense vs #1 defense seem laughable in hindsight, and while there's plenty of blame to go around, it's impossible to argue that Manning doesn't deserve some of it. There were the two bad interceptions, one on a panicked inaccurate pass and another when Manning should have taken the sack and lived for another down. There was the miscommunication on the game's first play, leading to a snap over Manning's head and a 2-0 Seahawks lead seconds into the game. There was the most potent scoring machine in league history, futilely trying to dink and dunk it's way down the field against a ferocious Seahawks defense. We all saw it.

Does this change Manning's legacy at all? Of course not! In fact, 2013 completely reinforced everything we already knew about Manning. It gave us the best regular season of all time from the best regular season quarterback of all time. It gave us more touchdowns, yards, "Omahas" and Papa Johns ads than we ever dreamed possible. Finally, it ended the way it has so often with Peyton, with an underwhelming performance in a big game.

None of this is legacy altering, at all. On the contrary, what we all witnessed last night was Manning likely blowing his best (and possibly last) chance to rewrite his career narrative, narrow the championship gap between him and his competition, and remove the last blemish on his legacy. Last night could have been the defining moment of Manning's Hall of Fame career, essentially undoing all the disappointing games before it; but instead it will now be among Tracy Porter's pick six and Ty Law's three interception game in the pantheon of Peyton gag jobs. In perfect Peyton fashion, he set a meaningless record (for completions in a Super Bowl) while doing it.

Some things never change.