Old Peyton reared his ugly head, but will he be back?

It's all going to change.

Need a running game to win a Super  Bowl? Not after Super Bowl XLIV.

What about by-the-book, conventional play calling? Not so much anymore.

Peyton Manning the Winner previously slain Peyton Manning the Choke Artist years ago? Well, that one maybe to soon to call.

Before Manning won his last championship, he was considered a choke artist. Someone with considerable talent but the inability to win the big one. He wins a Super Bowl, followed by four years of big comebacks against the Patriots and a few other big games, and he's the most clutch guy who ever lived. People forgot about his past, gushing on and on about how great he is.

Despite his choke job in the big game, I don't think Manning's going to revert to his old self. There was one big part of 2006 Peyton that wasn't present in Sunday's model.

The old Peyton would have thrown his teammates under the bus. Hard. And he could have gotten away with it Sunday. People love Manning so much, plus he would have had the truth on his side. Hank Baskett was ready for the onside kick. As a receiver, he should be able to recover that. But maybe he was thinking "Oh my God! If I bobble this, people will realize I'm nothing more than a reality star who's about to have a baby with a vapid nude model whose self-esteem was so low she allowed herself to be shared with two other women by a 97-year-old man." That would explain the inexplicable case of butterfingers.

There's plenty more, but it's fun just to pick on Mr. Kendra. The point is Manning could have gone down that road he used to - "We were in position to win, if we could have made a play or two on special teams, we could have won." He didn't. He did say, "Their offense staying on the field kept us off the field." That's more of a fact, and if it is a shot at the defense, a much weaker one that in the past. At least he didn't call Matt Stover a liquored-up idiot. (See, I'm apologizing already.)

So I don't think we'll be seeing Peyton the Choker every game. In fact, I'd imagine Manning will win another Super Bowl before his career is over, especially since now he's motivated again. Maybe he'll focus less on licking Oreos and playing Justin Timberlake in pingpong.

Besides, the loss was probably karmic payback for intentionally losing the last two games of the year. They pretty much determined who was in the playoffs by forfeiting the Jets game after leading through three quarters, then deciding it wasn't worth even showing up the last week of the year.

Maybe, just maybe, Manning was little rusty. I know he played two playoff games, but won both by a combined 30 points - although Colts trailed the Jets in the third quarter in the AFC Championship Game, it was hardly in doubt. Maybe he was rusty in Manning-esque situations

The regular-season game against the Jets, when the Colts led by four in the third when Manning and the starters were lifted, was on track to be a nailbiter that would require some Manning magic. But out goes Manning, and away goes the Colts' lead.

Hopefully this will lead to coaches thinking twice about "resting" their starters. For every Wes Welker freak injury, you have a case of a team losing because they're rusty. Seems like a case of trying to outguess and outsmart themselves. If an injury is going to happen, it's going to happen. Losing Welker wasn't the reason the Patriots lost 33-14 to the Ravens.

Playing your starters late in the season could be considered a bold move, mainly because it goes against conventional thinking. Hopefully, Saints coach Sean Payton eradicated any notions of conventional wisdom. His calls mainly worked out, and everybody is complimenting him on his bravado.

But if Baskett does his job and that onside kick fails, the same people complimenting him are blaming him for the Saints' loss. That fourth-and-goal call where they fail to get the touchdown instead of taking three points becomes stupid.

But the same people that would be condemning that call are instead commending it, because his other gutsy calls worked out. Of course, Bill Belichick went for a "gutsy" fourth-and-2 call in his own territory to keep Peyton Manning off the field earlier this year and was blasted because it failed. That call was no more gutsier than the onside kick.

Those same conventional thinkers would tell you that you need to run the football to win in the NATIONAL ... FOOTBALL ... LEAGUE. These were two of the worst rushing teams in the NFL, and the Saints for 51 yards against the Colts.

But each team had the best quarterback in their conference - at least for 2009. So does that mean rushing is dead, as so many are quick to declare? Nope. It just means you have to be really, really good at something to make up for a weakness.

Is it likely to change anything? We can only hope.

But don't hold your breath.