re: Peyton vs. Eli "in the clutch"

Stats don't tell the whole story, but they tell the only story any two random people will (barring psychotic irrationality) be forced to agree on. They can debate the moral of the story til the cows come home, of course, but as far as the details go, there's no debate short of allegations of impropriety in recording the stats.

"Intangibles" are a very real thing. I played football in high-school (3rd string, mind you, on a team that won 3 games in two years) and I certainly saw the intangibles at work. But here's the thing -- intangibles are entirely about perception. Stats aren't. I actually got put in at QB for a few series once after we'd given up 8 sacks in the first half. (At the time, I assumed it was because I was fast and could do a basic pitch or hand-off; now I realize it was probably because the coach didn't care if I got injured ) I had no intangibles to speak of. People liked me but I couldn't lead a team very well. I was fast but I didn't have the instincts to slip through the line. But my momma thought I did a wonderful job. She had no idea what 'intangibles' were, but had she known the term, she would have described me as having great intangibles despite having a stat sheet that showed I didn't fumble, didn't throw, and gained no yards. It's all about perception. You can rave about someone's intangibles all you want. The only thing required to mount an effective counterargument is one person going, "Nah...his intangibles suck."