Denver media absolutely shreds Payton..

On one hand I see where you're coming from. I've been a very vocal critic of SP since he left the way he did. He was always brash and arrogant but he was our HC and I knew that if he wasn't our HC then he wouldn't be my cup of tea. Same thing with CGJ and several others. I couldn't stand Steve Smith or Cam Newton. Had they been wearing black and gold I would've loved them. Thin line between love and extreme dislike.

But I say all that to say this, even for a hardcore SP critic like me, to call the man mediocre is just inaccurate imho. The dude could flat out coach football teams. Don't care for him at all now but he was great with the Saints. Of course he had flaws. A lot of flaws. But he was great. Won a Super Bowl in New Orleans and should've gone to at least two more if Gregg Williams and some refs use common sense at the end of those NFCCGs.
Indeed. I can understand folks who were ready to see SP leave and/or had other strong criticism of him. I mostly disagree with that, but I understand the point of view. But to call SP “mediocre” since XLIV, or suggest he only rode Brees’ coattails is just objectively and ridiculously wrong.