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Lets take a look at the Broncos schedule.
Baltimore - 12th ranked defense
New York Giants - 8th ranked defense
Oakland - 22nd ranked defense
Philadelphia - 29th ranked defense
Dallas - 32nd ranked defense
Jacksonville - 27th ranked defense (tied for 27th)
Indy - 20th ranked defense (loss)
Washington - 18th ranked defense
San Diego - 23rd ranked defense
Kansas City - 24th ranked defense
New England - 26th ranked defense (loss)
Kansas City - 24th ranked defense
Tennessee - 14th ranked defense
San Diego - 23rd ranked defense (loss)
Houston - 7th ranked defense
Oakland - 22nd ranked defense
Houston averaged out the year ranked 7th but had played higher than that earlier in the season. By the time of their week 16 match up with Denver they were missing key pieces and were clearly in the "Dear Lord just let this season end" mode.
Look at that list. Eleven out of their sixteen regular season games were against defenses ranked #20 or worse. His two playoff wins this year were rematches against the 23rd ranked defense and the 26th ranked defense respectively Football season is the epitome of small sample size. Doc your point that Brees is substantially the same as Manning is spot on. If you were to swap the Saints' one regular season match up with Seattle(1st ranked defense) and two meetings with Carolina(2nd ranked defense) for three games against a #20 or worse defense, he would have finished the season almost exactly where Manning is.
This is the equivalent of a hitter going all year and never facing a true #1 starter.
Manning hasn't seen anything as ferocious as the Seattle defense in a long time.