Time is running out. I've got only a few more days to get over my man-crush on Peyton Manning.

It won't be easy. Even during his perfunctory conference call with the media Tuesday, I found myself wondering how anyone can pack so much smart and charming and successful into one human body. And he didn't really say anything all that interesting.

"It's going to be a tough game here in Indy on Saturday," he said. "We know that, but it'll be two really good teams playing against each other."

That isn't exactly going to stop the presses, but when Manning delivers even the most innocuous comment with that folksy Southern lilt, you just want to find one of those blue-and-white "We're No. 1" foam fingers and tickle him under the chin.

I'm not the Lone Ranger. The whole country is having a love affair with Peyton, who seems as comfortable making people laugh on "Saturday Night Live" as he does making opposing fans cry on Sunday afternoons. That's why he's the perfect pitchman to replace Tiger Woods at the top of the sports advertising food chain.

I already liked him better than Tiger anyway. Manning has fronted for everything from satellite television to cellular phones, and always with a wink and an Everyman quality that makes you wonder how he can be so gosh-darn likable at the same time he's carving up NFL defenses like a mad butcher.

Baltimore sports fans know what I'm talking about, even as they sneer at the misappropriated horseshoe on his helmet. They might hate the Colts and still feel the hurt of their leaving, but nobody hates Peyton Manning - at least not until game time Saturday night - and nobody really questions his talent or his reputation as a terrific player and a winner.

It has not always been so. Manning is recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but there was a large block of his pre- Super Bowl career when it was fair to wonder whether - for all that ability - he would ever win the big one.

There were enough near-misses, both in college and in the NFL, to put him in danger of joining Dan Marino in the pantheon of the greatest quarterbacks who never won the big one.

That all changed during the 2006 season, when he finally shook that monkey off his back with a convincing march through the playoffs and a victory over the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. But it's still fair to question whether his postseason credentials measure up to his image.

The Ravens certainly don't have to put him on a pedestal. The only time he ever faced them in the playoffs, he could not get the ball into the end zone. The Colts won, 15-6, but it certainly wasn't a superhuman effort by the eventual Super Bowl Most Valuable Player.

The Colts have stumbled in the first round of the playoffs each of the past two years - both times against the San Diego Chargers - and Manning's career postseason record is just 7-8. If you isolate his title run three years ago, his playoff record over the remainder of his career is a very pedestrian 3-8 and just 2-3 in his home stadium.

Of course, you can't take away the year of his greatest success, but - if you're grasping for reasons the Ravens might win Saturday night - you can rest assured that for all the wonderful things that Manning is, there is one thing he is not.

Invincible.

He was fairly human during the Colts' regular-season game against the Ravens earlier this season at M&T; Bank Stadium, throwing a pair of interceptions in a game the Ravens were in position to win until Joe Flacco got picked off deep in Colts territory in the final minutes.

Everybody knows that the Ravens have lost seven straight times to the Colts, but Manning knows that could mean as much at Lucas Oil Stadium this week as the Ravens' winless history against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots did Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.

"I've always thought every possession against the Ravens, it feels like a grind," Manning said.

"Every time you get a first down or certainly are fortunate to get a touchdown, you feel like you've done something really good."

As I pointed out earlier, he didn't exactly light it up for the Baltimore media Tuesday afternoon. Ravens fans can only hope for a similar performance in the game Saturday.

I hope to be over him by then.

Listen to Peter Schmuck when he hosts "Sportsline" on WBAL (1090 AM), and check out "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.