Peyton Manning Proves Doubters Wrong ... For Half A Game
BOSTON (CBS) -- He's old. His arm is all done. He can't get it done in the playoffs any better than he has in his career. All these things have been said about Peyton Manning in the past year, especially around these parts. But in just one half of football on Sunday, Manning made all of that evaporate.
This is not to say that Manning is completely back or is guaranteed to continue playing well for the Broncos in the playoffs, or that he will still have his share of doubters. But his second-half comeback performance against the San Diego Chargers to earn the Broncos the AFC's No. 1 seed gave his supporters a chance to speak glowingly and optimistically of him without sounding completely delusional. This was no mirage; Peyton wasn't spectacular, but compared to the beginning of the season? Pretty damn good.
I have been a vocal critic of Manning this year, not necessarily because of how he played for the first 10 weeks of the 2015 season (which was not good), but because of how the media continued to protect him. They still speak about him as if he's not only the Manning of 2006 but can be counted on to elevate his game in January (and, as anyone who's being honest with himself knows, Manning has not consistently been that guy in his career). But for one game - half a game, really - Manning looked like the Broncos' savior.
As critical as I have been of Manning's declining play and the media's treatment of him, I'm not going to pretend that he didn't look good on Sunday. The Broncos faltered for the first half of the game and turned the ball over at an alarming rate, but once Manning came in it felt like they came alive. No. 18 made the throws he needed to make, the Broncos running game started finding holes and breaking big plays, and most importantly, they didn't turn the ball over. I believed Osweiler gave the Broncos a better chance to win, but based solely on Sunday's result, I was wrong. Even Manning at the end of the line could be a better option than the untested Osweiler.
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Manning's detractors will point to the success of the ground game as the real reason for the Broncos' turnaround, and they would not be wrong. But it's still Manning out there calling the handoffs, and when called upon to throw the ball his passes were sharper and harder than they looked for most of the season. Manning's time off to rest his injured foot clearly benefitted him, as it did when he looked strong against the Green Bay Packers coming off a bye week. He'll have another chance to play fresh when the Broncos play their divisional round game after a first-round bye.
I never denied that Manning is still the smartest QB in the league and would probably be a better game manager than Osweiler. But if Gary Kubiak sticks with Manning as his starter, which after Sunday he should, he needs to let Peyton be Peyton. He needs him changing plays at the line, calling for protections, exploiting weaknesses, and making the right decisions at the right time. If Peyton is thrown back out there to run the Kubiak offense again, the results will not be pretty for the Broncos.
Given Manning's history in the playoffs (and save the "it's a team sport" argument, he needs to be held accountable at some point), I'm still skeptical of his ability to lead the Broncos on a deep playoff run. It remains to be seen whether Manning can keep up the level of play he showed on Sunday. But for at least one week, the media can happily ignore that other story about Manning and praise him for sparking the Broncos and wishfully thinking he will lead the Broncos to Santa Clara.
I was wrong about Manning ... for half a game. Let's see how he does in the next one.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
