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Peyton Manning’s Greatness Overshadowing How Good Denver Broncos Really Are

By Dylan Hughes

Oct 23, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) looks to pass early in the first quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) looks to pass early in the first quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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While we admire Peyton Manning’s greatness each week, we fail to realize how good the Denver Broncos actually are.

The 2014 NFL season could be described with one word thus far: unpredictable. You could also throw in crazy, weird, surprising. All of those words would fit.

We have seen the defending Super Bowl champions show signs of weakness for the first time in what seems forever. We have seen the Dallas Cowboys take the league by storm behind DeMarco Murray, a defense that everyone doubted, and yes, Tony Romo.

We have also seen Colt McCoy take over as the Washington Redskins starting quarterback, which may be the most shocking of all. Well, the Cowboys being so good still has to be the most shocking.

Something that hasn’t been surprising is Peyton Manning, being, well, Peyton Manning. The best regular season quarterback in NFL history is still breaking records that seemed impossible to break at 38 years old. Just last week, Manning broke Brett Favre’s touchdown record, and has added four more since. Depending on how many TDs Manning throws in his next game against New England, he could surpass 50 for the second straight season. While he may not break his own record of 55 touchdowns in a season that he set last year, Manning could break his previous record of 49, and Tom Brady’s (who Denver faces in Week 9) previous record of 50.

Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos fans hold a sign for the total amount of touchdowns quarterback Peyton Manning (18) (not pictured) now has during the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the 49ers 42-17. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos fans hold a sign for the total amount of touchdowns quarterback Peyton Manning (18) (not pictured) now has during the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the 49ers 42-17. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

After a Week 7 victory over the San Diego Chargers, Manning is first in the NFL in touchdowns (22), third in passing yards (2,134), first in passer rating (119.0), and first in yards per attempt (8.5).

While we admire the living legend Manning is, we fail to admire how good the rest of the Broncos are.

After adding DeMarcus Ware, T.J. Ward, and Aqib Talib in the offseason, the Broncos’ defensive stats are holding up, ranking 11th in total defense and second in rushing defense.

The passing defense is struggling, however, ranking 20th.

While the passing defense does have some work to do, the run stop has been phenomenal. Every play the defensive line and linebackers are swarming the ball, not giving much of a chance to gain positive yards.

With Ware now on the opposite side of Von Miller, it was almost a guarantee for one of the two to have a great season as you can’t double team both. Miller leads the NFL in sacks with 9, and Ware is tied with five others for second at 7 sacks.

Defense was a major problem to fix over the offseason, and the other was the running game.

John Elway and friends seemed to think Knowshon Moreno asked for too much money in the spring, and let him go to South Beach to sign with the Dolphins. Denver seemed confident enough in second-year back Montee Ball, who struggled severely before injuring his groin in Week 5. Ever since his injury, Ronnie Hillman has taken over and helped balance out the offense a little bit.

After a total of 172 yards and one touchdown in four games (was hurt in 4th game) from Ball this season, Hillman has tallied 347 yards and two touchdowns ever since taking over the position. Even when Ball returns from his injury, he will undoubtedly be the second-stringer behind Hillman.

While we need to appreciate the great player Manning is, we also need to realize the Denver Broncos are perhaps the favorites to not only win their division and conference, but maybe even the Super Bowl. Denver showed Thursday night that they can handle the Chargers, and we’ll see how they fare versus the Patriots in New England next weekend.

After losing that Super Bowl so convincingly to Seattle last season, Denver needed to make some changes if they wanted to get back, but win. They acquired some big time free agents to add to the equation, and those weaknesses suddenly look a lot stronger.

Pay attention to the team surrounding Manning, but never forget that making to and winning a Super Bowl requires the five-time MVP to be playing at his best. Even at 38, Manning has arguably hit his peak in Denver and I don’t think you could argue against that. He’s not looking like a man who was removed from football for an entire season just a few years ago, and is now turning good receivers into great receivers just like he did in Indianapolis.

Forget about Super Bowl XLVIII, because the Broncos have and they’re playing towards making it back to the season finale in February. Barring any major injuries, Denver’s chances of making a second straight Super Bowl are looking strong.

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