Broncos player admits Peyton Manning ‘didn’t look like 18 out there’
Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos teammates admitted that something was night right with the 38 year old quarterback.
If you thought something looked off with Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, you weren’t the only ones. Apparently, even Peyton Manning’s teammates thought something looked off and that he did not look like his dominant self.
Peyton Manning just simply did not look like Peyton Manning of old in the Denver Broncos 24-13 divisional round playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Now of course we know that is because he was playing through a leg injury.
The soon-to-be 39 year old quarterback went 26-44 in completions for just 211 yards and one touchdown. He couldn’t connect hardly any of his deep balls and even his short throws lacked the velocity to get to his receivers before a defender had time to bat it down. Peyton just did not look comfortable at any point during the game.
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So it seems the debate will go on about the great Peyton Manning and his playoff woes. The narrative being how he seems to hardly ever be able to win the big game and he always chokes in the playoffs. Peyton Manning now has an 11-13 record in the playoffs, with nine of those losses coming in the first game of the playoffs.
However, it seems there was more to Manning’s struggles this year than just choking.
Peyton’s injury and decline seemed to begin during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs in week 13. Prior to that game, Peyton had thrown for 3,558 yards and 34 touchdowns in the previous 11 games. That’s an average of approximately 323 yards and 3 touchdowns per game. Since week 13, he threw for 1,169 yards and only 5 touchdowns in the final five games of the regular season. That’s averaging only 234 yards and just one touchdown per game.
That’s a pretty steep fall off from his usual production through the first 12 weeks. Even his teammates were noticing that something was just not right with their quarterback, according to Larry Brown Sports.
“You could tell something wasn’t right,” one Broncos player said of practice the past month. “He just didn’t look like 18 out there.”
Now that we know about the injury, it will be interesting to see what happens in the off-season. If Manning requires surgery, will the 39 year old be able to bounce back again next season and play at a high level?
If it was anyone else, I would probably say no, but I have a hard time betting against Peyton Manning.
H/T Larry Brown Sports
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