Was Peyton Manning’s self-sack intentional?

Peyton Manning is one of the smartest players in the NFL, but did he hit the turf on purpose in the fourth quarter on that 34-yard gain to Emmanuel Sanders?

The Denver Broncos don’t have the aerial attack the once had when sure-fired Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning joined the team in 2012. Manning has built a reputation as arguably the best pre-snap quarterback the NFL has ever seen. Is it possible that he orchestrated the ‘self-sack’ on purpose early in the fourth quarter of the Broncos’ close game with the Pittsburgh Steelers to open up a big gain for Emmanuel Sanders?

With the Broncos needing a spark on offense, Manning pulled off an odd pass that resulted in Denver’s biggest play of the game: a 34-yard pass to Sanders early in the fourth quarter. Manning avoided the pressure from the Steelers Will Allen by falling to the ground at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Sunday afternoon, got to his feet and realizing that no whistle had been blown, threw a terrific pass to Sanders for the big gain.

Manning knew ahead of time that officials typically are not going to blow the whistle in that type of situation, one where Manning evaded the pressure, gathered himself, and made a great throw after hitting the frozen turf.

After the game, Manning revealed that his fall was surprisingly not an accident. He said, “I felt the that guy closing, so I stepped up and kind of leaned forward. My momentum just kind of took me down, I guess. I didn’t think that he had touched me. I told Emmanuel just to kind of be alert in case I fall down, get back up, to be uncovered.”

While the play wasn’t exactly scripted, it seems that Manning and Sanders were definitely on the same page should that type of situation come up in the Broncos’ AFC Divisional round game with the Steelers. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin tried to challenge the play, saying that Manning gave himself up on that play, but the officiating crew told Tomlin that it wasn’t a play that he could challenge.

Denver went on to beat Pittsburgh, 23-16 to move on to the AFC Championship Game where the Broncos will host the No. 2 New England Patriots for a chance to play in Super Bowl 50 in three weeks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.