But there really shouldn’t be much to argue about.
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Manning replaced Brock Osweiler in the third quarter Sunday and led the Broncos a 27-20 win over the San Diego Chargers that clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs for Denver. Or so it seems. I thought Brock was seeing things well, playing well.
As soon as it became clear that the Broncos were going to fall behind in a game that they had to have in order to not only secure the No. 1 seed in the conference but also avoid blowing a five-game lead in the AFC West, Manning was warming up on the sidelines.
The Broncos will play the entire AFC South and the Panthers and Falcons from the NFC South. The Broncos play at New Orleans and Tampa Bay for the first time in a dozen years, the team said.
If you’ve ever seen Manning after a regular-season game, he’s usually pretty emotionless whether his team wins or loses. With the inside track to Super Bowl 50 hanging in the balance, the head coach was most comfortable entrusting Denver’s fortunes to someone who hadn’t taken a snap since November 15. At that point, it looked as if Manning’s only hope to get into the game would be mop-up duty to test his playoff readiness. “We had a couple of plays set up that could have ended the game-a post to [WR] Emmanuel [Sanders] and if we have time to make the throws”. “It’s just another example of us-we’ve got some young guys up front”.
On Monday, Kubiak said he thought “everything was OK” with Manning’s foot.
Osweiler was 14 of 22 for 232 yards, one TD and two interceptions – one went off receiver Jordan Norwood’s hands and on the other Osweiler’s arm was hit by a linebacker as he threw. The Broncos offense turned the ball over 5 times in the first two and a half quarters.
Denver coach Gary Kubiak has been noncommittal about who the Broncos starting quarterback will be in the divisional round of the playoffs, but that’s probably not something Manning is thinking about just yet. Before Sunday, many people (including myself) believed that Brock Osweiler would start for the remainder of the season; however, after a poor showing on Sunday, Peyton Manning might have re-claimed the starting role. The latter could be explained, while the former would lead to second-guessing for years to come.
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. There are plenty of reasons beyond being able to live with a negative outcome that point toward No. 18 returning to the lineup.
Obviously, Manning winning was more important to Manning fans than the Broncos winning. Thomas only recorded one touchdown on the season with Peyton Manning at the helm, largely due to Manning’s lack of deep ball attempts. Marshall had only returned to practice last Friday after missing two days of work because of an ankle injury he suffered against the Bengals on December 28.
“I’ve just never been through anything like that before”, the 39-year-old Manning said.
And finally, the veteran will provide Denver with valuable experience during a postseason run that could see matchups against the likes of Pittsburgh and New England, teams led by quarterbacks who have combined to win six Super Bowls.
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The big question a lot of experts and fans are wondering is who will start for the Denver Broncos?
