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Why It’s Laughable to Think that Peyton Manning Is Finished

By Caleb Calhoun

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Denver Broncos and former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Peyton Manning may have had modest stats against the Baltimore Ravens, but he is not too old.

You may have missed it, but on Sunday, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos got an opening win at home against the Baltimore Ravens. The win was an ugly defensive struggle with a 19-13 final score.

But with the way things went, you would have thought the Broncos lost.

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Against a Super Bowl-caliber defense and one of the NFL’s best teams, Manning committed the ultimate sin of not throwing a touchdown pass this game but throwing an interception.

The lack of one play and existence of another was enough for people to completely gloss over his 60 percent completion rate and ignore that crucial 81-yard field goal drive that ran time off the clock late in the game. Oh, and everybody had to pretend that he is not adjusting to a new system right now as well.

Instead, those arbitrary stats combined with the way he struggled at the end of last season has NFL officials once again saying he is finished.

What an overreaction that is!

So why is Manning finished? This is the question every official who says this should be asked. They need to break this down.

Well, he does not have the same velocity on his arm. 

But wait…Wasn’t he lacking that velocity when he threw for 55 touchdowns in 2013?

Okay, but he does not seem as comfortable when he is being pressured.

Well what quarterback is? And is this anything new with Manning, given his lack of mobility? Plus, doesn’t he get rid of it so quickly it doesn’t matter?

They can’t win when he throws the ball a lot in games anymore.

The Broncos won Sunday and he threw the ball 40 times.

Well………

Exactly.

Now let’s be clear on this: Manning did not have a good game Sunday. He’ll be the first to tell you. But he was coming off of an injury and is in a new offense, so he’s still adjusting.

Remember in 2008, when he came off of a surgery and could not get into his preseason rhythm? The Colts started the year 3-4 while Manning had only 10 touchdowns to nine interceptions through those first seven games. And with the Titans running away with the division, the Colts needed to pretty much win out to get a playoff spot.

And after Manning adjusted, he did just that, throwing for 17 touchdowns and only three picks through his final nine games of the year en route to what was his third straight MVP season at the time.

So yes, he has struggled early in the season before. It’s not an indication of his career being done.

We thought the New England Patriots were done early last year. Who thinks that now?

Manning may be 39, but he did not look in any worse shape than he ever has on Sunday. He struggled at the end of last year because it was clear an injury was affecting his accuracy.

Now, fully healthy, he just needs to get in rhythm and adjust to the new offense.

Once he does that, he will be fine. There is no reason to panic.

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