Peyton Manning Wins Another Award; Continues to Silence Doubters

If anyone is still waiting for Peyton Manning to falter or wear down; they are going to be waiting a long time. Manning is showing no signs of slowing down. He was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season. Manning threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The win was the 11^th straight for the Denver Broncos and secured home-field advantage through the playoffs.

In terms of the regular season, it was the perfect ending for Manning who has answered every single question and doubt on his way to his second best statistical season of his Hall of Fame career. When Manning signed with the Broncos in March of 2012; more than a few people said he would never make it back and even if he did, he would never be the same player. Manning then dealt with the questions all through training camp; did his passes have the same zip they used to, his passes were wobbly and he didn’t throw deep enough in practice.

Despite a solid preseason, the doubters were back out in force when the Broncos got off to a shaky 2-3 start. The questions about arm strength were at all-time high following back to back losses to the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans. Manning was not terrible in those games, but he also made some uncharacteristic mistakes. Then the Broncos came back from 24-0 down to the San Diego Chargers and that game changed the season; both for Manning and the Broncos.

Since that Monday night in San Diego, Manning has been terrific and all of the questions have been answered including the last one in the last couple of weeks. There were some who believed that Manning would wear down as the season came to a close, but those doubts were erased as Manning has been outstanding over the last three games of the season.

Now he gets a bye week to get any rest ha may need, but I’d be willing to bet that Manning has all ready looked at tape of the three teams that the Broncos may play in the divisional round. Looking back on it now, doubting Manning was foolish. He’s back to where he’s always been; on top of the NFL.

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