NFL Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning Is No Longer Elite

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By @Will_Gellman

Peyton Manning

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Peyton Manning is a legend. He will probably go down as one of the best quarterbacks of all-time. He has been called by many the best regular season QB of all-time. However, for every NFL player, even a legend like Manning, there is an inevitable steep decline as they age. They then become a shell of the player they once were. For him, that time may have finally arrived, unfortunately for the Denver Broncos.

Despite having among the best weaponry in the league at his disposal, Manning has looked completely out of sorts the last handful of games. His accuracy has dwindled, he throws passes away when he still has an opportunity to make plays and his arm strength is virtually nonexistent. He has never had the strongest arm, but lately, the decline in his deep throwing ability has been painfully evident.

His numbers since mid-November are especially telling that something isn’t quite right with the 38-year-old QB. Since his five TD, two INT game on Nov. 9 against the Oakland Raiders, he has been very mediocre. Since that time, he has thrown for 11 TDs with eight INTs and just 2,004 yards passing in eight games, numbers that would be pitiful for even the worst QBs in the league.

He was once great, but his time at the top of the league may now be over. With the offensive weapons he has like Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Wes Welker, Julius Thomas and even a productive running back to spell him in C.J. Anderson, he should be playing much better than he has been. In fact, the Broncos should have been the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl (if not at the very least make it much harder on the rest of the field).

Instead, he has done nothing but overthrow and underthrow his open receivers down the field lately, particularly tonight in a disappointing home loss to the Indianapolis Colts. To make matters worse, he threw for just 187 yards and a single TD with a completion percentage of just over 56 percent in the game. It can be argued that this game was another that he choked away in the playoffs single-handedly for his team. The bottom line is that if he doesn’t play better next season (if he comes back) than he has lately, he may find himself out of a job at some point, not on his own terms either.

Will Gellman is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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