Peyton wins the Bloodline Battle

Knowshon Moreno was the Man of Hour in Week 2.

If you watch any professional sport you’ll rarely see games where 2 Brothers face each other. While the media makes it into interesting hype for the serious fan it doesn’t really matter, it’s just another game. The only comparison that fans should be concerned with is when the playoffs begin in December and if our half of the bloodline wins when it matters most.

If you look at the 2 regular season records of the Manning Brothers Eli Manning can't come close to matching Peyton Manning statistically but in the playoffs Eli has a better playoff record. Eli is 8-3 in postseason games while Peyton is 9-11. Eli is 2-0 in Super Bowls and Peyton is 1-1. As great as Peyton has been I’ve said in the past I’d rather have Eli as my Quarterback in the postseason. Eli, as his record indicates has handled the postseason pressure far better than his Big Brother. 

It the big scheme of things this is what will matter. Peyton was signed for one reason, and one reason only to get to and win a Super Bowl for the Broncos. If he doesn’t achieve that goal in my opinion for all of his regular season greatness thus far he’s had for the Broncos he’ll be considered a failure.

He certainly is playing very well right now; he has a gaudy 9 TD passes and 769 yards so far. The Broncos have played 2 quality opponents in a row to begin the season taking them both to the slaughter pen. Eli in this one just didn't have enough of a team around him to have a chance.

Just like last week, the Broncos couldn’t run the ball or score big in the first half but in the 3^rd quarter they exploded. For some QB’s a 307 yard 2 TD passing day would be a good one but by Peyton’s own standards he would probably say it was just a serviceable performance. In the end though the final score is the best stat and of all his stats I’m sure he prizes the W’s far more than the passing statistics.

I give credit to the Offensive Line they played excellent in pass protection. Last week they gave up 3 sacks this week a goose egg. It’s an important stat, should Manning get hurt the bottom will fall out for the Broncos. Ryan Clady had a scare in the 4^th quarter when a player rolled over his leg but I assume he must be okay because I haven’t seen an injury report saying he’s badly hurt.

The other noteworthy performance was turned in by Knowshon Moreno. After Montee Ball fumbled a sure TD run he took most of the snaps and made the most of them. He had 93 yards rushing and 2 TD’s. I’ve been a very outspoken critic about Moreno in the past but on this day he deserves praise because results are what matter. I still believe it’s just a matter of time before Ball is the primary RB but so far Moreno has been excellent in his role.

The Broncos Defense held the Giants to a measly 19 yards rushing. The DL and the LB’s played very well. It was good to see LB Danny Trevathan lead the team in tackles with 8 solos and 2 assisted instead of one of the Safety’s leading that category.

In the secondary the Broncos still gave up to many yards and big plays. Chris Harris got burned for a TD but came back and picked off one of the 4 INT’s the Broncos had for the day. The Broncos secondary for as well as they have played so far is still the most questionable unit on defense.

As long as Manning and the offense can score over 40 points in a game they’ll cover the backs of the Broncos D but once they play a team that can run and toss the ball as well as they can in a tight game that’s when the real test will come. Thankfully so far that test hasn’t come yet and hopefully as the season moves on they’ll improve.

The Oakland Raiders don’t look to be much of a test either but they can’t overlook them. They can’t overlook any team. I’d like to see the Broncos put 60 or 70 points up on the Raiders but I wouldn’t be surprised if the game is much closer than Fans might think.