Manning's ship has sailed, time to move on

Having suffering from Plantar Fasciitis back in the late 90's I can confirm the pain can be unbelievable. They have better treatment for it today than back then but in many cases there is no fixing it. In the beginning steroid shots helped me with the pain but eventually they quit working. Surgery in most cases won’t help it either.

Manning if he does have it wasn't showing extremely painful symptoms while he played yesterday. The degree of pain just wasn't there. During warm ups Manning was moving fine. Maybe this has been bothering Manning for a couple weeks but I think this is more of a cover story to spare Manning the indignity of being replaced and possibly benched next week.

Using the injured foot and ribs as an excuse is perfect for Manning. But that's not what he said after game. He admitted the injuries were not the problem; he said just didn't play well and hasn't played well all season with the exception of the Packers game.

If his name were not Peyton Manning he most likely would have been benched early in the season. Manning has thrown 17 INT’s this season which leads the league; while only throwing 9 TD’s. His QB rating is an embarrassing 67.6. He’s been sacked 15 times for a negative 95 yards. Most of Manning pass completions have come in the 5 to 15 yard range; he hasn’t completed many sharp deep throws over 15 yards.

The OL didn’t play well early in the season but they can’t be blamed for Manning’s lack of movement or ability to scramble out of the pocket. Nor can the OL be blamed for having to ditch Kodiak’s running game that requires a QB to take some snaps under Center.

The bottom line is the Manning experiment is over; it failed to produce a Super Bowl win. This was the reason he was bought in, not to win regular season games or the division, to shrink during the playoffs or to set passing records.

I’ve always believed that after Manning came off the field during the Super Bowl in Miami against the Bears that he was done winning Championships. His attitude after the game wasn’t a happy one or being thrilled to win it was more of a subdued reaction. His body language seemed to indicate he was just relieved it was all over, there was no joy there at all. In my opinion at that moment he lost his edge and though he continued to play well that burning desire to win another one just wasn’t there like the other great NFL QB’s. This was the reason I objected to Manning being signed by the Broncos. I had a gut feeling he just wasn’t going to get it done. It's not something I'm happy being right about because the Broncos are my team.

This isn’t to say I don’t respect Manning as a player or person he’s one of the all time greats but the front office, the coaching staff, the players and the fans don’t owe Manning anything.

Win or lose with Brock, the odds are, even with his inexperience, the Broncos have a better chance of finishing the season strong.

The Broncos running game should immediately improve since Oz can play under center, drop back, move in the pocket and use his arm strength to stretch defenses. The offense shouldn't be as predictable as it was with Manning in the shotgun all the time.

Personally I’m not sad about Manning’s demise, I feel like this is a great opportunity for the Broncos to move pass this being his team and more of it being the team’s team. The Broncos are far from being done this season, they have an excellent Defense and talented players on Offense. My hope is the second half story isn’t one were Manning is getting yanked in and out of the lineup. That would be an incredible mistake, there’s no sense in throwing games or a chance to win a Super Bowl because Manning’s fragile ego might get bruised. Bring on Brock!