With only one career Super Bowl ring despite many opportunities, legendary Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway was 38 years old when he won one final championship to ride off into the sunset in 1998.
Current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is 39, and also a legend with one ring, but it’s beginning to look as though Manning won’t have the same chance to drop the mic to conclude his NFL career.
That’s because Manning’s arm just doesn’t have it anymore, and it’s becoming enough of a problem to keep him and his team from remaining elite in 2015.
When he struggled down the stretch last season, a lot of folks pinned those issues on a quad injury which was apparently a lot worse than we originally thought, but it’s not that simple.
Manning, was supposedly healthy entering this season but he probably can’t be expected to remain that way all year, so the reality is he’ll have to learn to be more effective while less than 100 percent. He told The MMQB’s Peter King last month that he still can’t fully feel his own fingertips and now he’s listed on the injury report with a back injury.
He averaged just 4.4 yards per attempt (the sixth-lowest mark of his 257-game career) in a touchdown-less performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday’s opener, going 0-for-4 on passes that traveled 20-plus yards, per Pro Football Focus. And that comes after he completed just one of his eight deep pass attempts during last year’s playoffs.
In his last four football games, Manning has completed just two throws beyond 20 yards.
Week 1 overreactions are dangerous, but with a road game coming up on short rest against the feisty Kansas City Chiefs, it’s fair to wonder if things are about to get worse for the five-time MVP.
Is Peyton Manning done? It’s entirely possible.
