Manning still King of the NFL Castle

           A fine wine. That’s the phrase I would use to describe Peyton Manning. He only gets better with age; and that’s a scary notion when you sit down and think about it. The first decade of the new millennium was dominated by the great #18 and by the looks of things; the next decade will also be dominated by him if he has anything to say about it.

           

            Personally, I think they may as well call the 2000’s the “Manning Decade”. Let’s have a quick look what Manning did in the 2000’s, by the numbers:

1 Superbowl Ring

1 Superbowl MVP

2 Superbowl Appearances

4 NFL MVP trophies

5 First Team ALL PRO selections

5 Offensive Player of the Year Awards

9 Pro Bowls

17 records set during the 2000’s

115 (Most wins as a starting QB in a decade)

314 (Most Touchdown Passes in a decade)

            I could do this all day but I’m pretty sure you get the point. Manning was also The Sporting News “Player of the decade”, the QB for Sports Illustrated “All-decade Team” as well as the QB for the NFL “All-decade team”. But I’m not here to talk about Manning during the 2000’s.

I’m here to talk about the 2010 Peyton Manning. The Manning who has dominated the first 3 weeks of the NFL Season. Through the first 3 weeks, Manning has already established himself as one of the, if not THE front runner to win this years MVP for a record 5^th time. First and foremost, consider the statistics. He ranks first in Passer Rating at 116.9%, first in TD’s with 9, 3^rd in yards with 1,013, 2^nd in completions with 87 and 4^th in completion percentage, completing 69% of his passes. All of this while not even throwing a single interception. For reference, the only other 2 starting QB’s who have yet to throw an interception are Mark Sanchez and Michael Vick. If these statistics after 3 games don’t blow you away then I don’t know what will. Manning has thrown for 300+ yards and 3 TD’s in all 3 games played.

Secondly, consider the surrounding cast around Peyton. His running game is the devastating duo of… oh wait, Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. Don’t get me wrong, both backs are serviceable, but neither are threats to take the ball all the way to the house on any given play. Sure he’s got Wayne and Clark, both of whom are all-world talents. But what happens when a team, such as the Broncos in game 3, decide that they are going to blanket both of them with double teams, tight bump and run man coverage and zone schemes with safety help? Simple. Manning loads up that right arm of his and connects with players such as Austin Collie and Blair White. Yes, Collie had his coming out party last year, but this is only his second season and would be ranked 4^th on the depth chart behind a healthy Wayne, Clark and Gonzalez. He is also a 4^th round draft pick. (Shameless shout out to a Canuck having success in the NFL, you go boy!)  5^th on the depth chart is Pierre Garcon, a 6^th round draft pick in his 3^rd season. Lastly, that leaves us with the aforementioned Blair White, the undrafted rookie, who was out there catching a TD pass.

I also won’t even mention the defense on the Colts. They can barely get off the field which leaves Manning even LESS time to put up the astronomical numbers he has been pumping out.

Some of you may get the impression that I’m saying Manning is a lock for the MVP this year. There are still 13 games to be played and anything could happen. But would you honestly bet against him? I sure won’t. After all, he’s still proving that he is the king of the NFL castle and he hasn’t been showing any signs of slowing down.