The Manning Injury Conundrum

Written by John Edward Betancourt

I'm glad now that I slept before sharing my thoughts on our tough loss to the Colts, because well, so much more information has surfaced regarding the offense's awful play.  We have learned that Peyton Manning has been playing on some kind of severe thigh injury since the Chargers game a month ago.  Now I say some kind of injury because well...we still don't know what kind. 

I've heard everything from a quadriceps tear, to a quadriceps strain to two strains and a big bruise and it just goes on and on.  Regardless, this injury explains a lot when it comes to Manning's recent play.  He is of course a prototypical quarterback who believes in using every bit of his body to throw the ball. From his toes to his fingertips, no muscle is wasted. To have any injury to the thigh makes it difficult to throw. Now we see why he was tossing balls in weird ways throughout the game and well...that injury cost the Broncos the game.  

The good news is, there's no question regarding Manning's toughness, I'm sure that's a hell of an injury to play through. The bad news is, this reveals some complex problems with the Broncos. First and foremost, coaching. I say that for one particular reason. Obviously the Broncos staff was aware of this injury at some point, they saw the struggles he was going through, so why not sit Manning and let him heal? Yes, I understand he earns a salary of $19 million a year and yes I get he needs to be tough and that the playoffs are on the line. But next man up is part of the game and this is the obvious end to not letting him heal, and that's on the staff. It also sends a bad message to backup quarterback Brock Osweiler. You drafted this guy to take over someday for Peyton, you also have him at the ready to step in and play. Your defense is finally coming on strong and your run game is solid...why not put him in? If the team doesn't trust him or think he is ready in his development, that's also on the coaches to get him ready and get him where he needs to be.

Yet, this all boils down to one giant problem...that awful offensive line and Denver's lack of addressing it in the offseason. Yes, they got more weapons on defense and offense, but really the line was never taken care of.  Center and Right Tackle are a mess, and it made no sense to move Louis Vasquez, one of the best guards in the game to Tackle and let's be honest about Manny Ramirez...he's awful. He embarrassed himself and the team with his airball snap in Super Bowl XLVIII and he played worse this year. Manning took too many hits this season, and this is also an end result of not addressing that line. 

Manning's injury is an eye opener for the Broncos I hope. For one, they need to expect better from the players around their quarterback, especially when it comes to that line and quite frankly, if you want to win a Super Bowl with Peyton, give him all the tools he needs. It's surprising I have to say that, because that's how Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway won his two championships, and his O line was outstanding.  These two glaring issues make this loss sting worse, because it was preventable, the team bought into the hype that Peyton Manning was on his own invincible, rather than making him invincible. It's a costly lesson to say the least and we won't know if the team has learned it until we see what moves are made in the offseason.  

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