It was an eventful first Sunday of the NFL football season. The 49ers defeated the Packers in Lambeau in what could have been a preview of this season’s NFC Championship game, RG3 looked like the real deal in his first professional start as the Redskins defeated the Saints, the new offense of The Bears dominated the Colts and botched the dawn of the Andrew Luck era in Indianapolis, the Seattle Seahawks, everyone’s preseason favorite, came up short against the Cardinals, and the Jets defeated the revamped Bills in a game in the one where Mark Sanchez shone and Tim Tebow faded into the background.
All of these games occurred earlier in the day before what many considered the main matchup of Week 1, which was the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Denver Broncos in a Sunday night matchup that featured the return of Peyton Manning. .
I was never a fan of the Indianapolis Colts per se, but as the years went on I began to appreciate more and more all the little things that Manning contributed every week to help his team win games. Virtually from his first day at Indy, he fit the mold of what a franchise quarterback should be: reliable, durable, precise, polished, studious and, most importantly, a winner. Manning’s stats speak for themselves, and he’s likely to retire as the best regular-season quarterback the game has ever known.
The Colts imploded without him in 2011, falling to 2-14 and making one wonder how they seemed to rack up ten more wins as Cordwood (Scott Lillie™) every season Manning was under center. The sad truth is that Eli’s older brother hides many shortcomings at Indy, serving as the de facto offensive coordinator on the field calling plays and line formations, and routinely turning good receivers into greats and great receivers into future members of the team. Hall of Fame. .
He was a sideline delegate last year after experiencing a setback following offseason neck surgery, and while the NFL kept moving forward and we witnessed a great regular season, playoffs and Super Bowl, it definitely felt weird without the No. .18 in the field. It’s almost like he’s become part of the gaming subculture; not only because of his game on the field, but also because of his presence outside of it. In my lifetime I can’t think of a more marketable athlete outside of Michael Jordan, as he made a second run and attracted new fans with his entertaining commercials and easy going demeanor.
All of which brings us to Peyton’s debut tonight in Denver. NBC put a note at the beginning that it had been 610 days since Manning had last been in a game, so it would be natural for him to have some ring rust early on.
It was very strange to see him running onto the field in that bright orange Bronco uniform, almost as strange as the first time Montana suited up for the Chiefs or Favre for the Jets. My eyes adjusted to this strange image after a few minutes, however, and as Manning completed his first pass of the game to Eric Decker, I felt like he had never left an NFL group.
This sentiment was etched in the second quarter when the Broncos began to struggle on offense. The Steelers’ defense has long been considered one of the best in the league, and they have a habit of playing physically and pounding teams into submission. However, they were left helpless that night, as Manning performed a walk-through clinic. Pittsburgh’s defense couldn’t slow down Denver’s offense by any significant stretch once they got going, and the Broncos ended up winning by a score of 31-19.
The night probably couldn’t have gone better for the Broncos and their fans. Convincing Manning to sign with Denver was a blow to John Elway, but this has to be exactly what he had envisioned his team with a great quarterback at the helm would be like. Any lingering concerns about Manning’s health or arm strength will be put aside, as he took a few hits, threw all the pitches and showed plenty of life with his fastball.
Manning has always been a model of consistency, not just for the Colts all those years, but for the league as a whole. Having him back would have been great for the NFL under any circumstances, but it will be even better if he can replicate performances like tonight’s in the weeks and months to come. Executing the no huddle perfectly, changing protections and plays on the line; the guy is an artist and he can put the ball where he wants. There’s a new generation of signal callers making noise on Sundays, and as long as the Mannings and Bradys of the world keep playing, hopefully we get to see some more classic quarterback matchups.