The Peyton Manning Excuse Machine is Firing on All Cylinders
ESPN – Now, Peyton Manning gets a chance to rest. Big question: Does he really need a break? Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers kept Manning on the sideline most of the game and handed the Denver Broncos an unexpected and harmful 27-20 loss Thursday night… “We didn’t play well, didn’t stay on the field, didn’t have the ball much, and, when we did, we didn’t do much with it,” Manning said. The Broncos gained 13 yards on the 13 plays they ran after taking a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter. That covered four drives during which they went three-and-out three times and picked up a total of one first down…
As most veterans do, especially this time of year, Manning griped about the short turnaround between a Sunday and Thursday game, the likes of which have become more common since the NFL started scheduling midweek contests for almost every week. Adding to the fatigue: Denver ran 91 plays on offense while scoring 51 points Sunday in a blowout over Tennessee. “Did the (91) plays on offense take a toll? I can’t answer that,” Manning said… “A Thursday night game, second division game, you’re never sure what you’re going to get,” Manning said. “But it’s been that way all season for us. Teams play us different than they play other teams.”
Bwahahaha! I love it! This is amazing. As a long time student of the Peyton Manning Excuse Machine (TM), this is a towering achievement, even by the Worldwide Leader’s lofty standards. So Manning kicked away the No. 1 seed in the AFC because he was so tired from running up the score against Tennessee? and he says it’s because other teams try extra hard against Denver? I mean, I thought they’d go with the fact that Wes Welker was out or say “we had some protection problems” or blame the weather. You know, stick to the Manning Excuse Machine manual. But this? Saying he was tired from being so awesome four days earlier? This is perfecting the art of Alibi-Making.
With a chance to basically sew up home field throughout the playoffs, at home against a 6-7 warm weather team, Manning led the Broncos to 13 points in the last 57 minutes of the game. By contrast, with the Cleveland game on the line, Brady led the Pats to 14 points in 1:31 with no time outs. Anyone who hasn’t been tonguing Peyton’s prostate the last 13 years will admit it’s because he spits the bit when the weather turns bad and Brady thrives in it. It’s not opinion, it’s fact. In his career in December, Peyton is 44-20. With a win this weekend, Brady’s will improve to 44-6. But the national pundits can’t acknowledge it. Hell, the clowns on NFL Network called him “the best quarterback of our generation” like it’s not even open to debate. And if they’ve shown a replay of that terrible pick he threw in the 4th quarter yet, I haven’t seen it. It’s like we’re North Korea and he’s Dear Leader. He’s infallible and they have to find anything to explain his failures, no matter how ridiculous. Oh well. At least the short week will give him all weekend to clear space for his next hollow, meaningless MVP trophy. @JerryThornton1
PS. In case you didn’t hear, the fans in Denver got all stabby last night outside the stadium. I guess frustration boiled over because they’re still not used to Peyton gagging late in the year. But they’ll get it eventually. Just ask them in Indy.