How Much Does Peyton Manning Have Left In The Tank?
By Ernie Padaon
How much longer does Peyton Manning have to play in the league? At 38 years of age, we know that time is running out on the Hall of Fame quarterback. Brett Favre called it quits when he was 41 years old. Does Manning want to go till he is 41?
Other great quarterbacks in the league like Joe Montana and Dan Marino retired at 38 years old. That retirement time is coming up on us quick. Manning has talked about his retirement plans in the past and said that he wants to play until he sucks:
"“Brady said he was going to play until he … sucked,” Manning said with a smile. “That’s a pretty good line. I’m kind of the same feel. I don’t have a set number.“Some guys can hang on, can hang on and hang on and get another year vested, I guess, if that’s the goal. If you can really produce and help a team, and you enjoy playing, I think that’s up to the individual.” – ESPN"
Peyton has a couple more seasons left under his current contract. Could he be looking to play out the final 2 years of his contract? Will he get to age 40 as a quarterback?
He wants to play until he sucks. In the last few half of this season, he hasn’t been the same Peyton Manning that we all have known. He was being questioned about a thigh injury for his latest performance against the Bengals. They were wondering if it was bothering him and hindering his performance.
He threw 4 interceptions in that game. That is the first time that he has thrown 4 picks in a Broncos uniform. The last time that he threw 4 interceptions in a game was in 2010 and he did it in back-to-back games.
The Broncos have been limiting the amount of throws in games of late, with only 20 throws each in the games against the Chargers and Bills. The Broncos running game has been strong, so that could be part of the reason. Anderson picked up over 160 yards in back-to-back games in week 12 and week 13. In the last 3 games though, he has not had more than 85 yards.
Are we starting to watch the fall of Peyton Manning? This has been a question for the last few years with Peyton. The talk started in 2011 when Peyton had neck surgery. Just looking at his stats this season, he will likely finish the season with his least amount of passing yards since 2008. He will have the least amount of pass attempts since 2007.
He has started skidding in the second half of the season. In the team’s last 8 games, Peyton Manning has 17 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions and the team has a 5-3 record. In the first half of the year, Peyton threw only 3 interceptions and only loss one game. With the playoffs a couple of weeks away, Peyton needs to get back to playing at a high level. He has been bounced one-and-done in the playoffs 8 times in his career. Could he be looking at number 9 now?
Will Peyton bounce back against the Oakland Raiders for week 17? He could use the momentum. Another bad performance and a one-and-done in the playoffs could bring up talk of retirement again.