Tag: Peyton Manning (Page 14 of 41)

      Colts earn No. 3 seed in AFC after narrowly beating Titans

      January 2, 2011 /

      Here are three quick-hit observations on the Colts’ AFC South-clinching 23-20 win over the Titans on Sunday.

      1. Colts hit jackpot on Sunday.
      First, the Chiefs lost to the Raiders at home. Seven. Then, the Colts beat the Titans on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expires. Seven. Then, the Jaguars lose to the Texans. Seven…jackpot. All right, so that last thing didn’t even need to happen if the Colts beat the Titans but it worked well with my jackpot theme so I forced it in there to make the bad analogy work. Sue me. Give Indianapolis credit for not backing down when Tennessee came out swinging. The Titans had nothing to play for and it’s human nature to think that, in that situation, Tennessee might roll over. But they didn’t, and the Colts showed some resolve by continuing to fight for four quarters. You would expect them to do that with the playoffs on the line, but look at the Chiefs. They would have won the No. 3 seed in the AFC had they beaten the Raiders, who also had nothing to play for. But the Chiefs thought Oakland would lay down and when Oakland didn’t, Kansas City tucked tail and ran away. Now Indianapolis has the No. 3 spot and has earned a date with the Jets next weekend.

      2. Manning does it again.
      This wasn’t an overly impressive outing for Peyton Manning, who was out-gunned by Kerry Collins (who threw for 300 yards and finished with a passer rating of 111.1). But it was Manning who once again came up clutch in the end by leading his team into field goal range in the closing minutes. Manning couldn’t move his offense much in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t matter in the end. He saved his best work for the finale and now the Colts are once again AFC South champions.

      3. The Titans deserve some praise.
      Give Tennessee credit for showing up to play on Sunday. This is a team that was criticized for giving up last weekend in Kansas City but they came out swinging against the Colts. When Indy held leads of 13-6 and 20-13, the Titans could have shut it down and let the Colts cruise in the second half. But Tennessee didn’t and the Titans wound up making a game out of it. And hey – surprise! – Randy Moss actually made a big play when he snagged a first down pass in the second half to keep a drive alive.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 16 MVP power rankings

      January 1, 2011 /

      So Michael Vick slipped a little on Tuesday night, which makes us feel better about keeping Tommy Brady (as Charlie Weis calls him) in the top spot.

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Amazingly, Brady has thrown for an NFL record 319 pass attempts without an interception, going back to Week 6. So let’s review—3701 yards, 34 TDs (NFL high) and just 4 picks, and his team is 13-2 and in the fast lane in the AFC. Damn.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Look, we can’t disregard what Vick has done this season, because it’s phenomenal. But he looked mortal against the Vikings, and also for 52 minutes against the Giants before that.

      3. Matt Cassel/Jamaal Charles/Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs—This trio has led the Chiefs to the AFC West crown. Cassel has 27 TDs to 5 picks/Jamaal has 1835 all-purpose yards and Bowe leads all NFL receivers with 15 TDs. The league won’t view this as one person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.

      4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—What, did you think the Saints were just going to go away? Not with this guy leading the team. But the 21 picks may hurt him in the voting.

      5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—This kid is just a beast week-in and week-out.

      6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, the Falcons are impressive, especially some of the late-game heroics, but losing at home to Saints hurt.

      7. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—Rodgers admitted that sitting out with a concussion allowed him to come back fresh in Week 16—to the tune of 404 yards and 4 TDs.

      8. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Do you get the feeling you have to account for this dude as if he were Lawrence Taylor?

      9. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills—136 total tackles (92 solo) with a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and 7 passes defensed. I know the Bills suck, but Whitner is a one-man wrecking crew.

      10. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Look who’s back, and he even showed he can run—in slow motion, but he can run.

      External Sports, NFL

      Jags choke, Colts close in on another AFC South crown

      December 26, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations on the AFC South following the Jaguars’ 20-17 overtime loss to the Redskins and the Colts’ 31-26 win over the Raiders on Sunday.

      1. How the South can be won.
      If the Colts beat the Titans next Sunday, they’ll have 10 wins on the season. If the Jaguars beat the Texans next Sunday, they’ll have nine wins. Quick math tells me that the Colts would therefore have more victories than the Jaguars and they would win the AFC South. So the mission is simple for the Colts next week: Just win baby. If the Colts lose to the Titans and the Jaguars beat the Texans, they they’d both finish at 9-7 and Jacksonville would win the South because they would have the better division record (4-2). But none of this matters because Peyton Manning isn’t losing at home next week to a team that has nothing to play for. Sorry Jacksonville, but you screwed the pooch last week when you could have won the division then.

      2. What a horrendous effort by the Jaguars against the Redskins.
      I know Maurice Jones-Drew is Jacksonville’s best player and essentially their entire offense, but seriously? That’s the best you got, Jaguars? Your season is on the line and you can’t muster a win at home against the Redskins? Unreal. Washington went four-of-15 on third down and still won. Jacksonville committed seven penalties for 66 yards, had punts bounce off their own players and turned the ball over twice. The second interception couldn’t have come at a worse time, as David Garrard was picked off on the Jags’ first offensive possession in overtime. The interception put the Skins in field goal position and they eventually won when Graham Gano hit a 31-yarder. The Jags were able to rack up 336 yards on Washington’s miserable defense, but they reached the red zone just twice and failed to score once. Just a bad, bad day all the way around for the men in teal.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Colts beat Jaguars, are in control of their playoff destiny

      December 19, 2010 /
      INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 28: Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts watches his teammates before the NFL game against the San Diego Chargers at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 28, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

      Here are six quick-hit observations of the Colts’ huge 34-24 win over the Jaguars on Sunday.

      1. Colts are now in the driver’s seat.
      Congratulations Jaguars, you just put Peyton Manning in control of the Colts’ playoff destiny. With their win on Sunday, Indy needs to win its final two games and the Colts will win thier 97th straight (numbers exact) AFC South crown. Not that beating Manning on his home turf was going to be easy, but the Jags had a golden opportunity to put the Colts away for good and couldn’t do it. Now it’s a footrace from here on out, as the Colts travel to Oakland in Week 16 and Jacksonville hosts the Redskins.

      2. Seriously, Josh Scobee?
      When I think of horrendous onsides kick attempts, I think of Josh Scobee’s feeble try late in the fourth quarter. After the Jaguars had stolen a lot of the momentum back with a touchdown to get within three at 27-24, Scobee dribbled a kick about five yards in front of himself and Tyjuan Hagler returned the gift 41 yards for a touchdown. Recovering an onsides kick is tough enough. It’s even tougher when your kicker rolls one right to a defender so he can return it for an easy touchdown.

      3. Why is Sean Considine still in the league?
      How Sean Considine still has a job after proving he couldn’t start all those years up in Philadelphia is beyond me. The Colts knew the Jaguars’ weakness was the play of their safeties and Manning attacked them early and often. Considine, specifically, had issues with both the run and the pass. The Colts, who usually struggle running the football, rushed for 155 yards against a Jacksonville run defense that had been stout. Donald Brown had a breakout performance, rushing for 129 yards on 14 carries and one score. Of course, he was aided by the fact that Considine’s head didn’t stop spinning from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.

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      External Sports, NFL

      What in the name of Archie and Eli is going on with Peyton Manning?

      December 5, 2010 /
      INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 28: Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts walks off of the field after throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown during the NFL game against the San Diego Chargers at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 28, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Chargers won 36-14.(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

      Why, how, and why again? How did this happen? How did Peyton Manning turn into a combination of Jake Delhomme and well, Peyton Manning?

      How does a quarterback complete 36-of-48 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing four interceptions (two of which were returned for touchdowns) in the same game? What happened?

      Manning now has 11 interceptions in his last three games, four of which have been pick-sixes. After the Cowboys shocked the Colts 38-35 in overtime on Sunday, Indianapolis is now 6-6 on the year and one game behind Jacksonville in the AFC South.

      There no doubt will be plenty of theories on why Manning has struggled recently, but at this point you can’t pin it on one thing. First and foremost, the Colts can’t run the ball. Manning led the Colts to the Super Bowl last year without a running game, but he also had a healthy Joseph Addai available when he did need a couple of yards to keep defenses guessing. But Addai has been sidelined for over a month now and his absence is obviously having an affect on Peyton’s game. There’s just no denying it.

      His offensive line doesn’t appear to be giving him the same protection as they did earlier in the year and throughout his entire career. He’s being pressured well before he wants to deliver the ball, which is in part to blame for all the interceptions he’s thrown.

      Injuries have also been an issue. While Jacob Tamme has been a great replacement for Dallas Clark, you can’t replace years of cohesion and continuity in a month. It also hasn’t helped Peyton that Austin Collie has been in and out of the lineup, or that Pierre Garcon has had some costly drops throughout the year.

      But you know what? Philip Rivers is doing more with less. Hell, even Sam Bradford is doing more with less. All of the things mentioned above factor into how poorly Manning has played the past three weeks, but the bottom line is that Peyton just hasn’t gotten the job done. Many of his throws have been off the mark and there’s just no excuse to throw 11 interceptions in three games. None.

      Maybe he’s trying to do too much and this is the result. Who knows. Either way, we’re going to find out a lot about Manning and the Colts because they have four games to erase a one-game deficit in the AFC South and avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons.

      External Sports, NFL

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