Peyton Manning ultimately proved his value by standing on the sideline.
When the Indianapolis Colts pulled their starters before their Week 16 loss to the New York Jets on Dec. 27, they ended their unbeaten string at 23 regular-season games and halted their pursuit of a perfect season. The move caused a mini-riot within the Colts fanbase but revealed Manning’s true meaning to the team with NFL’s best record.
Think about this: In the 14-plus games that Manning was on the field with something to play for, he left the field with his team leading on the scoreboard. That’s 14 wins to start the season plus a third-quarter exit game against the Jets 10 days ago with a 15-10 lead midway through the third quarter.
Manning played a quarter in Sunday’s meaningless loss in the regular-season finale at Buffalo before retreating to the sideline. There was little for the Colts to gain against the Bills, and still there was grace in Manning’s absence.
Granted, there is no position in all of sports as meaningful as quarterback, but with him the Colts are unbeaten and are among the favorites to reach the Super Bowl. Without him, Indy has been outscored 49-7 in less than six quarters.
Manning has posted better stats than he did this year. There are five quarterbacks with better efficiency ratings than his 99.9 mark. His 16 interceptions are the most he has thrown since 2001.
There are other players who have amassed better numbers or done it in flashy manners, but there is no debating Manning’s rank as the league’s top player. In fact, if you don’t think Manning deserves the league’s MVP award, ask yourself this: If there was a backyard game and every NFL player was standing there wanting to play, who is the first pick? That’s right, it’s Manning.
Manning handled every hurdle this year like it was a misaligned defense. New receivers, no problem. New head coach, no worries. New expectations, no sweat. Five Colts caught at least 45 passes and two of them – Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie – are hardly household names in their own households.
Manning’s nonparticipatory validation as the league’s most valuable player was only part of this zany NFL season that almost featured too many oddities to mention.
* A team (Denver) that started 6-0 finished with the same record as one (Tennessee) that started 0-6.
* A 40-year-old Brett Favre looked every bit as spry as any of the late-20-something quarterbacks – until Favre took his helmet off, that is.
* The defending Super Bowl champion Steelers are done, and the Cincinnati Bengals, arguably the league’s worst franchise of the last two decades, will host a first-round playoff game.
* The league was trying to devise a scheme to encourage teams to play their starters as long as possible regardless of the stakes of late-season games. Sure, the premise is sound, especially as several of the regular-season finales turned into mismatches between teams waiting for the playoffs to start and those staring at a long winter break.
The timing, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Ask the New England Patriots, who have to prepare for the playoffs after losing the league’s leading receiver Wes Welker to a knee injury in a meaningless season finale against Houston, if resting their key players down the stretch makes any sense.
Maybe they’ll get to see Welker’s true value while he stands on the sideline this weekend, too.