8.) 2013 AFC Championship - Patriots 16 @ Broncos 26
Over-time, this will become the AFC Championships Game between Manning and Brady that people forget about. The first will always be remembered for Manning's and the Colts' meltdown and Bill Polian 'changing the rules'. The last will be remembered for the Broncos incredible defensive performance and for it being 'the last rodeo'. The second will always be remembered because it was one of the best games of all time and changed everything we knew about the rivalry. This one came at the culmination of the great 2013 offensive explosion for Denver. It came with a Patriots team resorted to using Matthew Slater and Austin Collie as cogs in the offense. It wasn't really that close of a game, with the Broncos rolling to a 23-3 lead through three quarters.
That all said, I will always remember it for Manning's performance. In the next iteration of 'the biggest game of his career', Manning was perfectly flawless. 30-41, 400 yards, 2 TDs, nothing even resembling a throw that could have been interception. Manning was not sacked, hit just once. It was a 70-degree day in January in Denver, and Manning shredded the Patriots in a way all Manning supporters always dreamed he would in a playoff game. In '06, he had to overcome a 21-3 deficit against a great defense. In '15, he had to not screw up. In this one? It was all about Manning.
The Broncos offense punted on their first drive. They wouldn't punt again. Their drive chart is pure brilliance, as they went FG-TD-FG-TD-FG-FG over the course of the game - running out the last 3:27 on the last drive. They gained 73, 93, 63, 80 and 60 yards on five straight drives. For the game, they averaged 60 yards per drive. It was a masterful performance against Belichick's defense, setting numerous records for worst defensive performance in the Belichick era (most yards, most passing yards). Manning was in full control, never better shown than two conversions. First, on their initial TD drive, Manning audibled to a run against a soft box on 3rd and 10, which Moreno took for 28 yards. Then, on their FG drive right before half, after a holding penalty backed them up to 2nd and 20 from the 10 yard line, Manning hit Thomas on a perfect post for 26 yards. There was no real stopping Peyton.
I've never seen a game where Peyton seemed more calm, more at peace, more in command. Nothing really fazed him at all in this game, as he just simply carved up an overmatched. When Manning was still playing, not yet having won his second ring, my memory of this game got clouded by the disaster that was Super Bowl XLVIII, but now I can look back and smile at a QB who had, for a day, basically solved football; a zen-like performance from a player who so rarely did anything with such ease.
7.) 2012 Week 1 - Steelers 19 @ Broncos 31
(There are a few of these games from past years that I actually wrote about at the time. This is the first one. Instead of re-writing my feelings, I'm going to give a quick update of my thoughts standing here, post-Manning-retirement, and then re-post what I wrote about the game from then)
2016, Update: This game will always represent the prologue to the 2nd Book in the Manning Series. Before this game, we still didn't really know if Manning would be back. He looked OK in the preseason. The team hadn't really coalesced around him to becoming the type of team that would carry a limited Peyton to the Super Bowl. Looking back at the game, Peyton was brilliant. He matched wits with Polamalu, he took on the Steelers blitz. He took a few shots, and threw a few bullets. Most notable about the game, he didn't wear a glove on his throwing hand. He actually looked healthy. I forgot about this Peyton, truly. It was an incredible start to a brilliant, complicated and fruitful four years in Denver:
******************************************************************
I was stranded at a post-wedding bar when the report came that Peyton Manning was set to undergo a (what was thought to be) third neck surgery before Week 1 of the 2011 season. At that moment, all I knew was that his 208 game start streak was all but done. Little did I know that his Colts career was over. Little did I know how close it came to his overall career being over.
I was stranded with a broken-down van in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey, when Peyton Manning took the field again in a ugly orange uniform. Not knowing the score, or the events that were taking place 2,000 miles away, little did I know that Manning was doing what I had see him do for 208 straight games. One year and four days later I was again stranded, but instead of my sports world falling off a cliff the last time into a jungle of neck fusions and noodle arms, my sports world, my life as a Manning fan, would come back from the wilderness, much like my position with the van.
For one night at least, Peyton Manning, the sports legend, was alive again. He could go out next Monday Night and hurt his back again (although chances of this are far, far less than most would think; it is more likely his arm gets tired, but even that is a low percentage), but that doesn't matter. For one night, he came back from the wilderness and delivered against the NFL's best defense from 2011.
Sure, the Steelers were missing Ryan Clark and James Harrison, but that is still a defense that presents about as tough a challenge as any for Manning's first game back, but other than some early jitters, he passed every test. When Manning started that no-huddle, it was like he was a Colt again. He directed that offense. He called out each Steelers blitz. He was barely touched (some of that is credit to that o-line, which again to repeat, is better than any line he's had since 2007). He came to the line with 20 seconds left, and not once but twice was able to cheat out the blitz for the Steelers. His cat-and-mouse with Polamalu was a fun reminder of the mental ability of Peyton Manning. The game itself was a fun reminder of the true ability of Peyton Manning.
What actually connected with me about that game was the similarities between it and so many Colts games that I watched with nervous eyes from 2004-2010. The Steelers dominated time of possession, holding the ball for all but two plays of the 3rd quarter, pinning the Colts to 14 minutes possession in the first three quarters. Roethslisberger completed umpteen third-and-longs, which is a credit to Ben. It was like watching some QB go off against the Tampa-2 Colts. The game was decided by one crucial interception, a pass rush that became dominant late in the game (three sacks in four plays to ice it) and Manning being Manning. That recipe cemented Bill Polian and Tony Dungy's HOF case.
I have never cried during a sporting event (don't worry, I will the next time the Astros finish over .500). But I've felt something inside me while watching sports numerous times. I had about four or five of them last night. As someone who will be an unabashed Peyton Manning fan until he retires (if Irsay is right and Luck will have a 16 year career, that gives me 10-11 years of pure Luck love), that night made everything that happened over the past year worth it. Seeing Manning morose on the sideline last year. Seeing him breakdown in a way we have never seen in March when he was cut. Seeing that jarring image of him holding up that Orange #18 uniform. Seeing him wobble passes early in the preseason. All of that mess made last night more special. I earned it. All of us Manning and Colts fans earned it. Most importantly, Peyton Manning earned it.
There is a great story in the New York Times last week about Manning's road to recovery. Before he had that surgery that essentially ended his career as a Colt, he was throwing absolute ducks to friend-and-former-Tennessee-QB Todd Helton last summer. He was absolutely unsure if his career will continue. The Colts certainly were as well. Manning works harder than any player in the NFL, and no moreso than his two recoveries from injury. The first time, 2008 when he had a burst bursa sac, he started slow and won the MVP. This year? Who knows.
Peyton Manning nearly choked up last night after the game during his interview with Michelle Tafoya when talking about all the people that helped him during the past 18 months. Manning, sometime around the point where he became the NFL's most marketable star, became a guarded figure. He was still cordial and humorous in his interviews, but rarely showed emotions off the field. That seems to have changed through this whole ordeal, from his teary performance in his Colts send-off press conference to that interview last night. Manning is back, in more ways than one.
I'm probably a little too optimistic on the Broncos chances this year, but even if they go 10-6 and lose in the Divisional Round, I still have the memory of this game. Just remember, the only time I truly cared about the outcome of a game last year, outside of the Make-Sure-New-England-Loses machinations I go through each year, was Dan Orlovsky's gritty two-minute drill to beat a TJ Yates-led Texans team in Week 16. I enjoyed it at the time. I finally understood what it was like to win a game that mattered nothing in my time rooting for the Colts. But looking back, that was just sad. I've been pulled out of that wilderness as well. Manning rescued himself, but he rescued me, and rescued the career of the Greatest QB of All Time.
6.) 2006 Week 8 - Colts 27 @ Patriots 20
Manning won his first game against Tom Brady in 2005, a 40-21 thrashing in Gillette Stadium. It was less meaningful than it should have been since Manning's team was so clearly better in 2005. The Colts were rightful favorites, winning on their way to a 13-0 start. The loss put New England at 4-4. This game was different. The Patriots were 6-1, the Colts were 7-0. The Patriots had a great defense. The Colts a great offense (and historically bad run defense). The site again was in Foxboro on a chilly night, this being the first time the two would meet on NBC Sunday Night Football. Everything was set up for a great game, and that is exactly what we got.
Peyton Manning was in the midst of his quietly brilliant 2006 season, and while the result - a second straight win over New England, both in Foxboro - was loud, this performance was maybe his most sublime. The Patriots defense played great. The pass rush repeatedly got through to Manning, sacking him three times and hitting him countless others. But Manning countered by doing the one thing no one really thought he would ever be able to do: throw on the run. Three or four times, Manning rolled out and launched perfect bombs. The first was the best; on the Colts first drive, facing 3rd and 15 deep in Patriots territory, Manning rolled left, steadied himself, and launched a 44-yard bomb right before getting slammed by Roosevelt Colvin. Marvin Harrison was on the other end of that bomb, the start of an absolutely magical night for him. The other crazy throw on the run by Manning was in the 3rd quarter on 3rd and 5, clinging to a 17-14 lead, Manning rolled left and now completely on the run threw a perfect touch pass to Dallas Clark for 35 yards. Three plays later, the Colts would cement this game in the memory of all Colts fans.
It was 3rd and Goal on the 4-yard line, Colts up 17-14, Manning audibled and fired a quick out throw to Marvin Harrison. It was overthrown, but Harrison threw his hand out, batted it to himself, caught it and while falling out tapped both feet. John Madden assured everyone and himself that there is no way he got both feet down. Marvin Harrison was so confident that right after the catch, he got up and spiked the ball hard on the ground, it ricocheting back up right into Mike Vrabel's face. Of course, it was a good catch. Nothing was going to go wrong for him and Manning in that game.
The rest of the Colts contributed to the performance too. The defense picked off Tom Brady four times, twice in the end zone (Bethea, Bob Sanders - making a rare regular season cameo in 2006), and once to ice the game (Cato June - who had the 4th pick). The Special Teams also helped keep the game close, with Adam Vinatieri, ironically, missing two field goals including one late that would have put the Colts up 30-20. Instead, we got Brady having a chance for a miracle drive to tie the game, and as he would on game-tying tries in both the 2006 and 2015 AFC Championship Game, he got picked off to end it.
The 2006 Colts won the game to go to 8-0 - the second straight year they started that way. The '05 Colts were a juggernaut. The '06 Colts were not. They scraped by behind a brilliant offense and super-efficient Manning compensating for a sieve of a rush defense, and no early season win was bigger than this won. It ended up being the difference in where the AFC Championship Game was played, it ended up giving the Colts another set of good memories to turn to when they started out the Title Game down 21-3. It was one of the stranger games in the rivalry, but a truly memorable regular season one.
Over-time, this will become the AFC Championships Game between Manning and Brady that people forget about. The first will always be remembered for Manning's and the Colts' meltdown and Bill Polian 'changing the rules'. The last will be remembered for the Broncos incredible defensive performance and for it being 'the last rodeo'. The second will always be remembered because it was one of the best games of all time and changed everything we knew about the rivalry. This one came at the culmination of the great 2013 offensive explosion for Denver. It came with a Patriots team resorted to using Matthew Slater and Austin Collie as cogs in the offense. It wasn't really that close of a game, with the Broncos rolling to a 23-3 lead through three quarters.
That all said, I will always remember it for Manning's performance. In the next iteration of 'the biggest game of his career', Manning was perfectly flawless. 30-41, 400 yards, 2 TDs, nothing even resembling a throw that could have been interception. Manning was not sacked, hit just once. It was a 70-degree day in January in Denver, and Manning shredded the Patriots in a way all Manning supporters always dreamed he would in a playoff game. In '06, he had to overcome a 21-3 deficit against a great defense. In '15, he had to not screw up. In this one? It was all about Manning.
The Broncos offense punted on their first drive. They wouldn't punt again. Their drive chart is pure brilliance, as they went FG-TD-FG-TD-FG-FG over the course of the game - running out the last 3:27 on the last drive. They gained 73, 93, 63, 80 and 60 yards on five straight drives. For the game, they averaged 60 yards per drive. It was a masterful performance against Belichick's defense, setting numerous records for worst defensive performance in the Belichick era (most yards, most passing yards). Manning was in full control, never better shown than two conversions. First, on their initial TD drive, Manning audibled to a run against a soft box on 3rd and 10, which Moreno took for 28 yards. Then, on their FG drive right before half, after a holding penalty backed them up to 2nd and 20 from the 10 yard line, Manning hit Thomas on a perfect post for 26 yards. There was no real stopping Peyton.
I've never seen a game where Peyton seemed more calm, more at peace, more in command. Nothing really fazed him at all in this game, as he just simply carved up an overmatched. When Manning was still playing, not yet having won his second ring, my memory of this game got clouded by the disaster that was Super Bowl XLVIII, but now I can look back and smile at a QB who had, for a day, basically solved football; a zen-like performance from a player who so rarely did anything with such ease.
7.) 2012 Week 1 - Steelers 19 @ Broncos 31
(There are a few of these games from past years that I actually wrote about at the time. This is the first one. Instead of re-writing my feelings, I'm going to give a quick update of my thoughts standing here, post-Manning-retirement, and then re-post what I wrote about the game from then)
2016, Update: This game will always represent the prologue to the 2nd Book in the Manning Series. Before this game, we still didn't really know if Manning would be back. He looked OK in the preseason. The team hadn't really coalesced around him to becoming the type of team that would carry a limited Peyton to the Super Bowl. Looking back at the game, Peyton was brilliant. He matched wits with Polamalu, he took on the Steelers blitz. He took a few shots, and threw a few bullets. Most notable about the game, he didn't wear a glove on his throwing hand. He actually looked healthy. I forgot about this Peyton, truly. It was an incredible start to a brilliant, complicated and fruitful four years in Denver:
******************************************************************
I was stranded at a post-wedding bar when the report came that Peyton Manning was set to undergo a (what was thought to be) third neck surgery before Week 1 of the 2011 season. At that moment, all I knew was that his 208 game start streak was all but done. Little did I know that his Colts career was over. Little did I know how close it came to his overall career being over.
I was stranded with a broken-down van in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey, when Peyton Manning took the field again in a ugly orange uniform. Not knowing the score, or the events that were taking place 2,000 miles away, little did I know that Manning was doing what I had see him do for 208 straight games. One year and four days later I was again stranded, but instead of my sports world falling off a cliff the last time into a jungle of neck fusions and noodle arms, my sports world, my life as a Manning fan, would come back from the wilderness, much like my position with the van.
For one night at least, Peyton Manning, the sports legend, was alive again. He could go out next Monday Night and hurt his back again (although chances of this are far, far less than most would think; it is more likely his arm gets tired, but even that is a low percentage), but that doesn't matter. For one night, he came back from the wilderness and delivered against the NFL's best defense from 2011.
Sure, the Steelers were missing Ryan Clark and James Harrison, but that is still a defense that presents about as tough a challenge as any for Manning's first game back, but other than some early jitters, he passed every test. When Manning started that no-huddle, it was like he was a Colt again. He directed that offense. He called out each Steelers blitz. He was barely touched (some of that is credit to that o-line, which again to repeat, is better than any line he's had since 2007). He came to the line with 20 seconds left, and not once but twice was able to cheat out the blitz for the Steelers. His cat-and-mouse with Polamalu was a fun reminder of the mental ability of Peyton Manning. The game itself was a fun reminder of the true ability of Peyton Manning.
What actually connected with me about that game was the similarities between it and so many Colts games that I watched with nervous eyes from 2004-2010. The Steelers dominated time of possession, holding the ball for all but two plays of the 3rd quarter, pinning the Colts to 14 minutes possession in the first three quarters. Roethslisberger completed umpteen third-and-longs, which is a credit to Ben. It was like watching some QB go off against the Tampa-2 Colts. The game was decided by one crucial interception, a pass rush that became dominant late in the game (three sacks in four plays to ice it) and Manning being Manning. That recipe cemented Bill Polian and Tony Dungy's HOF case.
I have never cried during a sporting event (don't worry, I will the next time the Astros finish over .500). But I've felt something inside me while watching sports numerous times. I had about four or five of them last night. As someone who will be an unabashed Peyton Manning fan until he retires (if Irsay is right and Luck will have a 16 year career, that gives me 10-11 years of pure Luck love), that night made everything that happened over the past year worth it. Seeing Manning morose on the sideline last year. Seeing him breakdown in a way we have never seen in March when he was cut. Seeing that jarring image of him holding up that Orange #18 uniform. Seeing him wobble passes early in the preseason. All of that mess made last night more special. I earned it. All of us Manning and Colts fans earned it. Most importantly, Peyton Manning earned it.
There is a great story in the New York Times last week about Manning's road to recovery. Before he had that surgery that essentially ended his career as a Colt, he was throwing absolute ducks to friend-and-former-Tennessee-QB Todd Helton last summer. He was absolutely unsure if his career will continue. The Colts certainly were as well. Manning works harder than any player in the NFL, and no moreso than his two recoveries from injury. The first time, 2008 when he had a burst bursa sac, he started slow and won the MVP. This year? Who knows.
Peyton Manning nearly choked up last night after the game during his interview with Michelle Tafoya when talking about all the people that helped him during the past 18 months. Manning, sometime around the point where he became the NFL's most marketable star, became a guarded figure. He was still cordial and humorous in his interviews, but rarely showed emotions off the field. That seems to have changed through this whole ordeal, from his teary performance in his Colts send-off press conference to that interview last night. Manning is back, in more ways than one.
I'm probably a little too optimistic on the Broncos chances this year, but even if they go 10-6 and lose in the Divisional Round, I still have the memory of this game. Just remember, the only time I truly cared about the outcome of a game last year, outside of the Make-Sure-New-England-Loses machinations I go through each year, was Dan Orlovsky's gritty two-minute drill to beat a TJ Yates-led Texans team in Week 16. I enjoyed it at the time. I finally understood what it was like to win a game that mattered nothing in my time rooting for the Colts. But looking back, that was just sad. I've been pulled out of that wilderness as well. Manning rescued himself, but he rescued me, and rescued the career of the Greatest QB of All Time.
6.) 2006 Week 8 - Colts 27 @ Patriots 20
Manning won his first game against Tom Brady in 2005, a 40-21 thrashing in Gillette Stadium. It was less meaningful than it should have been since Manning's team was so clearly better in 2005. The Colts were rightful favorites, winning on their way to a 13-0 start. The loss put New England at 4-4. This game was different. The Patriots were 6-1, the Colts were 7-0. The Patriots had a great defense. The Colts a great offense (and historically bad run defense). The site again was in Foxboro on a chilly night, this being the first time the two would meet on NBC Sunday Night Football. Everything was set up for a great game, and that is exactly what we got.
Peyton Manning was in the midst of his quietly brilliant 2006 season, and while the result - a second straight win over New England, both in Foxboro - was loud, this performance was maybe his most sublime. The Patriots defense played great. The pass rush repeatedly got through to Manning, sacking him three times and hitting him countless others. But Manning countered by doing the one thing no one really thought he would ever be able to do: throw on the run. Three or four times, Manning rolled out and launched perfect bombs. The first was the best; on the Colts first drive, facing 3rd and 15 deep in Patriots territory, Manning rolled left, steadied himself, and launched a 44-yard bomb right before getting slammed by Roosevelt Colvin. Marvin Harrison was on the other end of that bomb, the start of an absolutely magical night for him. The other crazy throw on the run by Manning was in the 3rd quarter on 3rd and 5, clinging to a 17-14 lead, Manning rolled left and now completely on the run threw a perfect touch pass to Dallas Clark for 35 yards. Three plays later, the Colts would cement this game in the memory of all Colts fans.
It was 3rd and Goal on the 4-yard line, Colts up 17-14, Manning audibled and fired a quick out throw to Marvin Harrison. It was overthrown, but Harrison threw his hand out, batted it to himself, caught it and while falling out tapped both feet. John Madden assured everyone and himself that there is no way he got both feet down. Marvin Harrison was so confident that right after the catch, he got up and spiked the ball hard on the ground, it ricocheting back up right into Mike Vrabel's face. Of course, it was a good catch. Nothing was going to go wrong for him and Manning in that game.
The rest of the Colts contributed to the performance too. The defense picked off Tom Brady four times, twice in the end zone (Bethea, Bob Sanders - making a rare regular season cameo in 2006), and once to ice the game (Cato June - who had the 4th pick). The Special Teams also helped keep the game close, with Adam Vinatieri, ironically, missing two field goals including one late that would have put the Colts up 30-20. Instead, we got Brady having a chance for a miracle drive to tie the game, and as he would on game-tying tries in both the 2006 and 2015 AFC Championship Game, he got picked off to end it.
The 2006 Colts won the game to go to 8-0 - the second straight year they started that way. The '05 Colts were a juggernaut. The '06 Colts were not. They scraped by behind a brilliant offense and super-efficient Manning compensating for a sieve of a rush defense, and no early season win was bigger than this won. It ended up being the difference in where the AFC Championship Game was played, it ended up giving the Colts another set of good memories to turn to when they started out the Title Game down 21-3. It was one of the stranger games in the rivalry, but a truly memorable regular season one.
