What a shame that the Peyton Manning Bowl is so under-publicized! Wow this Indianapolis Colts versus Denver Broncos game on Sunday night is completely under-the-radar. It’s a shame they can’t generate more buzz for such a “sleeper” and overlooked contest.
Obviously, you know I’m joking. If not…to quote the obese Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, “since you are unfamiliar with the concept of sarcasm, I will now close the register at this point.”
As you’ll hear approximately 27,638,234, 855,340 times between now and 7:30 PM CDT Sunday, this is Peyton Manning’s first return to Indy as a member of the opposition.
TV: 7:30 CDT Sunday NFL on NBC Cue Carrie Underwood!
Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels
SPREAD: Broncos -6.5 to 7
Get ready for lots of “Manning Face” in the Peyton Manning Bowl.
Indianapolis Colts Preview:
Does Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay have any regrets about parting ways with #18?
Uhm no, he instead struck the first match to light Peyton Manning Bowl fire by saying he wanted more than one Super Bowl ring. Peyton Manning gave a big no comment in response, but Broncos Coach John Fox said Irsay delivered a “cheap shot” with those comments. Colorado Rockies star Todd Helton went much further (read those comments here) and Bill Polian is pretty pissed off at the Colts owner too. So that’s enough on the WWE style melodrama that surrounds this game. Moving on…
Sorry, that’s Eli Manning face, and this is the Peyton Manning bowl. Funny picture though.
Talking about actual football now, NBC Analyst and former Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy talked about Peyton Manning and the Colts changed the way offensive football is played.
“What Peyton has done is take the quarterback position really back in time. I think because of growing up around his dad felt like that the quarterback you’re in charge out there and the big thing he never wanted to do was run bad plays. And so if we had a play call that he knew wasn’t going to work he didn’t want to run it,” Dungy said.
And the more time he could have at the line of scrimmage, the more time he had to figure out whether the play was going to be good or bad. And that was really the genesis of the whole no-huddle situation and the whole no-huddle offense and all the audible-ing.”
Andrew Luck and the Colts come in with a 4-2 record and a kick-ass offense, but a kind of crappy defense. They are 5th in the NFL in passing, but just 31st (second to last) in run defense. Andrew Luck has become a top 5 QB in this league. And he deserves every corn maze dedicated him to get.
No, sorry that’s Peyton Hillis, this is the Peyton Manning Bowl. It’s a funny picture though.
Denver Broncos preview:
Look at this simple Q&A with a reporter from media conference call this week.
Q: Is there any other player worth comparing him to influence-wise and how much kind of an impact on the offense he’s had? Or does he kind of stand alone in that category?
A: Cris Collinsworth: You know, I mean certainly you got to talk about Drew Brees; you got to talk about Aaron Rodgers. You have to talk about, you know, there’s Tom Brady of course. You know, there are guys that can do it. And I think that, you know, look at Tony Romo’s numbers this year; he’s been given more latitude to make those kind of changes, to have influence on the game plan.
And, you know, despite the interception everybody talked about against the Bronco’s, his numbers say he’s on an uptick right now. So I just think that, you know, we’re going back in time. We’re going back to the days when the quarterback had to last, although that used to be in the huddle; now it’s at the line of scrimmage.
It tells you everything you need to know about the Peyton Manning Bowl this week. And why Manning is one of the most marketable athletes alive.
The Broncos are the best team in the NFL right now, and have weapons everywhere. Their offense looks unstoppable. The Colts are talented, but not this talented
Brutally Honest Peyton Manning Bowl pick: Broncos 38, Colts 30
Brutally Honest Record: 63-24
Peyton Manning Bowl! PEYTON MANNING BOWL!
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the world; with regular weekly segments on NBC, CBS and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) , Facebook and RSS feed