Peyton Manning is laughing at the idea that he starting to lose a step in his abilities. The quarterback saw his streak of touchdown passes break against the Buffalo Bills although the Denver Broncos still locked down the win. The offense simply sputtered throughout the game as Manning never looked on the same page as any of his wide receivers. Now as injury suspicions rise, Manning is setting the record straight that he is healthy and playing just fine with three games left in the season before the playoffs.
Manning is 38-years-old, but stresses that poor play was the result of Week 14 and not Father Time.
"I don't have a great answer for them," Manning said, via Denver Post. "I always watch the film of the games pretty critically with my coaches, try to improve whether we won a game or lost a game. Try to see how I can do my job better. I feel good physically and am certainly looking to play better."
Head coach John Fox notes that nothing is simply wrong with the Broncos' offense, they are merely trying to get the run game going alongside the passing in order to remain more balanced. With tight end Julius Thomas injured, Manning has been taking more snaps directly under center to get CJ Anderson going. Prior to Thomas' ankle issue, the Broncos were passing the ball 63.6 percent of the time in the first 10 games. However, that has dropped to 45.5 percent with the tight end out.
"I can't speak for likes and dislikes, but all I can tell you (is), we're fine," Fox said. "We just happened to run the ball a little bit more the last couple weeks. It had nothing to do with Peyton's ability as a quarterback. Look at the statistics. He's one of the top quarterbacks in the league. There's nothing wrong with him."
The Denver Broncos are preparing for a big matchup against the San Diego Chargers in Week 15 and need the passing game to be thriving on all cylinders. Fox told the media that the Broncos' fully expect both Anderson and Thomas to be healthy for the game. Thomas could have played against Buffalo, but opted to remain out on more week. Anderson left the matchup with ankle issues, but will be fine as well. The Broncos should have all pieces back on the field to get the offense moving again.
