Manning Enjoying the Best Season of His Career

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is setting a pace never before seen by the NFL. The veteran quarterback of 37 is not supposed to be doing this sort of thing as his age.

Especially not after seeing his career put in jeopardy two seasons ago when he underwent multiple surgeries on his neck.

This season nonetheless is one to remember and one all who witness can tell their grandchildren they were lucky enough to see Manning during his incredible run of 2013.

Last Sunday Manning pulled off the improbable throwing five touchdown passes against what is considered by most the best defense against the pass in the NFL.

After two games, Manning has 41 touchdown passes, which puts him on track to shatter the single season touchdown pass record and many others.

If Manning is to continue on his current pace he would end the season with 55 touchdown passes and 5,500 yards passing, which just a few seasons ago was considered improbable.

If the season were to end today, his 41 touchdowns would have been second last season and his 4,125 yards would have finished ninth.

The MVP voting should already be tallied and sent in, since there is no other player this season that compares to what Manning has done.

Some will say he did not play well against New England and his game was off on his visit to Indianapolis, but this is legitimately his best season yet as an NFL quarterback.

Against Kansas City last Sunday, the veteran quarterback became the oldest in the history of the NFL to throw for 40 touchdowns in one season, by nearly four years.

His quarterback rating would be the league’s highest for any quarterback 35 years of age or older and he is the fourth oldest quarterback to have over 4,000 yards in one season.

Of course, many will say the game is made for these types of numbers to be reached as receivers cannot be touched after five yards and quarterbacks are protected like never before.

However, nothing can be taken away from a quarterback that is doing this at age 37. He looks strange on the line with his arm movements and gyrations and his passes can be wobbly at times. However, even his biggest critics have found it is hard to find fault with the first 12 games of this season.

Some have questioned Manning ability to throw long, claiming he only throws short dinks over the middle or to the sideline. That criticism is unfounded, as only six other quarterbacks this season have thrown more deep passes than Manning has.

The old man has also eliminated the risk of a blitz by getting his passes off the quickest in the league.

The critics will say Denver has had a weak schedule and Manning can only play well during the regular season while he chokes in the playoffs.

That all might be true, but there remains another four games left in this regular season and Manning’s might be the best of all time.

Once the postseason rolls around then his critics can have their say, but right now, he is putting up numbers no one else ever has regardless if they were 25, 30 or 37 years old.