Today, throughout this week, and most likely through the end of the season at some point in January (or February, if things get corrected in a major way), most of the conversation around Denver will be about the future of Peyton Manning. And it’s going to be a painful topic to endure, as one of the game’s all-time greats limps to the finish line of his Hall of Fame career.
But that conversation, while certainly good fodder for sports talk radio, is sort of beside the point. After all, everyone and their brother knows that the end is near for No. 18; it’s either now, in seven to 10 games, or at the end of the 2016 season. So there’s really nothing to debate, other than the date when the plug should finally be pulled.
The better discussion, as it has to do with the long-term future success of the Broncos, has to do with the other men who combined to put Manning in his current situation. After all, John Elway and Gary Kubiak, the current brain trust of the Broncos, are going to shape the path of the organization for the next decade; Manning isn’t. And based on the mess they’ve currently created, there’s reason to be concerned about their stewardship.
First of all, let’s get something out of the way right away: Manning was terrible on Sunday against the Chiefs. There’s no way to sugarcoat 5-of-20 for 35 yards and four interceptions; it’s hard to have a worse day at the office than the Broncos quarterback did yesterday. But that was simply the culmination of something that has been building since the end of last season.
That’s when the Broncos decided to get away from the Manning-centric offense, shuffling their offensive line and becoming more run-focused during the final six games of the season. It was the first sign that Elway was ready to move on from an attack that relied so heavily on the quarterback, a move that he continued to reinforce during the offseason.
The hiring of Kubiak was the first sign that Denver wasn’t concerned about making Manning happy. The Broncos new head coach runs a system that is ill-suited for No. 18’s skillset, something that was obvious to everyone paying attention. Kubiak likes to have his quarterback under center, running play action and bootlegs – things that aren’t ideal for a 39-year-old guy who didn’t move well in his 20s.
But it didn’t end there. Elway kept moving on from Manning by continuing an offensive roster purge that began after the Broncos were drubbed 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII. From that day, only three starters remain from a group that broke the NFL record for points scored in a season – Manning, Demaryius Thomas and Louis Vasquez. That’s a staggering transformation in less than 24 months.
And while talent has walked out the door, signing lucrative contracts elsewhere, Elway has done little to replace them. Zane Beadles, Chris Clark, Orlando Franklin and Manny Ramirez are far superior to the group of eight hodgepodge offensive linemen that the Broncos are currently rotating in every game. Knowshon Moreno was the heart and soul of that offense, something that C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman can’t provide. And Julius Thomas and Wes Welker were chain-moving machines, providing Manning with great options in the middle of the field; Owen Daniels and Jordon Norwood aren’t adequate replacements.
It was a conscious decision by Elway; he decided to invest on defense, where the Broncos have spent big in free agency and used high draft picks, and skimp on offense. Unfortunately, that’s been bad news for his quarterback.
Playing behind a makeshift offensive line, with a miscast bunch of weapons and in a system that is a bad match for his abilities, Manning has struggled mightily this season. And he’s taken a pounding in the process, to the point where he was too injured to rightfully be on the field against the Chiefs and had to be pulled because the Broncos couldn’t protect him as the game wore on.
Which leads to the mess that faces the Broncos at the moment. They have an all-time great at quarterback, but one that can’t get it done on a consistent basis with his current supporting cast. And waiting in the wings is the unproven backup that the organization wants to build around down the road, a player who possesses the skills to thrive in Kubiak’s system.
In a cold-hearted business like the NFL, most people think that should equate to an easy decision: The Broncos need to pull the plug on Manning and go with Brock Osweiler. But when dealing with someone that already has a lot of square footage devoted to him in Canton, that’s easier said than done.
It would take cast-iron stones to bench Peyton Manning; there’s little doubt about that fact. And during the offseason, Elway and Company proved that they didn’t possess that type of intestinal fortitude.
If Elway really wanted to move on from Manning, something that he’s clearly demonstrated with every action he’s taken in the past 21 months, he should have done the quarterback a favor and released him. Instead, he tried to force Manning to retire by offering him a $10 million pay cut.
Eventually, the Broncos and their quarterback settled on a more modest $4 million reduction in salary, a compromise that didn’t benefit anyone. And that good-intentioned meeting in the middle continues to this day, to increasingly disastrous results.
Right now, the Broncos offense is a mess. Last week, they failed to score in the first half at Indianapolis. This week, they were a three-and-out machine against Kansas City. That’s on Manning, as he’s played poorly. That’s on Kubiak, as Denver has no idea what they want to do offensively at the moment. And that’s on Elway, as he’s built a roster that has a shaky offensive line and only a handful of capable skill position players.
At this point, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the right thing to do is to move on to Osweiler; the Broncos don’t have the tools that Manning needs to succeed. But there isn’t any sign that the team’s brass has the gumption to make that move.
They didn’t do it during the offseason, when they could have saved everyone the pain of watching the season unfold if they had owned up to their plans. And they didn’t do it on Sunday, when they should have told an injured quarterback that he wasn’t going to play because he wasn’t physically capable of competing.
So while people are casting stones in Peyton Manning’s direction today, most of which he’s earned with his horrendous play, they shouldn’t turn a blind eye toward the guys who created this situation. John Elway decided to move on from Manning, with his buddy Gary Kubiak along for the ride; they just didn’t have the stones to tell No. 18 of their plans.
That’s created a sad situation to watch on Sundays this season. And it’s not exactly the type of leadership that bodes well for future successes, either.
Has Peyton Manning been awful for most of this season? Yep. But he’s not the only Hall of Fame quarterback to blame for Denver’s current mess.