Week 17: Peyton Manning returns
Heading into Week 17, I think we’d all come to the conclusion, whether we liked it or not, that this was Brock Osweiler’s team. He’d taken down the Patriots, he’d come back against the Bengals and he’d been, well, pretty darn good — at least as good as Peyton Manning.
And personally, even after the five turnovers to start the game, I still believed he was the man for the job.
But Gary Kubiak felt differently, apparently, and he made the decision that would alter Broncos history forever. Following a C.J. Anderson fumble to start the second half, it was Manning, not Osweiler, who strode back out onto the field, and after leading Denver to victory and the No. 1 seed, there was no turning back.
Now, Manning didn’t actually do much — he completed five of his nine passes for 69 yards and no touchdowns — but the energy he brought to Sports Authority Field was like nothing Denver had ever seen; the the Hollywood story that had been in production all season long had finally reached it’s climax.
It was historic.
From that moment on, was there really ever a doubt that the Broncos would bring home a Lombardi Trophy? The whole thing was just too perfect. Whether or not he played great, that long walk out onto the field, with the crowed pulsating in excitement, was the beginning of the greatest ending in NFL history — sorry, John Elway.
