Silverman: Rickety Manning Must Turn Back The Clock To Compete With Rodgers
By Steve Silverman
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When Aaron Rodgers brings his undefeated and rested Green Bay Packers to Denver, it appears he and his teammates have a sizable advantage over Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
Denver is also undefeated and playing at home. A couple of years ago, this would have been a matchup between two of the best gunslingers in the league. Manning's legacy is pristine despite the difficulties he has had throwing the ball since the end of the 2014 season.
Rodgers is so good that by the time he is done playing, he will almost certainly be worthy of a spot on the all-time list with Manning, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas and Tom Brady.
Of course, Rodgers still must continue to produce. It's not enough to have had a great first half to his career to rank with those all-timers. He must continue to string great seasons together. There's very little reason to believe that anything other than injuries could prevent him from getting there.
That's why this game appears to be a mismatch. Rodgers can do anything he wants with the football, while Manning is laboring as he approaches the finish line. He reads defenses as well as he ever did and he can diagnose the perfect play at the right moment, but he doesn't have the gun at this point in his career.
"I'm working hard every day to get better," Manning said. "We have some new players playing, we've had some injuries and we are working every day to develop chemistry and timing."
Nice try, Peyton, but it sounds pretty pathetic.
But one thing Manning does have is a defense that can get the job done. It is no longer his team when it comes to being responsible for the victory. The Broncos have the top-rated defense in the league, and they have a pair of potential All-Pros in Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware who are capable of ruining any offense in the league.
No defense in the league features the same combination of speed and power that the Broncos put on the field. While none of the quarterbacks they have faced are as talented as Rodgers, the Green Bay quarterback has not faced any defense that is capable of bringing havoc into the backfield like the Broncos.
Rodgers has completed 124 of 182 passes for 1,491 yards with a razor-sharp 15 touchdowns and two interceptions. Rodgers is accomplishing all of this even though his No. 1 receiver, Jordy Nelson, is out for the year. The Packers had to go to the scrap heap and pick up Giants training-camp reject James Jones, and he has caught 21 passes for 424 yards and six touchdowns.
The Broncos not only rank first in overall defense, but they are the best in the league against the pass. Much of that is due to pressure in the pocket, because that results in sacks and turnovers.
Ware (4.5 sacks) and Miller (3.0 sacks) are formidable, but they are getting plenty of help from defensive end Malik Jackson (3.5 sacks), linebacker Brandon Marshall (team-high 48 tackles) and outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett (3.5 sacks and three forced fumbles). That demonstrates that opposing quarterbacks can't just look out for Ware and Miller. The Broncos bring pressure from all over the field.
They are producing a lot of interceptions as well. Aqib Talib has three picks, and he has returned two of them for touchdowns in six games. Chris Harris has two interceptions and has returned one of them for a touchdown. Strong safety David Bruton also has a pair of interceptions this season, but there must be something wrong with him since he has not returned either of them for a score.
Rodgers has to realize that competing against the Broncos' defense is a lot more of a challenge than facing San Francisco, St. Louis and San Diego. It's a much higher level of competition, and he's going to have to raise his game quite a bit.
Manning does not have to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns if the Broncos' defense can keep Rodgers from producing at his normal level.
He needs a strong running game from Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson to wear down the Green Bay defense, and then he must take advantage of his opportunities.
That's the X factor at this point. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are more than capable wide receivers, and Manning has been able to hit both of them with big plays on occasion.
However, he has a 7-10 TD-interception ratio, and that's not going to allow the Broncos to remain in contention, even if they are undefeated to this point. He has to avoid those turnovers.
If the Broncos are going to win this game, Manning needs to flash a little bit of the old magic in the fourth quarter. He's not going to do it with a fastball, but he can do it with deception. A pump fake to his left and a throw back to his right, or the quick downfield pass to Sanders when he gets open right off the line of scrimmage, could do the trick.
This game is the baseball equivalent of the young flamethrower vs. the aging soft tosser. On the surface, it's no contest.
But Manning has the know-how and the supporting cast to make this a game, and it could be a Mile-High classic Sunday night.
