After long months of debate about whether or not Peyton Manning can fit into coach Gary Kubiak's run-heavy Broncos offense, we're about to get our first look when Denver meets Houston on Saturday night.
"I've said many times I believe I can play almost any offense and do what is required," Manning said Monday, per ESPN.com's Jeff Legwold. "Maybe not Tubby Raymond's (Delaware Wing T), but I can make good decisions, make good throws, get us in good plays, and as long as we can score points, move the ball and win games, that's important. My job is to execute the plays that are called, and I'm all-in on what we're doing."
Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian argued this month that Manning would thrive in Kubiak's attack. Strip away some of the bootleg action, and Polian pointed out that Denver's new playbook "is really conceptionally no different" than the scheme Manning made sing with the Colts and Broncos.
"He'll be great at it," Polian said. "He's a great ball-handler, he has a great ability to carry out fakes. He has no peer when it comes to selling a fake and then coming and focusing on the defense, so he'll be wonderful."
The real question surrounds Manning's durability and arm strength, with the 39-year-old passer acknowledging that "guys in the locker room make some jokes about my age and ask me what it was like before color TV."
Mike Klis of 9NEWS in Denver noted that Manning in recent days has stripped off the glove on his throwing hand. He wore it to increase the grip he partially lost after multiple neck surgeries, but without it, Peyton "has been throwing tight spirals on deep passes like he never did when he was 36, 37 and 38."
You don't see players gaining arm strength at this age, but Manning never ceases to amaze. Bottom line: Our wintertime doubts about Peyton are beginning to fade away, replaced by a whole bunch of trouble for the rest of the AFC West.
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