Sunday afternoon's Divisional Round tussle between the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers comes with a plethora of questions at the quarterback position.
Ben Roethlisberger's shoulder injury isn't expected to restrict the playbook, but how much will he throw the ball down the field? For Denver, Peyton Manning threw just nine passes in his Week 17 appearance in relief. How healthy is he really? Will he be the quarterback who threw 17 interceptions in just nine starts or a healthy surgeon?
Manning's former long-time teammate Reggie Wayne joined NFL Network's GameDay Morning on Sunday to discuss the quarterback. The receiver, who recently announced plans to officially retire from the NFL, said he expects to see a fresh Manning.
"One thing you got to realize, back when they got their bye week, he got some rest," Wayne said. "And he came in and he played Green Bay and tore Green Bay up for 340 yards. So now you are looking at him, he has probably about eight and a half weeks worth of rest. So I feel like he's going to come in fresh, he's going to come in ready and I think he has the pedigree to take it to the next level for this team."
Manning's best game of the season came off that bye week, with those 340 yards and a 72.4 completion percentage on 29 passes, but he also threw an interception and had zero touchdowns in that contest.
We know that Manning dealt with the foot injury for months before he sat out in mid-November. The question is whether those eight weeks off were enough to nullify the ailment. And if he is healthy enough, will the old man show any signs of rust after the long in-season layoff?
It's clear Wayne -- who caught 931 passes from Manning -- has no worries about The Sherriff.
