The Kansas City Chiefs won 29-13 against the Broncos in Denver Nov. 15. This win was a refreshing change of pace, as it is the only Chiefs’ win against Denver since the future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning signed with the Broncos. This fact, along with the heartbreaking final-second loss to the Broncos in week two due to a rare Jamaal Charles fumble, made this win one sweet victory for Chiefs fans.
Peyton Manning had two astounding accomplishments in this game. The first was set when he successfully replaced Brett Favre with the most career passing yards in National Football League (NFL) history. This is a huge career accomplishment, and Peyton Manning definitely deserves it after the great career this quarterback has had. Manning adds this to his impressive number of quarterback achievement, including most career passing touchdowns. Favre sent his congratulations in his own particular style in this video.
The second accomplishment happened after four interceptions occurred in the game. Manning was benched on his record setting night and replaced by third-year quarterback Brock Osweiler. By the time Manning was warming the bench for the night, his final statistics were as follows: 5/20 pass completions/ attempts, 35 yards, zero TD’s and four interceptions through two and a half quarters of football.
Peyton had a final quarterback rating (QBR) of 0.1. A quarterback rating factors in all of the statistics previously mentioned, and the perfect score is approximately 158.3. This was the worst QBR of any quarterback in the last 10 years and the worst of Manning’s career, beating out his 19.4 in 2007, which was interestingly also against the Chiefs, at home.
If one didn’t believe in the decline of Peyton Manning over the past year, surely it’s clear after this disasterous game. This game wasn’t just a fluke either; through the first nine games of this season before being benched, Manning threw for 800 fewer yards, 20 fewer touchdowns and 10 more interceptions than the previous year while also connecting on 7.8 percent fewer passes he attempted. To add more perspective, the last time Manning won the MVP award in 2013, in his first nine games for the Broncos, he threw 24 more touchdowns, 1,100 more yards and 11 fewer interceptions while connecting on 12 percent more of his attempted passes than this season. So his decline has definitely been perceptible to avid sports fans, but after this game, the downfall was obvious even to casual observers.
Yes, Peyton Manning played extremely poorly in this game against KC, but this writer takes no credit away from the Chiefs or their defense that sent a message to the American Football Conference (AFC). Three games into the current five game win-streak with the Chiefs’ backup beating one of the top teams in the conference while away, and after beating the Buffalo Bills this past Sunday, Nov. 29, the Chiefs are in a spot to control their own destiny with a 6-5 record and the top spot of the AFC Wildcard playoff race even without their star running back, Jamaal Charles. Also, considering the Chiefs don’t play any team with a winning record for the remainder of this season, Kansas City fans have plenty to be hopeful for in the tail end of the season.
Whether you like to see the Chiefs win or you like to see the Broncos or Peyton Manning lose, this week nine divisional rivals matchup was most definitely a historic one and appeared to be not only a turning point in the Kansas City Chiefs’ season but also a very obvious turning point in an all-time great NFL QB’s career. But don’t worry Broncos fans; Brock Osweiler’s future looks bright so far.
Photo courtesy of Chip Litherland.
