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| Tavon Austin has caught, rushed and kick returned his way into our hearts the last two weeks. |
The Good
Peyton Manning
Yeah, I went there.
In a game in which he had his lowest yardage total since Week 16 of 2010, his lowest completion percentage since Week 3 of last season, his lowest passer rating since Week 2 of last season, and his lowest yards per attempt since Week 2 of 2005, I say Peyton Manning had a good game.
Manning had a good game because he made the right decisions. On a 20-degree night with 20 mile-per-hour winds, with gusts even higher than that, against a Patriots defense with gaping holes through the middle and a healthy Aqib Talib on the outside, Manning (correctly) recognized that running the ball was the way to win the game. Denver had 48 rushes to 36 passes, 37 of those rushes going to Knowshon Moreno. As a team, the Broncos gained 280 yards on the ground at a clip of 5.8 yards per rush. Yes, Denver's offense in the first half was buoyed by New England turnovers, but Manning still made plays when he had to, including two insanely accurate throws (one to Jacob Tamme, one to Demaryius Thomas) on Denver's late touchdown drive to tie the game and force overtime.
Purely as a passer, Manning wasn't very good. But as a quarterback, responsible for putting his team's offense in the best possible position to gain yards and score points, he was very good.
-JC
