What a wild weekend in the NFL this one was! Just when you thought you had seen everything, you get a weekend like this! And the best was saved for last.
But it did not start off that way. So, it seemed a sleepy enough game. A snoozer, really. The halftime score showed the San Diego Chargers, the home team, up 24-0, over their division rival Denver Broncos. Victory was all but certain, and San Diego would then earn a two game cushion atop the AFC West.
I fell asleep, then got up and got ready for work, taking it for granted that the Chargers would win. I wondered what was wrong with the Broncos, and Manning, and began to wonder if, truly, his best days were indeed fully behind him. Maybe he was one of those sad athletes that just don't seem to know when it's time to hang up the cleats and call it a career, like Michael Jordan when he played with Washington.
But when I got to work, I saw the ending moment of the Monday Night Football game, and looked at the score instinctively. Denver Broncos 35, San Diego Chargers 24.
My jaw dropped.
What a comeback! Incredible! This guy just seems superhuman at times. Both he and his brother seem to be capable of simply bouncing back after a very bad start in a game, and then putting on a clinic the rest of the way, en route to some memorable victory. Eli did it a few weeks ago against the Tampa Bay Bucs, a game I was actually at. But tonight, it was Peyton, and he had an incredible performance.
Funny, because the last time Peyton did something like this on Monday Night Football, it was against those same Tampa Bay Bucs. Only he was wearing a different uniform: the horseshoe of the Indianapolis Colts, his former team of over a decade.
But this one probably surpassed even that. The Broncos pulled off what, to my understanding, was tied for the greatest comeback victory for an away team in NFL history, and the greatest in Monday Night Football history. Also, they became the first team ever to be down by so many points, and then to pull off a double digit win.
Also, it was the 37th Manning's 4th quarter comeback of his career, which is a record. He completed 24 of 30 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, but was most impressive, obviously, during that incredible second half. With the Manning and the Broncos defense playing top notch, they were able to climb out of the 24-0 halftime deficit with 35 unanswered points in the second half.
Suddenly, they were unstoppable.
A lot of credit has to go to the Broncos defense, which was one of the elites going into the season, and which was really incredible today.
John Elway, who was instrumental in orchestrating th Peyton Manning deal, was celebrating on the sidelines tonight in San Diego. Let him celebrate, and let his quarterback celebrate. They both were taking a chance, and at least tonight, that chance paid great dividends!
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