How The Broncos Are Undefeated Despite Peyton Manning’s Poor Play

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It was relatively easy to envision Denver starting off this year with a good rush of wins simply because Peyton Manning entered the season as a healthy player who could remain upright and mobile if he so desired, so you thought, well, there’s a puncher’s chance the Broncos can compete in just about any game.

And lo, the Broncos are now 5-0, after a road win against Oakland, and heading on the road to Cleveland next week, so you figure that’s going to be another easy victory. Then they have a bye before hosting Green Bay, which might also still be undefeated by the time that game comes around. Overall, all outward indications are for another very typical season of Broncos dominance. Might as well pencil them in for the No. 2 seed in the AFC. (Sorry, only New England is getting the top spot this season. Them’s the rules.)

But Denver has been anything but Denver this season. The Broncos, truth be told, are winning in spite of Peyton Manning. His numbers through five games are down across the board and he’s headed for some very dubious career-high totals. The rushing game (ranked 30th in yards per game) is basically nonexistent.

The Broncos are winning ballgames right now solely on the strength of their team defense, which has been impressive since the start of the season. No other team allows fewer yards (287 per game), forces more fumbles (10), or gets more sacks on opposing quarterbacks (22). It’s been a suffocating unit since beating Baltimore 19-13 at home in Week 1. Teams have only scored 20 or more points twice in five games.

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Sunday’s game in Oakland figured to be a high-scoring affair — the quarterback-wideout tandem of Derek Carr and Amari Cooper has Raiders fans grasping renewed hope this year — but neither side really held up their end. Manning was picked off twice by Charles Woodson, who has been waiting 18 years for this moment and finally got not one, but two interceptions (including once in the end zone just before halftime) that kept the Broncos stymied when it looked as though they might break through as they usually do against Oakland.

Instead, it was the vaunted Broncos defense that took control. After frustrating Carr all day, the Broncos secondary put the game out of reach when cornerback Chris Harris, Jr. took Carr the other way for a 74-yard pick-six. It was Denver’s only touchdown of the game, and a late Sebastian Janikowski 50-yard field goal put a cap on the day’s scoring and a 16-10 Denver win. What was ultimately surprising about Denver scoring a lone touchdown was how unsurprising it was to be a defensive one.

Through five games, Manning has been a shell of his former self. He has six TDs and seven picks, which is on pace for the most laughably lopsided ratio of his career. (Manning had 26 scores and 28 picks in his rookie year of 1998.) He’s been sacked 12 times, on pace to break his personal mark of 29 times (2001). His yards per attempt (6.5) would tie for the lowest of his career, going back again to his rookie season. And his passer rating (77.3) would again be (you guessed it!) the lowest since his rookie season. There’s a theme that emerges, like one of those old Magic Eye puzzles you have to cross your eyes ever so slightly to see. Except here, the image you see is that of perpetual Manning Face shaking his head in disbelief.

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But it’s not all doom and gloom for Denver. Manning may be off to a historically slow start, but the defense is more than making up the difference. The Broncos are still outscoring opponents because the stingy defense isn’t letting anyone score all that much. Despite spending more time on the field than the offense and despite allowing more opponents’ first downs than the Broncos’ offense creates, the defense simply doesn’t break. Their 15.8 points of scoring average allowed is second only to the Jets. Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan clog up the middle while Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware create havoc on the outside. With Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, Jr. on the sides and T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart out deep, the Broncos are playing inspired defense in all areas. These Bizarro Broncos are keeping the team together with stifling defense in the hopes that maybe Manning and new head coach Gary Kubiak can piece together an offensive scheme that will start to shoulder some more of this (as of now) imbalanced load.

Are we ready to start doubting that Manning can personally turn around his play? Yes, his stats are pretty abysmal and on par with the age-22 Peyton who led the NFL with 28 picks, went 3-13, and generally had little idea of what he was doing. This is not that Peyton, but the physical limitations have got to be overcome. He’s trying to learn a new offensive scheme, sure, and trying to be effective with barely a rushing attack is way less than ideal. But he will need to adapt, cut down on the mistakes he has control over — the new picks that landed in Woodson’s arms were both bad miscues on his part — and then the Broncos will have a better idea of what kind of Manning will be present for this year’s playoff push.

At 39, Manning is already the oldest player on the team by six years. His contract is guaranteed through the 2016 season. He gets one more shot at this next year, but he’s already 5-0 this time around. He’d be wise to figure out how to save his own performance this year and not squander such a cushion that his defense has been kind enough to collect.

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