Is Peyton Manning the Best Quarterback to Ever Live?

Yesterday Denver Broncos star quarterback Peyton Manning broke the NFL's passing record by throwing for 5,477 yards in a single season.

 

This is one of many records that Manning and his Broncos have broken this season, among them are most passing touchdowns in a single season (55), most points scored in a single season (606) and most passing touchdowns in a single game (7). All those statistics speak for themselves, and as a Broncos fan, we've almost come to expect them from the great Peyton Manning.

 

Now for anyone who isn't a Broncos fan, we must seem like the most pretentious bastards in the entire league. But when you have (arguably) the best player to ever play the game at your trigger, it's kind of hard not to set the bar incredibly high.

 

Last season Broncos fans had to suffer through a heartbreaking loss to the eventual champion Baltimore Ravens in a double overtime thriller. But what did Manning do in the first game of the 2013 season against the defending Super Bowl champs? He put up seven touchdowns and stomped their "stellar" defense into the ground.

 

There are a lot of skeptics out there who might question Peyton's accomplishments because of his lack of silverware. However, we're talking about a record four-time (about to be five-time) MVP, 13-time Pro Bowl selection, seven-time AFC Offensive Player of the Year, six-time AP All Pro Team selection and four-time NFL passing touchdown champion. Not to mention, he leads the Indianapolis Colts in career wins, passing touchdowns, passing attempts, completions and passing yards. Oh yeah, and he's appeared in two Super Bowls; winning one, along with a Super Bowl MVP.

 

If Manning can lead his Broncs to a Super Bowl championship this season he will have to be listed amongst the greatest of all-time; no questions, hands down. Some say his brother Eli Manning is better than Peyton...Really? Yes, Eli has two Super Bowl rings to accompany two Super Bowl MVP's, but if you ask anyone who knows a lick about football who the better quarterback is, including Eli himself, I guarantee they all will say Peyton Manning. Also, where are Eli's New York Giants right now? Oh yeah, they're sitting their happy-meal asses at home waiting for the playoffs to start like the rest of us. Eli threw for a measly 18 touchdowns to go along with 27 interceptions this season. Peyton threw for more touchdowns in the first game of the season than Eli threw for in his final seven games combined. Enough said.

 

There's no doubt that Broncos fans will forever worship Peyton like a god, but until he hoists up another one of these...

He'll be just another Dan Marino.

 



Will the Denver Broncos Defense Be Able to Make Stops When it Matters?

There's no doubt who's had the best offense in the league this season, but when it comes to the Denver Broncos defense, there seems to be some holes.

Although the Broncos rank first in the league in passing yards per game, total yards per game, points per game and total offense; they rank 28th in the league in pass defense, nineth in the AFC in takeaways with -3, 24th in the league in opposing points per game and 23rd in total defense.

With the Broncos defense giving up almost four touchdowns a game at 26.6 points, while scoring an average of a little over five touchdowns a game at 38.2 points, it seems illogical that the Broncos D can continue to stop defenses consistently throughout the upcoming playoffs when they face tougher opposition than they've seen in the AFC West.

The Broncos remaining schedule includes the likes of two of the league's worst in the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders, who have a combined record of 6-22 this season. It seems incredibly unlikely that the Broncos won't win out and garner the No. 1 seed in the AFC, along with a first round bye.

Now if the playoffs were to start today, Denver and the New England Patriots would have a first round bye and would face the winners of the Kansas City Chiefs-Indianapolis Colts game, and the Baltimore Ravens-Cincinatti Bengals game, respectively. And if I were to play matchmaker, I would think the Broncos would play the Bengals in the Divisonal Round which they would win handidly, and when the Colts overcome the Chiefs in a thriller, only to lose to the Patroits, it will set up a rematch of this season's overtime blunder in Foxboro. This will be the toughest test the Broncos will face in the AFC, and although they would have home field advantage, the Patriots seem to have a hunger for the Super Bowl like nobody else in the league. It will come down to who wants it more. If they can overcome the Pats in a close one, they will face their ultimate task in the Seattle Seahawks. I can't see anyone denying the best team in the league their second trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history. And I hate to say it, but if the Broncos defense don't get it together by then, they WILL fall to the Hawks.

However, the Broncos do have one small thing to their advantage, and he goes by the name of...

Peyton Manning

 

If the Broncos are to have any shot at a championship, it'll be led by the arm of the four-time MVP. And if Manning can continue to have the historic season he's on track to have, there's no limitations to what can happen. In most cases, defense wins championships, but the one outlier that stereotypes don't take into consideration is "The Sheriff," more commonly known as Peyton Manning.

A 16-Team Playoff is the Perfect Formula to Find a College Football Champion

As the college football season comes to a close, we look forward to a final round of BCS games before the incorporation of a four team playoff next season. But is four teams really enough to keep the skeptics quiet? My guess is not.

If the playoff system were to be incorporated this season, it would be No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 4 Michigan State, and a rematch of this year's game of the century in No. 2 Auburn vs. No. 3 Alabama. But what about one loss Baylor and Ohio State? Whom of which feel as though they deserve a shot at the title just as much as the four teams ahead of them whom of which also have as many losses or more (No. 5 Stanford has two). Now if they were to incorporate an eight team playoff, this would put an end to all the controversy, right? Probably not.

My suggestion would be to play one less regular season game against the pushover schools like Buffalo or Chattanooga, while also diminishing the conference championship game in order to create a 16-team playoff. This would absolutely put a halt to all the controversy.

This would only add two additional games to the season and would leave no discussion as to who should play for the national championship. I'm sure there would be skeptics who would say that those ranked 17-25 should also get a shot at the title, but the truth is that the top 16 teams have earned their spot in the standings and the rest of the 6-win teams would still have the opportunity to play in a bowl game at season's end. Not to mention the amount of revenue that would be brought in from each playoff game. And to make up for the lost conference championship, each one of the eight playoff games could be played at one of the neutral sites that the conference championships used to be played at. Also, the BCS games wouldn't be lost either, for the rest of the playoff games would be played at the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Fiesta Bowl, repsectively.

Although my playoff formula may never come to formation, I think it's the most logical and reasonable way to carry out the playoffs of the future. I mean NCAA Division II College Football has carried out a 24-team playoff system with incredible success for a number of years, so I don't see why this system can't be implemented with the same success. 

Ohio State Deserves to be in the BCS Title Game and Here's Why

I am absolutely sick of ESPN analysts telling me that the Ohio State Buckeyes don't deserve an opportunity to play for the BCS National Championship.

As OSU snuck past their rival Michigan Wolverines this past Saturday afternoon, every college football analyst in America was saying they don't deserve a title shot because Michigan is a mediocre football team, whom of which would be desimated by any one of the other top four teams bidding for a national championship.

But then things really got interesting when the Auburn Tigers pulled out the impossible by overcoming the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on a last second missed field goal that was returned 109 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Of course, everyone and their mother (including myself), was going absolutely bananas after this play of the century. For not only did it knock off the two-time defending national champion Crimson Tide, but would provide a certain boost to the Buckeyes in the BCS rankings.

And sure enough, come Sunday night when the BCS rankings were released, the Buckeyes were right behind the now No.1 Florida State Seminoles at the No. 2 spot.

And this is where all the controversy begins. For every SEC analyst will tell you that Auburn deserves to be in the national championship, especially if they beat the No. 5 Missouri Tigers in the SEC Championship this Saturday. Because the SEC is a stronger conference than the Big Ten, and they knocked off the top dog in the entire country. However, Ohio State have not lost in 24 straight games, and I don't care who you're playing, that's impressive. They may have even garnered a title shot last year if they didn't have impending sanctions that disallowed them to participate in a bowl game. Where was Auburn last year you might ask? They were getting their asses handed to 'em as they went 3-9 and 0-8 in conference play.

Then we come back to the Michigan game, in which the Bucks pulled out a last second victory on a failed two-point conversion with just 32 seconds left to play. Now didn't Auburn sneak past the Georgia Bulldogs on a last second hail mary? I think they did, and those Bulldogs only have one more victory than those "mediocre" Wolverines. Truthfully, every one of Auburn's victories over ranked opponents has come on a last second touchdown or defensive stop. And at season's end, Ohio State should have two wins over ranked opponents to Auburn's four. But you can't blame Ohio State for being in a weak conference, all they can do is go out there and win every game, just like they have.

If Ohio State, Florida State and Auburn all win this weekend, it should be an OSU-FSU title game, because both teams will have gone undefeated. And until the implimentation of the four team playoff next season, we will just have to debate and argue and fight and yell over who should play for it all. But until then, this is all we can do.