They should have never woke Peyton Manning up

Nov 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) throws a pass during the first half against the Green Bay Packers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

In the first six games of the season, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was struggling. New head coach Gary Kubiak came to Denver to manage Manning, something he never had in his career. Kubiak wanted to bring the running game, no longer allowing Manning to check into pass plays whenever he wanted.

Gone are the days that he would be his own offensive coordinator, throwing the ball over 40 times a day. Plus it was just a new offense with new reads and new language so there was an adjustment period. And during that adjustment period, the Broncos leaned heavily on their No. 1-ranked defense to stay undefeated.

All Manning needed was some time to get used to things and the Broncos weren’t losing games. But it all came to a head when Manning threw a touchdown and three interceptions in a close win over the Cleveland Browns. The whispers started about how washed up he was and how he lost his arm strength.

The man never won with arm strength but the big thing they said was Manning was no longer among the elite NFL quarterbacks. You just don’t say stuff like that about an old, proud warrior and give him time to think about it over his bye-week. So Sunday, the Green Bay had to deal with a quarterback that had extra time to figure out his new offense on top of being motivated.

It looked like the Packers defense bought into all that hot garbage too, daring Manning to throw the ball deep. So they really shouldn’t wonder why they got beat 29-10 with Manning throwing for 340 yards. Put that together with the way the Broncos defense is playing and they don’t look like they can be beat now.

They should have never woke Peyton Manning up like that!