Broncos Didn’t Think Manning Could Throw Hail Mary

Peyton Manning endured a nice amount of humiliation Monday night. There were the three early interceptions, of course. And, to make matters worse, the replacement officials seemed intent on extending the first half into Tuesday morning, delaying Manning the chance to head into the locker room to regroup. But now the Denver Post is reporting that rookie Brock Osweiler would have replaced Manning, had the game come down to a Broncos Hail Mary. That's giving Manning's questioned arm strength the Rick James couch treatment. Arm strength is overrated. We can list the litany of canons that passed through the league, many times leaving in ignominy (JaMarcus Russell could have probably stood in his end zone at the Oakland Coliseum and flung the ball across the bay in Candlestick Park). But if you have to pull the old man on the last play, because of his al dente right arm (a product of Manning's neck surgery), that's an issue, folks. I wonder how Osweiler felt…probably like that moment when, for the first time, you start offering your pops to carry the heavier bags.

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