The Turning Point That Launched Peyton Manning's Unprecedented Reign of Dominance for Broncos
It's Peyton Manning Week at Sports Illustrated, and Mile High Huddle is doing our part to commemorate and celebrate 'The Sheriff' under the Orange and Blue tent of Broncos Country.
When Manning inexplicably hit the open market in the spring of 2012, almost nobody expected the Denver Broncos to be real players in the competition to land the biggest fish in the history of NFL free agency.
Then again, not many expected John Elway to lead the Broncos 98 yards on a touchdown-scoring drive to tie the 1987 AFC Championship game and eventually defeat the Cleveland Browns in their house to advance to Super Bowl XXI. And let's face it; few pundits picked the Broncos to defeat the defending-champion Green Bay Packers to win Super Bowl XXXII 11 years later.
In the recruitment of Manning, Elway ultimately proved once again how unwise it is to dismiss him in any kind of competitive undertaking, regardless of how long the odds might be. In the spring of 2012, Elway brought the Broncos back to prominence by closing the deal that landed Manning, who, at the time, was a four-time NFL MVP.
As Peter King recounted on SI's podcast The Record, Elway approached the recruitment of Manning on a very simplistic level. As a Hall-of-Fame quarterback himself who played 16 seasons in the NFL, the now-Broncos' GM put himself in Manning's shoes.
"I think Elway from the start felt it would be an advantage because he knew how he would want to be treated," King recounted to SI's Jessica Smetana. "In fact, he told me that Sunday night when I met him at the league meetings, he told me that night that—I said, 'What was your plan on this?' And he said, 'I just put myself in Peyton's shoes and I've been where he is and I would want to be treated exactly like this'. When he said 'like this', he meant 'no pressure' and just say, 'Hey, listen. I'm going to give you my sales pitch and then you should do what the best thing is for you. I'm not going to beg you to come. You've got to come because you think it's the best thing.' And he said, 'That's exactly how I would want to be treated.' He said, 'I did not want to force him to do anything.'"
Elway's logic worked. Call it the soft sell.
What matters, is that Manning chose the Broncos, spurning multiple suitors who on paper seemed like a superior destination, including Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks, Jim Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers, Mike Munchak's Tennessee Titans, among others.
The Manning era in Denver did not get out to a hot start, as the then-36-year-old signal-caller worked back from the neck injury, which had resulted in four recent surgeries and cost him the entirety of the 2011 season, and tried to get on the same page chemistry-wise with his new supporting cast in Denver, which included two third-year wideouts in Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker.
The Broncos started the 2012 season 2-3. It wasn't looking good. I mean, it was certainly a higher-caliber of offensive football than fans saw the year prior with Tim Tebow under center but it was far from the polished product it would become even later in that season.
The trajectory of the 2012 campaign, and the Manning era, was forever altered in the Broncos' Week 6 road bout with the then-San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football. Manning and the Broncos quickly dug themselves a hole, after a miscue with WR Matthew Willis resulted in a Quentin Jammer pick-6 going the other way and Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates having a banner night.
Murphy's Law governed the Broncos in the first half, as they entered halftime down 24-0. What would unfold starting in the third quarter was nothing short of a football miracle.
Manning brought the Broncos back with gusto, leading to 35 unanswered second-half points. Entering the fourth quarter, the Broncos still trailed by three points, but would continue to romp all over the Chargers and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, emerging on top 35-24.
It was, at the time, Manning's 47th game-winning drive in the fourth quarter and tied the largest comeback win (24 points) for any road team in NFL history and MNF history. The Broncos could not be stopped from then on out.
After starting the season 2-3, the Chargers comeback win would serve as the impetus for an 11-game winning streak. That first season of the Manning era in Denver would ultimately end in heartache, as the Broncos would allow the Joe Flacco-led Baltimore Ravens, a Wildcard team, to come into Denver in the Divisional Round of the playoffs and win in overtime through a comedy of errors.
The Ravens would go on to win the Super Bowl that year, so at least Broncos fans could console themselves with the thought that, 'Hey, at least we lost to the eventual World Champions.' But, as we would later learn, the upset loss haunted Manning and stuck with him through that 2013 offseason. And as nice as it was to win Comeback Player of the Year, at the end of the day, as an accolade, it's a far cry from Most Valuable Player.
When next the Broncos took the field, it was vs. the World Champion Ravens in the season-opener and Manning absolutely went off, throwing an NFL record seven touchdown passes. Denver blew Baltimore out and it was a harbinger of what would unfold in 2013.
Manning would go on to dominate the competition that season, winning his fifth league MVP award and throwing an NFL single-season record 55 touchdowns and 5,477 passing yards, also a record at the time. The 55 TDs might never be broken, though I have a suspicion with the way the NFL continues to trend that the yardage record will eventually be vanquished.
Manning led the Broncos to become the most prolific offense in NFL history that year, scoring 606 points. The Broncos were an absolute juggernaut and they stormed through the AFC playoffs after winning the No. 1 seed for the second-straight year.
Although there was an additional triumph of defeating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game in Denver, that season ultimately ended in disappointment for a smorgasbord of reasons I won't go into here, with the Broncos getting blown out by Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII. Once again, though, Manning used it as fuel.
By the standards of most teams, 2014 was another 'successful' season with Manning leading the Broncos to a 12-4 finish with a perfect 8-0 home record but anything short of absolute Lombardi triumph was unacceptable in Denver during that era. Similarly to 2012, that season ended in disappointment in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, this time with his old team, led by his successor in Indianapolis — Andrew Luck. The Colts caught the Broncos in a complacent mood and knocked them out of the playoffs.
It was the last game John Fox would ever coach for the Broncos, as Elway parted ways with him following the loss. It was an almost unprecedented move, as Fox had led the Broncos to four-straight playoff appearances and a Super Bowl berth. But as we all know with Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks, the old sports cliche of 'close, but no cigar' wasn't a refrain Elway could stomach.
Elway wanted to see the spirit of 'kicking and screaming' in his squad and so he hired his old teammate and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak to step in post-Fox. Kubiak brought with him his Shanahan-style West Coast Offense, which, suffice to say, was squarely outside of Manning's comfort zone.
Like a fish out of water, suddenly, the now 39-year-old Manning was being asked to abandon the shotgun and take majority snaps from under center and execute the seven-step drop. Kubiak's scheme turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, as it helped camouflage Manning's diminishing faculties as a quarterback in that final season, allowing the rushing attack to lead the way offensively.
Manning battled injury in 2015 and missed seven starts but came back just in time to lead the Broncos through the AFC playoffs as the No. 1 seed once again (that in itself was a story of triumph but one for another time). In order to get to Super Bowl 50, the Broncos would have to get past the defending World Champion Patriots and again, Manning and company prevailed.
Super Bowl 50 marked Manning's fourth start in a Super Bowl and the 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers might have been his second World Championship but it was the first time in NFL history a quarterback had started and won two different Super Bowls with two different teams. Kurt Warner came dang close to the distinction a few years prior with the Arizona Cardinals but ultimately fell short.
Like his boss, Manning's career ended on his own terms with the lasting image in the mind's eye of Broncos Country being The Sheriff hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in the Orange and Blue.
Four years. Four playoff berths. Two Super Bowl berths. One World Championship. Unprecedented team success over that span of years for the Broncos.
For Manning, vindication. Another MVP, retiring as the NFL's all-time passing leader, on top of the other single-season records he set as a Bronco and the accolades he accumulated, which included three more Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro nods, as well as the icing on the cake — that precious second Super Bowl ring.
A Hall-of-Fame career punctuated by The Sheriff riding off into the sunset as a World Champ. It was a fairy tale ending but even Manning wouldn't have believed it himself had he not lived it.
“When I visited Denver four years ago, if John Elway had sat me down and said, ‘Peyton, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to win over 50 games, win four straight division championships, lose only three division games in four years and none will be on the road, we’ll beat the Patriots in two championship games and you’re going to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year, another MVP, your offense will set single-season passing records, you’ll break a couple more all-time records, and we’ll go to a couple of Super Bowls.’ I think I would have taken that deal," Manning said during his press conference to announce his retirement after 18 NFL seasons.
"John, you did tell me that, didn’t you?"
Looking back on it all, the rebirth of the Denver Broncos, and the way the Manning era changed the culture and expectations at Dove Valley, might not have happened if the veteran signal-caller doesn't lead a 35-point comeback on Monday Night Football in the middle of October 2012.
For what it's worth, Elway never did ask Manning why — out of all the offers he had as the biggest free agent in NFL history — he chose the Broncos. To Elway, the 'why' was completely negated by the simple fact that Manning was a Bronco.
"My last question to John Elway was, 'John, did you ever ask Peyton why he picked the Broncos? I mean, why do you think he picked Denver?' And he goes, 'I don't know. I never asked.' Now, on a decision that big, wouldn't you be just dying to know? Wouldn't you just want to ask Peyton Manning, 'Peyton, why did you do it? Why? I've got to know. I'm dying to know,'" Peter King recounted on The Record podcast. "Elway just said, 'Man, you know, I'm not going to ask him that.' It was almost like—it was a cross between you're too cool for school and you just don't want to really ask a guy that question because it's almost like you're searching for a compliment. It's almost like you're searching for somebody to say, 'Well, John, I love you. And I have so much respect for you.' And all that stuff. And Elway's voice, I could tell, it was almost like, 'I mean, what does it matter? He chose us. He's here. That's all that matters.'"
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