“HAVE NO FEAR of perfection. You’ll never reach it,” is an oft-repeated quote from the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. That the man who designed the Chupa Chups logo — and painted all those melting clocks — was of that opinion should come as no surprise.
Surrealism, of course, is the expression of unconscious thought without reason. As a cultural movement, it could never account for anything as reasoned, mechanical and all too conscious as Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos offence.
Last night, the Broncos moved to 5-0 and are now unbeaten in 16 regular season games. Manning has thrown 20 touchdowns in five games and, in a move that fooled the Cowboys defence, the crowd, the cameraman and pretty much the whole world, even ran in for a rushing touchdown — his first since 2008 — on a cleverly disguised bootleg.
Manning’s league-leading statistics of 1,884 yards, 20 touchdowns and just one interception through five games are all the more remarkable when you consider he’s 37-years old and just two seasons removed from potentially career ending neck surgery that saw him part ways with the Indianapolis Colts.
That the Broncos lead the league in points scored (230), total yards (2,449), passing yards (1,869) and total touchdowns (29) should also come as no surprise. The Broncos have been lights out when in possession of the football.
So, right now, it’s really difficult to see what can stop Denver from winning the Super Bowl next February but there are a few chinks of light for opponents.
The defence is one. Last night they gave up 522 net yards and 48 points to a Cowboys offence that had ranked 19th in yards per game (341) and 11th in scoring (26 points per game) before the shoot-out in Dallas.
The run game is another cause for concern. Though Knowshon Moreno ran for 93 yards on 19 attempts Sunday, they still average just 116 yards per game on the ground which only makes them a mid-ranking NFL team in that department.
The main concern for Manning though will be his continuing struggles in the postseason, especially in the cold. While the future Hall-of-Fame-quarterback has a nearly 70% win percentage in the regular season, that drops dramatically to 45% in the postseason including eight one-and-done visits to the playoffs.
Manning’s postseason record is even worse when you only include cold-weather games. Indeed, the former Colts playcaller has never won a playoff game when the temperature has dropped below 40 Fahrenheit (4.4 Celsius) and, given that the Broncos will almost certainly have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it must be a significant worry that the average temperature in Denver for January is 29.7F (-1.2C).
Oh, and Super Bowl XLVIII will take place in the outdoor environs of Met Life Stadium, New Jersey where the average February temperature is 33.8F (1C).
However, these are all questions for later in the season. Right now we should just sit back and admire the cool, calm and controlled way Manning is marching the Broncos offence up and down the field. If they ever design a football robot, Peyton Manning will surely provide the prototype.
We should enjoy it while it lasts too, at 37 years of age we won’t have too many more seasons to see him lift a second Vince Lombardi trophy.
Speaking of the former Green Bay Packers coach, he once said that if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence. The first five weeks of this season have shown that if you chase Peyton Manning, you see the ball fly over your head for a touchdown.
The Redzone: Peyton's place is among the greats
“HAVE NO FEAR of perfection. You’ll never reach it,” is an oft-repeated quote from the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. That the man who designed the Chupa Chups logo — and painted all those melting clocks — was of that opinion should come as no surprise.
Surrealism, of course, is the expression of unconscious thought without reason. As a cultural movement, it could never account for anything as reasoned, mechanical and all too conscious as Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos offence.
Last night, the Broncos moved to 5-0 and are now unbeaten in 16 regular season games. Manning has thrown 20 touchdowns in five games and, in a move that fooled the Cowboys defence, the crowd, the cameraman and pretty much the whole world, even ran in for a rushing touchdown — his first since 2008 — on a cleverly disguised bootleg.
GIF: Business Insider
Manning’s league-leading statistics of 1,884 yards, 20 touchdowns and just one interception through five games are all the more remarkable when you consider he’s 37-years old and just two seasons removed from potentially career ending neck surgery that saw him part ways with the Indianapolis Colts.
That the Broncos lead the league in points scored (230), total yards (2,449), passing yards (1,869) and total touchdowns (29) should also come as no surprise. The Broncos have been lights out when in possession of the football.
So, right now, it’s really difficult to see what can stop Denver from winning the Super Bowl next February but there are a few chinks of light for opponents.
The defence is one. Last night they gave up 522 net yards and 48 points to a Cowboys offence that had ranked 19th in yards per game (341) and 11th in scoring (26 points per game) before the shoot-out in Dallas.
The run game is another cause for concern. Though Knowshon Moreno ran for 93 yards on 19 attempts Sunday, they still average just 116 yards per game on the ground which only makes them a mid-ranking NFL team in that department.
The main concern for Manning though will be his continuing struggles in the postseason, especially in the cold. While the future Hall-of-Fame-quarterback has a nearly 70% win percentage in the regular season, that drops dramatically to 45% in the postseason including eight one-and-done visits to the playoffs.
Manning’s postseason record is even worse when you only include cold-weather games. Indeed, the former Colts playcaller has never won a playoff game when the temperature has dropped below 40 Fahrenheit (4.4 Celsius) and, given that the Broncos will almost certainly have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it must be a significant worry that the average temperature in Denver for January is 29.7F (-1.2C).
Oh, and Super Bowl XLVIII will take place in the outdoor environs of Met Life Stadium, New Jersey where the average February temperature is 33.8F (1C).
However, these are all questions for later in the season. Right now we should just sit back and admire the cool, calm and controlled way Manning is marching the Broncos offence up and down the field. If they ever design a football robot, Peyton Manning will surely provide the prototype.
We should enjoy it while it lasts too, at 37 years of age we won’t have too many more seasons to see him lift a second Vince Lombardi trophy.
Speaking of the former Green Bay Packers coach, he once said that if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence. The first five weeks of this season have shown that if you chase Peyton Manning, you see the ball fly over your head for a touchdown.
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