Denver A.M.

[Manning2Harrison]

DENVER A.M.

The Broncos After Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning’s four year stint with Denver brought the Broncos four division titles, three appearances in the AFC championship game, two trips to the Big Dance, and a victory in Super Bowl XLIX.

After the humiliating loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, the Broncos did not fall prey to the “Super Bowl Loser Jinx”. Instead, 2014 was a year of redemption for Denver and Manning. Despite an 88.8 quarterback rating that was Manning’s lowest since 2002, the Broncos went 12-4 won their fourth straight AFC west title, and earned a first round bye. Manning’s 4,835 passing yards were second in the league behind MVP Aaron Rodgers’ 4,885, and his 28 touchdowns were third behind Rodgers’ 38 and E.J. Manuel’s 32. But Peyton was also 3rd-highest in the league in interceptions with 18, and it was said his mind was still making throws that his arm couldn’t anymore. Playoff wins over the Bills and Texans made the Broncos repeat champions of AFC, and this time they came out out the other side of a lopsided score. Winning the game’s MVP award, Manning threw for 5 TD’s while completing 35 of 45 passes for 429 yards as Denver rolled over Green Bay, 38-17.

* * *

2014 Playoffs

Home field: Ravens, 49ers

Wild Card Weekend

Dolphins (9-6-1) 13
Bills (12-4) 45

Seahawks (10-6) 3
Falcons (11-5) 28

Chargers (11-5) 17
Texans (12-4) 18

Packers (12-4) 43
Giants (11-5) 0

Divisional Weekend

Texans (12-4) 36
Ravens (13-3) 17

Packers (12-4) 20
49ers (13-3) 11

Bills (12-4) 24
Broncos (12-4) 45

Falcons (11-5) 25
Vikings (12-4) 18

Conference Championships

Texans 13
Broncos 27

Packers 38
Falcons 34

Super Bowl XLIX

Broncos 38
Packers 17

* * *

At the conclusion of the 2014 season, Tomy Brady, Drew Brees and Tony Romo all retired, but after passing his contractually-mandated neck exam, Manning elected to return for 2015. That decision left the Broncos with a cap crunch, and John Elway briefly contemplated releasing Manning in order to keep other, younger players, but could not bring himself to do it on the heels of a Super Bowl victory. With Manning sticking around, the Broncos slapped the franchise tag on Demyarius Thomas, but that left the team with only $7.2 million in cap space remaining and led to the loss of left tackle Ryan Clady (Lions), right tackle Orlando Franklin (Colts), Wes Welker (Raiders), Von Miller (Dolphins), middle linebacker Joe Mays (Bengals), Terrance Knighton, tight ends Jacob Tamme (Lions) and Joel Dreessen (Bills), and cornerback Tony Carter (Dolphins). With the paucity of cap space, the Broncos refrained from signing any free agents prior to the 2015 draft, where they selected left tackle Korey Louis-Jean and right tackle and right tackle Cordell Lowery with their first two picks. After the draft the Broncos signed Randy Moss, guard Kasey Studdard, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga and middle linebacker Jerrell Freeman.

The massive loss of talent showed on the field in 2015. Manning’s QBR declined for the second year in a row, to 87.2. While he lead the league in passing yards with 5,063 (almost 600 more than second-place Joe Flacco), his 21 TD’s were fewer than those of 8 other quarterbacks, but he did cut the interceptions down to 12. Denver’s record plummeted to 7-8-1, but that was still somehow good enough to win the division in what turned out to be a woeful AFC West. As the no. 6 seed in the playoffs, the Broncos were expected to be one and done, but they managed to pull off road upsets of the Texans and the home field-holding Jaguars to reach another AFC title game. Denver’s bid for an AFC three-peat ended with the Bills avenging the previous year’s playoff loss. On the following Monday afternoon, Peyton Manning announced his retirement.

***

2015
AFC WEST	W	L	T
DENVER	7	8	1
OAKLAND	7	9	0
KANSAS CITY	6	10	0
SAN DIEGO	4	12	0

2015 Playoffs

Home field: Jaguars, Giants

Wild Card Weekend

Colts (10-6) 10
Bills (10-6) 31

Seahawks (10-6) 20
Falcons (10-6) 13

Texans (11-5) 9
Broncos (7-8-1) 16

Redskins (10-6) 17
Lions (9-7) 6

Divisional Weekend

Broncos (7-8-1) 23
Jaguars (11-5) 14

Seahawks (10-6) 24
Giants (13-3) 6

Bills (10-6) 23
Steelers (11-4-1) 17

Redskins (10-6) 16
49ers (12-4) 14

Conference Championships

Broncos 21
Bills 31

Peyton Manning’s last game: 37/59, 397 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Seahawks 28
Redskins 3

Super Bowl L

Seahawks 38
Bills 14

(Buffalo is now 0-5 in the SB)

***

2015 MVP: Colin Kaepernick

[Manning2Harrison]

YEARLY RECAPS

2016

11-5, 1st in AFC West
Playoffs: Defeated Raiders 28-14 in Wild Card, defeated Jaguars 13-6 in Divisional, lost 25-37 to Browns in AFC Championship

2017

8-8, second in AFC West, wild card

Playoffs: Lost 31-28 to Jets in wild card

[Manning2Harrison]

AWARD WINNERS AND PRO-BOWLERS

2016 Player Awards

Offensive Rookie: QB Zac Piper
Running Back: Montee Ball
Defensive Back: Aqib Talib
Kicker: Matt Prater

2016 Pro Bowl

QB Zac Piper
RB Montee Ball
FB Lex Hilliard
TE Virgil Green
RT Cordell Lowry
RG Ricky Wagner
CB Aqib Talib

2017 Player Awards

Defensive Back: Aqib Talib
Kicker: Matt Prater

2017 Pro Bowl

FB Trevor Austin (R)
WR Justin Hunter
DE Quanterus Smith
CB Aqib Talib
SS Taylor Mays

[Manning2Harrison]

FIRST ROUND PICKS, 2016-

2016: QB Zac Piper
2017: No pick

[Manning2Harrison]

Reserved 1

[Manning2Harrison]

Reserved 2

[Manning2Harrison]

OK to post now.

[Manning2Harrison]

Eli Follows Peyton Into Retirement

He's foregoing a chance to best big brother with a third Super Bowl ring and he's played for six fewer seasons, but Eli Manning has also decided that 2015 was his final year in the NFL. In the G-Men's first year after John Harbaugh bolted from Baltimore to the Big Apple to become their head coach, they achieved a 13-3 record and were the favorite to represent the NFC in Super Bowl L before getting derailed by eventual winner Seattle. That makes the timing of Eli's decision all the more puzzling. "I just don't have enough passion for the game anymore," Manning said at his retirement announcement.

After Peyton and Big Ben Roethlisberger, Eli is the third big name QB to retire this offseason, and makes the G-Men another QB-needy team picking ahead of the Broncos in their AFC championship loser spot- not something Denver GM John Elway was wanting to see.