Manning was Quite Good

Peyton Manning has received a lot of grief in the last couple days (following their loss to the Chargers) and I'm not really sure why. The Colts did lose the game, but Manning compiled a near 100 QB rating, which is pretty respectable. If you take out the ridiculous Eric Weddle INT when a very catchable ball bounced right off Kenton Keith's hands right to the defender, Manning would have completed 70% of his passes for 400+ yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT (on a ball off Reggie Wayne's hands). That's a decent afternoon.

Peyton Manning may not have played his best game ever, but he was sharp early (didn't he complete his first 14 passes?) and the Colts were hurt badly on the Marvin Harrison fumble in the 1st quarter when they were driving for a 14-0 lead. I don't buy the announcers take that Harrison being rusty caused him to fumble. I think he fumbled because he's a fragile WR who avoids contact at all costs. It looked, to me, like Harrison was trying to figure out a way to get down on the ground before the defense could get a lick on him. In fact, I was hoping he'd do that ... and I figured he would because he ALWAYS does. However, with all the Chargers around him, he was unable to get down and ended up in an unfamiliar position trying to spin away from defenders and he got nailed. That one is on Harrison.

If the Colts got points out of that drive (they almost certainly would have being close to the Charger 20), it might have changed the whole dynamic of that game. Another big play was the Weddle INT. Keith might have made a first down (or TD) and the Colts would have got at least a few points out of the drive. The Colts were in FG range again late in the game (at the SD 7) and went for it on 4th down trailing by 4.

I'm not saying Manning played perfectly, but he was pretty good. The running backs managed just 50 yards on 17 carries (less than 3 yards per), forcing the team to be one-dimensional late and decreasing Peyton's efficiency. It's easy to blame the starting QB for wins and losses, but I don't think it's the right thing to do in this case. Manning played like Manning does (his QB rating was 98 this year) and the Colts just didn't get it done.