Peyton Manning's Historic Day Tarnished After Being Benched in Embarrassing Loss

All good things must come to an end, but such occasions are rarely as ironic as the one Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning experienced Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

On the same day Manning became the most prolific passer in NFL history, head coach Gary Kubiak benched the living legend. It was the right move for the team at the time. 

Before the eventual discussion of where Manning currently stands as the Broncos' starting quarterback, he first made history. 

A simple four-yard out pattern to running back Ronnie Hillman rewrote the league's history books. With the completion, Manning surpassed Brett Favre with 71,840 career passing yards. 

For the hyper-driven Manning, whose mind only thinks of his next move on the football field as if it's a personified chess match, the short-lived celebration for the special moment was as awkward as expected, per NFL.com: 

The quarterback didn't realize then how awkward his day would eventually become. 

Prior to the record-setting completion, Manning threw his first of many interceptions on the game's initial passing attempt. 

His new nemesis, Chiefs rookie cornerback Marcus Peters, plucked the wobbly pass. Unlike in Week 2, the Washington product didn't return the interception for a touchdown. However, the turnover became a sign of things to come later in the contest. 

Manning's milestone quickly faded into everyone's memory upon watching the 39-year-old gunslinger flail and flounder like a salmon swimming upstream against an aggressive Chiefs defense. 

Prior to being benched for backup quarterback Brock Osweiler late in the third quarter, Manning completed five of 20 passes for 35 yards. While his play was clearly awful, the veteran quarterback's inability to protect the ball was even worse. 

Manning threw four interceptions Sunday. He became the first player since 1986 to throw four or more interceptions while only completing only five passes, according to ProFootballTalk.com's Michael David Smith.

Such a poor performance doesn't simply fall on the overarching problem of poor decision-making. There were legitimate concerns within Manning's game exposed by the Chiefs that allowed the defense to frustrate and completely dominate the future Hall of Fame inductee. 

Three issues eventually arose. 

First, Manning's arm strength is severely lacking. This doesn't come as a surprise at this point in his career. The former No. 1 overall pick never claimed one of the league's strongest arms, but he could make the necessary throws at one point in time. 

Since requiring multiple neck surgeries, Manning overcame a lot simply to throw a football again, as ESPN's Peter Burns noted:

The quarterback even admitted to MMQB.com's Peter King prior to the season, "I can’t feel anything in my fingertips." 

Yet, Manning outplayed his physical limitations due to preparation, fundamentals and quick decision-making. He put together arguably the best seasons of his career during his first two years in the Mile High City. 

But today's Manning isn't the same player he was just two years ago. He can no longer push the ball down the field vertically. Defenses understand this and use it to their advantage. 

The Chiefs are already one of the league's more aggressive teams in how they utilize their corners on the edges. Those same defensive backs can be even more physical at or near the line of scrimmage without fear of Manning beating them over the top. 

Safety Ron Parker picked Manning's final pass which sealed his exit from the game. The Chiefs official site provided video of the pass. 

As everyone can clearly see, the quarterback had an opportunity to step into his throw with a relatively clean pocket, and the ball still came up a couple yards short of where it should have been placed.

Wide receiver Cody Latimer geared down, but he still wasn't able to slow his momentum enough to stop Parker from picking the pass. 

There were multiple instances throughout Sunday's contest where Manning's deep passes lacked velocity and were woefully underthrown. 

Without a deep threat, a defense can start sitting on shorter routes and allow its front to pin its ears back to get to the quarterback quickly. 

This is another area where Manning always claimed a deficiency, but it never became overly problematic. It certainly is now, though. 

No one ever considered the Tennessee product an athletic quarterback. Manning fits the very definition of a statuesque pocket passer. However, the 6'5" signal-caller always showed tremendous pocket awareness and exemplary footwork. He might not have been very athletic, but he was just mobile enough with a quick release to often avoid pressure. 

Due to his diminishing physical skills coupled with a makeshift offensive line, the pressure is literally getting to Manning. 

Kansas City sacked Manning twice and provided nine more quarterback hits. This may not seem like an overwhelming number, but Denver's quarterback only threw 20 passes and played less than three quarters. 

Prior to Sunday's contest, Manning had been hurried 62 times, according to Pro Football Focus. 

The pressure allowed by the offensive line goes hand-in-hand with the quarterback's inability to elevate the players around him. 

Great leaders make those around them better. Manning used to fall into this category. Unfortunately, he no longer has the skill set to overcome disadvantages. 

For example, the Broncos faced 3rd-and-long on five of Manning's nine drives. In those instances, the quarterback didn't complete a single pass and threw two of his four interceptions. 

Without the help of a consistent running game—Denver only ran the ball 16 times for 69 yards over the course of the game—Manning is being regularly placed in a situation to fail. 

Rank	Player	Years	Games	Passing Yards
1.	Peyton Manning	1998-2015	265	71,871
2.	Brett Favre	1991-2010	302	71,838
3.	Dan Marino	1983-1999	242	61,361
4.	Drew Brees	2001-2015	211	59,005
5.	Tom Brady	2000-2015	218	56,301

Yes, the Broncos quarterback needs to play better, but the same applies to everyone around the aging star. 

Manning still being Manning, though, accepted all of the blame after the loss. 

"I made some really bad plays and put our team in a bad position starting with the first series," he said after the game, per ESPN.com. "Turning the ball over and giving them good field position got me off to a bad start and I could never find any continuity or rhythm out there."

Manning continued, "I didn't play well. I had a bad game."

As coaches often tell their players, "It's not how you start the game, but how you finish it."

The league's newly minted all-time leading passer never got an opportunity to finish it. Osweiler came in, threw for 146 yards and led the team to a pair of touchdowns during the 29-13 loss.  

The Broncos are still a 7-2 team with one of the greatest football minds at the helm of the offense. Osweiler showed plenty of potential, but it's hard to envision a veteran-laden team with Super Bowl aspirations being willing to move on from a proven commodity to a complete unknown behind center. 

The death rattle to Manning's fabulous career might have officially begun, but it shouldn't be considered over by any means. This was simply a misstep as the game's most prolific passer attempts to write the last chapter to his career. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL and NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.