Peyton Manning. Good. Really Good. Too Good?

            As we all know, Peyton Manning year in and year out is one of the best in the league. He is considered by many the quarterback of the year. He is considered by some the best of the decade. But how good is Peyton Manning?

            If you look at the stats, Peyton third in QB rating. He is first in completion percentage, first in yards, and tied for second in touchdown passes. But looking beyond the stats, Peyton is doing one thing that no other QB is doing this year. Peyton Manning is the most feared player in the league today. Certain events in the past couple weeks show how much coaches in the league do not want Peyton on the field at the end of the game. Two weeks ago Peyton had a showdown with Tom Brady. The Patriots had the ball on their own 28 with 2:08 left on the clock and a fourth and two. Normally, with a 34-28 lead in a game such as this, you would punt. However, the normally conservative Bill Belichick went for it in this situation. Now what inspired Bill Belichick to go against his normal coaching style and take a chance like this? The answer is fear. Peyton Manning is striking fear into the heart of these head coaches when he is not even on the field. This is an extraordinary feat that no QB in the league can match. But it is not just Bill Belichick who shows the fear Manning brings to coaches.

            Last week against the Baltimore Ravens, the Colts had the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Ravens managed to fight back and drive to the Colts 14 yard line with 2:45 left in the game. Ordinarily, a head coach on a third and seven would give the ball to his running back who is top ten in rushing yards, touchdowns. In addition, he has not  fumbled once this year. But head coach John Harbaugh had different ideas. He decided to pass the ball and sure enough... intercepted by linebacker Gary Brackett. Although a field goal would have given the Ravens a 18-17 lead, that is if running back Ray Rice didn't convert for a first down or a touchdown, that wasn't enough for coach John Harbaugh. Would that have been enough of a lead for John Harbaugh if he wasn't playing Peyton Manning? This is a question that John Harbaugh himself probably doesn't know, or at least one he does not want to answer. We still have six games to go and Peyton is still undefeated. How are coaches going to beat him when they are afraid to give him the ball with only two minutes left? If these coaches are afraid to give Peyton the ball with two minutes left, what are they going to do for the first 46 minutes? When it involves Peyton Manning, there will always be more questions than answers. With six games left though, I don't see a conceivable way to stop the machine called Peyton Manning.