Peyton Manning: Consecutive QB Start Streak Record Will Soon Be Unimpressive

Peyton Manning made his 200th career and consecutive start yesterday, but unfortunately for him it came with a loss. And as we all know, his start streak is the second-longest in NFL history. But if, and when, he breaks Brett Favre's record, it won't be as impressive.

With the current "safety" rules in place in the NFL that are strictly enforced for the quarterback, it seems as if Peyton Manning will never get hurt. This all came to my attention after watching the Colts-Eagles game yesterday afternoon when on a fourth- and-18 late in the fourth quarter, Trent Cole was penalized for grazing Manning's helmet.

Are you serious? Anyone watching the game would have seen the ridiculousness of the call. I can almost understand the logic, considering Austin Collie was viciously hit earlier in the game while in a defenseless position. But to throw a flag for unnecessary roughness on Cole late in the game, a penalty which allowed the contest to be closer than it should have been, made me wonder where the integrity of the game is going.

Captain Roger Goodell deems it good for the NFL to extend the season by two games, and I suppose to ensure the prestige of the NFL, the quarterback must be taken care of with the most absolute certainty.

It's actually kind of a disgrace, because I respect Peyton for the way he plays the game, and the respect he shows to everyone associated with it. But he's going to break Favre's record because of the new rules that have been set in place in this current landscape of the National Football League.

Another example of this was during the Jets-Lions game, also played yesterday. Shaun Ellis was running after Matthew Stafford after he ran out of the pocket to avoid the sack. In the process Stafford was pushed out-of-bounds. The ref thought that the push was late and therefore called an unnecessary roughness penalty on Ellis. If you watched the replay it wasn't even close to being late, and the commentators made sure to let the audience know it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for an NFL that practices more safety and tries its best to limit the amount of concussions that happen each and every week. But this current system is a little bit out of control, especially for the protection of the quarterbacks.

This also happens to be a season in which a good amount of quarterbacks have been hurt, including the Bears' Jay Cutler, the Cowboys' Tony Romo and the aforementioned Matthew Stafford. However, injuries are a part of the vicious game we Americans like to call football.

Please Roger, don't ruin the integrity of the game by preventing all hits to the quarterback. Because it appears the way things are going, soon you won't be able to hit the quarterback at all, rather you will only have to two-hand touch him.

So in 2016 when we're all celebrating Peyton Manning's newest record of most consecutive starts by a quarterback, I won't be impressed. Because that feat won't mean anything anymore.