Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans: What This Game Means To Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning just hasn't been Peyton Manning lately.

He's looked like someone else. He needs to look like the Peyton Manning we're used to when he goes on national display tonight. His Colts are in Tennessee and this one's a "must-win" for the boys from Indy.

As bad as things have gone this season, the Colts are still firmly entrenched in a playoff battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars, of all suspects.

Manning seriously needs a great game. Not a good game—a great game.

He needs to snap out of what has been ailing him lately. He's simply looked more like the son of Archie Bunker than the son of Archie Manning.

His 11 interceptions in the last three games put him in dubious company with former New Orleans quarterback Aaron Brooks (1990) and former Charger Craig Whelihan, two guys who accomplished the same forgettable feat.

Three or more picks in three straight games let him join Brooks (2001), Brett Favre (1998) and Jim Kelly (1996) as signal-callers with that sad fact on their resumes.

Then he found a way to do something no other quarterback has done since the AFL merged with the NFL. Manning is the only man to have two interceptions returned for touchdowns in consecutive games.

Ouch!

So you think Manning needs a great game tonight?

Things would have to get better to call this a Manning slump. It's been a bum-foozle of a stretch of games yet somehow, someway, Indy is not out of the running for the division title in that AFC mess called the South. Only the NFC West is more deplorable.

This game in Tennessee needs to be that "slump-buster" for Manning.

The Jaguars host Oakland Sunday, a game either team can win.

The Colts need to stay within striking distance of the Jags and Manning needs to find his form.

It's that simple, it is what this game means to the man, who along with Tom Brady, has been the league's most dangerous quarterback for the past decade.

And the interceptions need to stop and stop tonight.

"Every interception has a story," Manning explained after that gosh-awful performance against the Cowboys. "Nobody wants to hear it and the simple fact is just turnovers can be extremely difficult to overcome."

If every interception does indeed have a story, then the story needs to end.

Otherwise, Manning will be penning a lengthy, losing novel.