Manning closes in on all- time TD pass record
Peyton Manning shrugged off the question about the meaningfulness of inevitably breaking Brett Favre’s NFL record for touchdown passes.
Deep down, though, the only man to win five MVP awards must recognize what an achievement it is.
Next Sunday against San Francisco, or perhaps the following Thursday against San Diego, Manning will surpass Favre’s 508 regular- season TD throws. Manning is two shy after throwing for three scores in a 31- 17 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.
“I don’t know if any of them are big for me, necessarily, especially in the middle of the season,” Manning said. “We’re trying to win football games. It’s tough. It’s a tough schedule. That’s all I’m thinking about, trying to find a way to win the game.
“If Ronnie ( Hillman) wants to run for four touchdowns next week, I’m in favour of that.”
It’s not that Manning doesn’t care about owning these records — and when he is through in the NFL, he might own all of the passing marks. He certainly covets all of those Associated Press Most Valuable Player honours, possessing two more than Favre, the next most frequent winner.
And when he threw for an almost unimaginable 55 touchdowns last season, the massiveness of the accomplishment wasn’t lost on him.
This upcoming record puts him in the category of Barry Bonds — or if you prefer, given the way Bonds’ career accomplishments are muddled, Hank Aaron.
“I think it is a measure of ultimately how productive he is,” said Bill Polian, the man who drafted Manning back in 1998 in Indianapolis and watched him develop into perhaps the greatest of all passers. “That is the sort of No. 1 task of a quarterback, especially in this day and age, so it is very meaningful. It’s a little like the home run record.”
Manning has been hitting ‘ em out of the park — well, throwing them into the end zone — with incredible regularity since missing 2011 because of several neck surgeries. His work in Denver has been even more impressive given how questionable any comeback was when the Broncos signed him after Indianapolis released him in early 2012.
Two of his three highest passer ratings have come as a Bronco. Only in his original record- setting season of 2004 did he rate higher with the Colts.
Manning averaged 46 TD passes in his first two Denver seasons; he averaged just under 24 in Indy. Two of his three highest completion percentages have come as a Bronco, same things for yards passing.
Polian doesn’t see too many adjustments that Manning has been forced to make in Denver. “He looks to me very much like the quarterback I knew,” said Polian, now an analyst for SiriusXM NFL Radio and for ESPN. “The arm isn’t what it was, but it happens to every quarterback. I don’t think there’s much difference from Peyton in Indianapolis before the injury. His timing still is exquisite.”