I think that the real question should be asked is "Do they risk it all on Manning?". Manning is going to be 35 soon and he's coming off of a bad injury. Manning has a team option before the league year is out that pays him something like $28 million and the rest of his contract goes through. If Indy feels that Manning has recovered enough of his rocket arm strength by that time, pay the man and deal with the Luck situation. If Manning hasn't recovered like Indy would like, they decline the option and Manning becomes a free agent. I think that until this decision is made, there really isn't a whole lot to talk about. Cue every Redskins fan clawing their eyes out, then cut to ESPN raping the twice a year Manning Bowl to death. Oh, and Griffin is winning the Heisman.
The problem with the trial by fire vs. learn under a veteran approach is that everyone's right. Some players start right away and seem to do better for it (Manning, Roethlisberger). Some sit, and then seem to do better for it (Rodgers, Rivers). And some do either of those things and suck donkey balls (Boller, Russell vs. Leinart, Quinn). There doesn't seem to be a firm case to be made either way, and you can pick and choose your examples to make whatever argument you want. One of the main issue that no one outside of Indy can answer is what do the Colts executives think the team's short-term ceiling is with Manning? Personally, I think they still struggle to make the playoffs. But if the Colts brass are deluded enough to think that a Manning-led Colts team is a 2012-2013 Super Bowl contender, given their GMs age, they might be inclined to go all in.
There are only two options in reality. Keeping Manning or Trading Manning. Washington would kill for Manning that's just a fucking given.
In case anyone missed the latest Tebow time, allow me to paint the picture. The bears are up 10-0 with four minutes to go. Tebow drives the field after starting the day 3/18 with a pick. After throwing a td with barely over 2 minutes left Tebow pulls the broncos within three. Chicago recovers the onside kick and Denver has no timeouts. God shoves Marion Barber out of bounds to give Tebow adequate time to put Prater in position for a field goal. Tebow does exactly this. Prater nails an improbable 59 yarder to send the game into overtime. The bears win the toss. After driving into field goal range, Chicago promptly fumbles. Denver recovers (of course). Tebow leads the broncos back in range for another long field goal. Prater drills a second 50+ yarder and the broncos with in overtime. Someone should make a documentary about all these games.
I was planning on moving to Denver in the summer. Methinks that real estate might skyrocket due to newly built churches that Tebow will build with his bare hands and two loaves of bread. I really can't fathom this run that they're on, though. Perhaps if I was able to watch a fucking game, I might have better insight.
Which one of the drives does Tim Tebow go 7 for 7 on the drive? You forgot that part. You just have to be texting all your friends knowing Tim Tebow is going to Tim Tebow all over your face. Can't stop Jesus, you can't...
I figured it was so obvious he wouldn't miss a pass that it didn't warrant mentioning. Fun facts about Tebow; since starting he is 7-1 with a point differential of only +2. Before today it was in the negative. I now know that the packers are going 16-0, and only so that they can lose to the broncos in the super bowl. This has all been preordained. Maybe if the lions hadn't mocked him that one day God was sleeping other teams would have a chance.
Yes, he did a great job dumping to the running back 6 times, then hitting a guy that no one was covering in the end zone. I love that he started by thanking Jesus, then forgets to mention the guy who hit 59 and 51 yard field goals.
HEY! Throwing routes under 10 yds when the defense is in prevent coverage is the hallmark of HOF QBs Meanwhile, Marion Barber probably just knocked over his water glass on the flight home ruining Urlacher's brand new Ipad
Of Tebow's 21 completions, 14 were to wide receivers, including 12 of his 18 4th quarter completions. A wide receiver led the team in both targets and receptions. Wide receivers or tight ends accounted for 29 of the game's 38 targets. Some of you guys are impossible to please. If the name on the back of the jersey said anything else, you'd have no problem talking about how great those drives were. He played a great quarter and executed almost perfectly, albeit with an assist from Barber. To balance out that Tebow-positivity, media folk love fourth quarter comebacks so much that they seem loathe to point out that you arrive in those situations by being outplayed the first three quarters. Yeah, Eli Manning and Tim Tebow have a lot of fourth quarter comebacks, but it is in part because they have a lot of crappy first through third quarters. Playing consistently well all game just isn't as neat of a story as leading an exciting last minute drive. The added bonus of every Broncos game on TV is the John Elway reaction shots. He looks personally hurt by all this nonsense, as if every Tim Tebow completion gives him an ulcer. If they make a playoff run, I think he might die.
If the name on the back of the jersey said anything else, the media and fans wouldn't be be choking on His Holy Schlong all day, every day, and might have the temerity to acknowledge that their defense is playing lights-out, their running game showed up, and Tebow is inconsistent at best in the first half of the game - terrible at worst - and is afforded these come-from-behind wins because there's no serious deficit to overcome. My biggest problem with Tebow is that he is a mediocre quarterback who is being given FAR more credit than he is due.
Triple ratings if they did a picture in picture. That man DOES NOT want to play Tebow at QB. He wanted him to fail more than anyone in the whole fucking world. Poor fucking John Elway, if he dumps Tebow the entire city will turn on him. Especially with this winning streak. But seriously though, I watched that football game, I got texts from all my friends knowing it was coming. The Bronco's new it was coming. You could see it in their eyes. Its Tebow, he may not be making the plays himself, but his spirit (See: Jesus) is getting all those guys to play their asses off. You hear Champ Bailey's interview after the game? That man is the definition of a grizzled veteran, he's on the sideline watching the offense, and not just in the redzone. That shit doesn't happen for most teams. If anyone should be against Tebow it should be the guy that's been with good QBs. He's not, even when they missed the oneside, they wanted to get the ball back in their QBs hands. You can't say he's not doing anything... Fuck Eli Manning. As a Patriots fan, I can't say that enough. I would say fuck David Tyree, but he's already working at a McDonald's somewhere. Hey, don't be down Crown Royal, you'll have Peyton Manning next year as your QB!
All QB's get too much blame and too much credit. But a win is a win. Blame or credit whomever you'd like, most teams in the NFL only dream of winning 7 out of 8.