Peyton Manning should wear game manager label with honor

Peyton Manning: game manager.

It’s not nearly as cool a nickname as “The Sheriff.” But this is a badge Manning should wear with honor.

Unlike earlier in his Hall of Fame career, Manning can no longer win games with his arm. However, he can still lose them by making too many mistakes.

The fact he hasn’t done that is the most impressive part of Manning’s play during Denver’s run to Super Bowl 50.

Manning has committed just one turnover in roughly 9½ quarters since returning from a foot injury that had sidelined him for seven weeks. That gaffe wasn’t really Manning’s fault either as running back Ronnie Hillman failed to take the precautionary step of falling on a lateral that he thought was an incomplete screen pass.

Manning’s string of consecutive pass attempts without an interception stands at 78, which is his longest streak since Weeks 11 to 14 of the 2014 season.

Manning had thrown at least one interception in the first 10 games this season and 17 in total, a mark so high that he led the league until being supplanted by Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles in Week 17.

The fact Manning has taken such good care of the football of late makes up for the lack of his usual gaudy passing statistics. Since his return, he has completed only 55.1 percent of his attempts compared to his overall career mark of 65.3 percent. Manning’s 398 passing yards in the playoffs also marks one of the lowest two-game totals in his 18-year NFL career as the Broncos have made a concentrated effort under first-year head coach Gary Kubiak to rely on their rushing attack.

“I think in the playoffs everybody has to do their part and play their role,” Manning told Broncos media last week. “This team has won as a team all year, everybody doing their part making a critical play at a critical time. It hasn’t always been all three units playing outstanding throughout the entire game. But at some point in the critical drive in the fourth quarter or on a goal-line stand, somebody on defense, offense or special teams has stepped up and made a play.”

Denver’s offense will continue to need that kind of group effort in Super Bowl 50 against an opportunistic Carolina defense. The Panthers forced Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer into four interceptions and two lost fumbles in last Sunday’s 49-15 NFC championship game rout. Carolina also has forced at least one turnover in all but one game this season.

“They’re obviously really physical, and they fly around,” Broncos tight end Owen Daniels said of the Panthers. “You can tell they’re well coached and there’s a lot of talent out there. They’ve been playing really well all season long.”

Kubiak tried to turn the term game manager into a positive when asked about how Manning’s role on offense has changed in his offensive system.

“I think it’s a compliment,” said Kubiak, who could be described as such when pressed into action as a Broncos backup quarterback from 1983 to 1991. “As a quarterback, you wouldn’t be in that position if you couldn’t make plays and do the things that you need to do to win. But you do have to manage the football team. You have to understand situations. You have to, hopefully, get your guys in the best possible situations on game day to be successful.

“There are certain games that get to a certain point where managing the game the right way is the key to win. It’s using the clock or simple things such as that. Anytime somebody is considered a darn-good game manager, I think that’s a compliment to them.”

Besides, there’s only one label Manning cares about receiving at this point in his career.

That’s being known as a two-time Super Bowl champion.