.jpg) Peyton Manning (AP Photo) The Top 10 . . .Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning turned 33 recently. To commemorate the occasion, the NFL Network put together its Top 10 Manning Moments. It was a good piece, covering the obvious, but over the coming days on Examiner, we'll discuss the Top 10 underrated Manning moments -- the ones that don't include Super Bowl XLI or the 2006 AFC Championship Game. What were the Top 10 best Manning moments maybe a lot of people don't remember? Or don't appreciate as they should? What are the 10 that don't jump out as obvious? Here's . . .
No. 3 . . . Colts 34, Denver Broncos 31 . . . October 29, 2006 Peyton Manning didn't get an amazing amount of publicity during the 2006 regular season. The storylines around the Colts focused on a struggling run defense, and even a 9-0 start didn't create that much buzz. The Colts, after all, had started 13-0 only the season before. But during that 9-0 start, partly because a Colts defense that would improve drastically in the postseason was still struggling -- particularly against the run -- Manning had several of his most memorable games. That includes this victory over the Denver Broncos. The Colts during Manning's career have had plenty of memorable games, and they generally have been very successful against the Broncos. A November 2002 victory at Denver already is on this list, and the Colts' playoff victories over Denver in back-to-back seasons made the NFL Network's list. This game against the Broncos in October of '06 could have made any list. That's how good Manning was that day, completing 32 of 39 passes for 345 yards against a defense that allowed 41 points in the first six games. This was another one of those games that with many other quarterbacks you could have gotten a feeling early that the game was over, and with a lot of other quarterbacks, you would have been right. The Broncos led 14-6 at halftime, and from watching the Colts' defense that season, you knew Denver's 47 yards rushing in the first half likely would grow in the second. It did, and the Broncos rushed for 180 yards in the second half and never really stopped scoring. And yet, the Colts rallied anyway. They got a stop on the first drive of the second half, and Manning drove the Colts 56 yards on six plays, throwing a 12-yard pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne to make it 14-13. A quick turnover and a 5-yard touchdown pass to Wayne later and the Colts led, 20-14, but Denver retook the lead, 21-20, on the final play of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was more of the same. A 48-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri gave the Colts a 23-20 lead, and the Broncos drove 80 yards to make it 28-23. The Colts drove 80 yards on the next possession and Manning not only capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown to Wayne, he pushed the Colts lead to three with a two-point conversion to Wayne, who finished the game with 10 receptions for 138 yards and three touchdowns. A 49-yard field goal by Jason Elam made it 31-31, but the Broncos left 1:49 on the clock, which gave what happened next a feeling of inevitability. A 13-yard pass to Wayne put the ball at the Denver 37. An eight-yarder to Wayne moved it to the 29. A 37-yard field goal by Vinatieri ended it and sent Manning's opponents and coaches searching for superlatives. Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan: He amazes me. Just his leadership qualities, and his sense of urgency, the way he reads defenses. He did a heck of a job today. Broncos Defensive End Ebenezer Ekuban: Remember when (Michael) Jordan was playing and he came into town and people stood outside the arena just to see him? That’s him. He’s a phenomenal quarterback. The best quarterback I’ve faced in my eight years in the league. Those are the quotes I found online researching this game, but what I remember most was something Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy said afterward. Dungy was always honest, but what he wasn't during his seven seasons with the franchise was given to overeffusiveness about individual players. But if a performance merited it -- if something was truly, truly memorable -- he was enough of a historian and fan of the game that he could put into perspective. After the victory over Denver, a reporter asked a question that I don't recall, but I'll never forget the gist of Dungy's response: You really can't overestimate how good the quarterback is . . . Up next . . . Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JohnOehser
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