What's wrong with Peyton Manning?

Well the Broncos enter the bye week with a perfect 6-0 record but it sure doesn't feel that way. If you didn't know their record and heard all of the recent talk you would think the Broncos were 1-5. So what is ailing the Denver Broncos? Do the offensive struggles lie solely upon the shoulders of 39 year old quarterback Peyton Manning? Most Broncos fans would say yes, absolutely Peyton has been terrible. While it is easy to blame the quarterback it isn't fair to Peyton Manning because he hasn't gotten much help from his teammates on the offensive side of the ball. Let's take a look at what's wrong with the Broncos and see what can be done to help out a struggling quarterback. 

1.) A new and young offensive line

Denver Broncos

This has been the biggest reason for Peyton Mannings struggles so far this season.  This group is almost entirely new with the exception of Louis Vasquez and they have struggled mightily. The biggest problem for this new line has been in the running game where they are struggling to create running lanes of any kind. Now this was to be expected with 4 new starters that include a rookie and a 2nd year player who is a first time starter but after 6 weeks things should have been going better. This group has really struggled getting any push up front and if you look at the stats the Broncos have had more runs for a loss or no gain than any other team in football. That is not a statistical category that you want to be leading in. Now you might ask, what does that have to do with Peyton Manning? Well the plan coming into the year was to ask Peyton to throw less and rely on good defense and a strong running game. The Broncos have the good defense part down, but the running game has been atrocious this far. To have any shot at all in the playoffs this offensive line has got to drastically improve to take some of the pressure off of Peyton Manning and the passing game. 

Denver Broncos

Speaking of the passing game I should also note just how bad this offensive line has been in pass protection as well. Through six games this year Peyton Manning has already been sacked 12 times; he was sacked 17 times in an entire season in 2014! If you watch Peyton Manning he does not trust this offensive line and he is anticipating pressure even when he has decent protection. The biggest problem for the line has been with A gap pressure (between the center and guard). Young center Matt Paradis has struggled with recognizing these blitzes up the middle and as a result Manning has had pressure in his face, which is what quarterbacks hate more than anything else. I do think that we have seen small improvements from Paradis in blitz recognition and pickup but it still seems like Peyton does not fully trust this offensive line which is leading to rushing throws which is causing a lot of inaccuracy. Against the Browns Manning had 14 throws that were off target throws which was the most in his entire career so clearly he isn't comfortable behind this new offensive line. If the Broncos want to have any chance in the playoffs they have to get this offensive line working as a team and keep Peyton Manning upright and comfortable. 

2.) Lack of cohesion with receivers

Denver Broncos

Understand that this excludes players like Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders because they have both played long enough with Manning to know where he expects them to be. The real problem here has been with Cody Latimer and to a lesser extent Jordan Norwood. Against the Browns this was especially obvious as Manning expected Norwood to stop on his route and sit in the soft spot of the zone and Norwood kept running. Had he been where Peyton expected him to be it would have been a big 3rd down conversion for the Broncos. I think that as the season progresses we will see those two get on the same page and connect more often.  Manning really needs a reliable 3rd down target (think Wes Welker) and I think that Norwood could become that guy out of the slot. The bigger concern this year has been Latimer who appears to be sitting sixth on the wide receiver depth chart. When he has gotten on the field he has not taken advantage of the opportunity. Against the Browns he ran the wrong route on a 3rd down which forced the Broncos to punt the ball away.  These kinds of mental errors are very frustrating with Latimer because he has the talent to be a great wide receiver in this league. It seems like all we hear about all offseason is how good Latimer looks in practice and so far he has yet to make any impact at all on the field.  

Another problem for this Broncos receiving corp has been the inconsistent play of receiver Demaryius Thomas, who has struggled at times to catch the ball.  Now make no mistake Thomas has been great at times this season but at others he has been unreliable. This was especially true against the Browns when he dropped several balls that would have been for big plays and kept drives alive.  When your quarterback is already struggling you need your $90 million dollar wide receiver to help him out a little bit and so far Thomas has not done that in big moments. I expect Thomas to get back on track after the bye week and make a big impact the rest of the season. Manning is going to need all of his receivers to step up and make plays for him because he can't do it all himself anymore. 

Denver Broncos

One more player that I want to focus on has been tight end Owen Daniels who has really struggled to get open this year.  Most were expecting a big season from Daniels due to the fact that Kubiak utilizes the tight end heavily in his offense and Peyton Manning has always kept his tight ends involved in the offense. So far it just hasn't worked out for Daniels who has struggled to make much of an impact at all. It looks like maybe he is a step slower than years past and he has struggled to gain separation from defenders.  This helps to explain why the offense has struggled so much in the red zone. In years past Manning would look for Julius Thomas in the red zone where he excelled because of his athleticism but Daniels has been unable to provide that same impact. I believe that the Broncos should start using more of Virgil Green especially in the red zone where I think he can have a big impact.  Most think of him as more of a blocking tight end but if you look at his combine numbers he actually put up better numbers athletically than Julius Thomas did. The Broncos need to do a better job of getting Green involved as a receiver because he can create big time match up problems for opposing defenses. 

3.) Decision Making

The third and probably most surprising problem for Peyton Maning has been his decision manning. This is never something I expected to criticize Manning for as he has one of the best football minds we have ever seen. Some of the problems can be attributed to the shortcomings of the offensive personnel around Manning, but it seems like at least once a game (usually more) I watch a play and think what in the world was he thinking there? For a quarterback whose greatest asset is now his brain he has been having major mental breakdowns several times a game.  Just look at the last two games where he has thrown a total of 5 interceptions. He really had no business throwing any of those balls and they were all real head scratchers. I think it is time for Manning to realize that he is no longer the guy who can throw the ball 50 times a game and be successful. He just no longer has the abilities physically to do that. At this point Manning is more of a game manager but it seems that he has yet to realize that himself.  He is trying to force balls and make plays that just aren't there when in reality he needs to check the ball down and cut his losses.  So far the defense has bailed him out but I can promise you that if you turn the ball over three times in a game against the Packers or Patriots you are not going to win. Mannings number one priority from this point forward has to be protecting the football and not making mistakes that hurt the football team.  If he can limit mistakes and trust in the running game then this team has a chance to be very special. 

The positives 

Denver Broncos

I know that was very doom and gloom so it's time to take a look at the glass half full approach and acknowledge that for all of their failures on offense this team is still 6-0 which is a big accomplishment in the NFL no matter who you are playing or how close the games are. Their record speaks to this teams ability to make big plays in key moments and have that never say die attitude that John Elway was looking for when he fired John Fox and brought in Kubiak. 

The defense is absolutely unbelievable and they are so fun to watch. The way they attack their opponents and creat turnovers is something that this team has been lacking for years.  The play of this defense has been fun to watch and it seems like every player is making a contribution to the greatness of the defense.  Just look at a guy like Shaq Barrett who has been an absolute monster for the Broncos this year. A year ago he was on the practice squad and was a complete unknown. The play of this defense should have Broncos fans feeling optimistic because with a defense like that they always have a chance to win. If the Broncos can get some of the aforementioned problems solved then they have a very good chance of making some noise the rest of the season.