It seems as if Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has been sporting his pissed-off puss more often than usual during games. He apparently is more frustrated off the field of late, too.
During a Wednesday conference call with the San Diego media, Manning didn’t appreciate being reminded by Kevin Acee of the Union-Tribune that the Chargers have beaten the Colts four out of five times, dating back to 2005.
“Since ’05, is that a monumental year or something?” Manning said.
Well, yeah. It is. That was the year the Colts were 13-0 and the Chargers went into Indianapolis and beat them.
So Acee added to the mix a 2004 game between that two teams, which the Colts won in overtime at home.
“It’s a preparation thing,” Manning said. “Get your stats correct before you come with this question.”
Huh? Acee’s stats were correct. In the last five games between the two teams, the Chargers won 23-17 in the 2008 playoffs, 28-24 during the 2007 postseason, 23-21 during the 2007 regular season, and 26-17 during the 2005 regular season. The Colts won 23-20 during the 2008 regular season.
Later during the call, Acee chided Manning a bit.
“So, when you were throwing a ball at those kids on Saturday Night Live that really wasn’t acting based on how you tore apart my question,” Acee said.
Said Manning: “I guess . . . it was inaccurate. I don’t know how else to tell you.”
But it wasn’t inaccurate. Acee was right; the Chargers have beaten the Colts four out of five times. Manning could have said something like, “We haven’t played them since 2008 and past records don’t matter. We’ve had a lot of coaching and personnel changes since the last time we played the Chargers, and so have they. So even though we’re both wearing the same uniforms, those past games don’t matter.” Manning opted instead to insist that Acee’s facts were wrong, even though they were right.
It was a rare misstep for the image-obsessed Manning, who always seems to say and do all the right things whenever cameras and microphones are on. Maybe it’s simply a sign of the struggles he’s experiencing as one of the only links to that team that beat the Chargers in 2004.