No one would have a better idea just how much Peyton Manning’s arm is capable of than the Broncos and Brock Osweiler gave us a glimpse into their thinking when he revealed that the team would have put him in for a Hail Mary against the Falcons if the opportunity presented itself.
The only real conclusion we can draw from that is that the Broncos think Osweiler has a stronger arm than Manning. That doesn’t mean that the team is unhappy with Manning’s arm strength or that Manning’s arm strength has fallen off considerably since his Colts days, but it did mean that Manning got a question about whether he had enough arm strength when he met with the media on Wednesday.
“I am what I am, it is what it is. Whatever expression is appropriate for that,” Manning said, via Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. “So, I really don’t know what to tell you.”
All three of Manning’s interceptions on Monday night seemed to float before settling into the arms of Falcons defenders, although Manning blamed poor decisions and not his arm strength for the picks when he spoke to reporters after the game. Manning showed in the season opener and later in the Atlanta game that he can still make enough plays to lead his team to the end zone regularly.
That obviously isn’t making arm strength questions go away, but it could make them irrelevant if Manning can avoid the kind of disaster he put forth in the first half on Monday night.