Peyton Manning has certainly looked better as a passer.
Then again, he didn’t look good at all as a human being Sunday night.
Fighting through flu-like symptoms, Manning was washed-out after leading the Broncos to the AFC West title with a win over the Chargers.
“I didn’t feel great, and I was a little under the weather last night,” Manning said, via Woody Paige of the Denver Post.
That was an apparent understatement, as forcefully expelling the contents of his stomach Saturday night forced him to get four bags of intravenous fluids to get on the field.
“I don’t remember ever having [intravenous fluids] before,” he said. “It was a new experience.
“I felt bad. You want to play, but you don’t know if you’re going to hurt the team.”
He didn’t exactly do that, as he kept them moving well enough to hold the Chargers at bay. A thigh injury that sent him to the locker room before halftime was also a concern, as coach John Fox said they “were unsure at halftime, to be honest with you,” if Manning would come back.
“Until Peyton made the cavalry entrance [out of the tunnel] at the start of the third quarter, we were prepared otherwise,” Fox said. “But I think it’s a tribute to the kind of toughness Peyton has and the kind of competitor he is that he got up and did a tremendous job in those conditions.”
The fact they’re running and playing defense so well right now takes some of the pressure off, but Manning might not be ready for any chicken parm or Papa John’s just yet.