Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning did not have a particularly good day throwing the ball in today’s win over the Steelers, but he did engineer a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said afterward that that’s par for the course when facing Peyton.
Tomlin said that Manning’s ability to read the Steelers’ defense and audible at the line of scrimmage makes things difficult, and is why the Broncos went with Manning over Brock Osweiler.
“Peyton’s the ultimate play caller. He got them in some good checks and did a nice job. We got to a point in the game where we had to take some calculated risks, and that’s why, I’m sure, that they started him,” Tomlin said.
Physically, Manning is nowhere near the same quarterback as he was in his prime, when he won an NFL record five regular-season MVP awards. But Manning still has the mental ability to see the field like few quarterbacks do. In that late fourth-quarter drive, the Steelers found that out the hard way.