Have We Seen The Last Of Peyton Manning?

It happens all the time in professional sports. Players have outstanding careers, proving their greatness time and again. They always find a way to make it to the big stage, year in and year out they find ways to get to the promise land. At the end of the day, the luck runs out and time will eventually catch up with you. Legands never die, but sometimes they painfully fade away. After what I saw on Sunday in Denver, as much as it pains me to say this, it looks like it might be the end of the line for Peyton Manning.

For the 9th time in his hall of fame career, Peyton and his team were bounced in their first playoff matchup on Sunday by Andrew Luck and the Colts in a 24-13 loss at home. This was a game where Peyton really didn't look like himself. As a matter of fact, Peyton hasn't really looked like himself over the last month. Some sources say that he has been playing the last month of the year with a torn quad, which would explain quite a lot for Peyton's play as of late. But there really is more to it than that.

There were two moments on Sunday's game against Indy that were a telling sign that Peyton may be on his last legs playing in the NFL. First was in the second quarter, when the game was tied 7-7, and Manning dropped back to pass, only to have the football stripped by a Colts pass rusher he never saw coming. Then, early in the 3rd quarter he was facing a 3rd and 5 and had plenty of space to run with the ball, clearly had enough room to run and pick up the first down, but instead tried to pass and miss hitting Sanders. The fact that Peyton didn't try running, I know the leg injury is rumored but still he had enough room to be able to try and run and pick up the first down. That shows that something wasn't quite right with Peyton.

Overall, he's 11-13 in the postseason and this was one of his worst playoff performances ever. He never found a rhythm, constantly overthrew his receivers and finished 26 of 46 for 111 yards, one TD and no interceptions. He never really looked comfortable on the field in this playoff game. When he had to possibly beg for 1st downs during the game, you know something isn't right. It really makes you step back and take a look at whether or not Peyton will be the same.

He will be 39 years old by the time next season gets underway. We have seen QB's have success around that age, with guys like Brett Farve coming to mind. But just watching Peyton play the last month, you can tell that something really isn't quite right with him, besides the injury. Peyton isn't really a $20 million quarterback anymore. Forget for a moment whether Osweiler is ready to step in as Denver's starting quarterback. What's tougher are the honest evaluations and heartfelt talks Manning must have with his family and Elway, one quarterback to another.

Nobody has ever doubted how great a passer Peyton Manning is. that's never going to be a factor. What has to be looked at though, is does he have any magic left in the tank? Does he still have the heart to go out there week after week like this? I can understand wanting to come back after last season to take another shot at a second championship, especially with the way last season ended. He wanted to try and make up for last years Super Bowl loss, but it wasn't in the cards this year.

It's going to be very tough for Peyton to say goodbye, of this I have no doubt. But what he really needs to figure out is if he can both physically and mentally deliver more magic next season. if the answer is yes, then by all means go for it. But if the answer is no, then it should be time to hang the pads up on what is, no doubt, a hall of fame career.