Alike In Many Ways, Manning & Luck Bookend Sunday Of Week 1
After our long national nightmare, the NFL offseason, ended on Wednesday with the first kickoff for Giants-Cowboys.
On Sunday, we watched Andrew Luck take his first snaps as the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. The former Indianapolis quarterback, Peyton Manning, would later take the field in Denver against the Steelers. Luck struggled through his debut against the Chicago Bears, posting numbers eerily similar to Manning’s first start for the Colts (three interceptions with 300 passing yards).
Manning fared better in his return to the field after missing the 2011 season, producing two touchdown passes and 253 yards. His first touchdown for the Broncos, the 400th of his illustrious career, went for 71 yards to … you guessed it … Demaryius Thomas.
The crux of the post is this … Luck in defeat and Manning in victory sounded a lot alike on Sunday. Luck held himself accountable for his multiple turnovers in the loss to Chicago, citing that there weren’t many “happy memories” from this contest. (He did throw a touchdown pass to Donnie Avery.)
Manning talked about the therapy sessions, his hard work and all of the people that supported him in his rehabilitation process. He also tried to put things in perspective in his post-game comments. He essentially called the Broncos a work in progress, cautioned the punditry world that the victory was just a single win in a long season and cited the Falcons’ success on Sunday afternoon against the Chiefs.
