The Panthers-Colts matchup on Monday night was billed as a clash between two of the top young quarterbacks in football: Cam Newton and Andrew Luck. What we got was sloppy, disappointing … and ultimately won by Newton. It was the NFL’s entire younger generation of NFL quarterbacks captured in one dreary game.

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Countless articles have been written this season about how we as football fans must make sure to appreciate Peyton Manning while he is still playing, even in his diminished 2015 form. The elder Manning has regressed so far that his 0 TD, 1 INT performance in Sunday’s win over the Packers was supposedly a statement game. Just 12 months ago, any game in which Manning didn’t throw at least three touchdowns was an aberration, and now his Sunday game is being called a return to form? “Peyton Manning of old shows up, and the Broncos stay undefeated” read the headline in the New York Times. Ugh. Depressing.

But while we’re all trying to appreciate Manning (while wincing and peering through our fingers), we might want to also carve out time to enjoy the other quarterbacks of his generation who are still playing at a high level. Because the future of the NFL’s most important position is looking worse than a Manning Face after a postseason interception.

Manning is 39. His younger brother, Eli, isn’t all that young any more at 34. Tom Brady is 38, Drew Brees 36, Ben Roethlisberger 33. Even Aaron Rodgers turns 32 next month.

Only one living starting quarterback possesses a Super Bowl ring and is under the age of 30, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. We can – and likely will, unfortunately – continue to argue about whether Joe Flacco (31 in January) is elite, but we can probably all agree that the generation that will replace the older QBs most definitely is not.

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While it’s easy to criticize Manning for his postseason failures – as I did just three paragraphs ago! – if you look at his entire career as a performance under pressure, he’s as clutch as it comes. When Manning was drafted No1 overall in 1998 by the Colts out of Tennessee, Archie’s prize son was dubbed the future of the quarterback position in the NFL. And he delivered. Yes, there’s “just” the one Super Bowl title over a Rex Grossman-quarterbacked team, but there’s also pretty much every passing record.

The NFL desperately needed Manning to deliver, too. John Elway was about to play his last season and Dan Marino, Troy Aikman and Steve Young were all on the way out. The future of the NFL quarterback position in 1998 was a 29 year-old Brett Favre and … I don’t know … Drew Bledsoe? Yikes.

Manning struggled in his rookie season, but in 1999 had a passer rating of 90.7, good for fourth in the NFL, three spots behind Kurt Warner in his out-of-nowhere breakout season. Here was the entire top 10 that season:

1. Warner

2. Steve Beuerlein

3. Jeff George

4. Manning

5. Brad Johnson

6. Rich Gannon

7. Ray Lucas

8. Charlie Batch

9. Gus Frerrote

10. Chris Chandler

Sweet merciful god. That list isn’t much better than the Browns QB jersey. No wonder Vince McMahon thought then that the time might be approaching to launch a competitor league to the NFL.

Manning bridged the gap between two eras and let fans know there was at least someone alive outside of Favre who could throw a football. Then Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger and Rodgers came along and all was right with the football world.

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The league is in a similar place now as it was in the late ‘90s. The older generation of QBs is nearing the end of its run and the NFL would like to identify its future icons. The idea was that Andrew Luck would be one of them. Drafted No1 overall by the Colts and supposedly cerebral like his predecessor, it was hoped that Luck would be a more athletic Manning. Instead, he’s playing more like a less hygienic Jay Cutler. After throwing four interceptions in the playoffs last year, giving him 12 interceptions in six career playoff games, Luck is on pace this season to go 6-10 with 26 touchdowns, 24 interceptions and a 71.6 quarterback rating – and a large chunk of those touchdown passes have come in garbage time.

Luck isn’t the next Peyton Manning. That’s OK. There will probably never be another Peyton Manning. But Luck might not even be, you know, to use a fancy scouting term: good.

So which young quarterbacks are?

Cam Newton, age 26, is undefeated and might be having his best season. Five years into his career, he looks to be a quarterback who can win games but isn’t necessarily going to drop any jaws. Perhaps, with some more talent around him, his career will take the path or Roethlisberger, with the eye-popping stats coming later in his career. But as of now, Newton’s career-high for touchdown passes in a season is 24. Manning beat that in his first seven games two years ago.

Russell Wilson, also age 26, has that ring. But even with his new, huge contract and the addition of Jimmy Graham, he’s looking more like a skilled manager – both at game managing and brand managing – than a generational talent. Wilson still hasn’t won a game in his career when the Seattle defense gives up more than 24 points.

Andy Dalton is having a career year at age 28. But he remains Andy Dalton until he stops being Andy Dalton. The NFL isn’t focusing marketing efforts around the guy anytime soon. He needs to win a playoff game, and probably more, before he’s no longer Andy Dalton.

Is it bad if the future of the NFL quarterback position could be a Raiders quarterback? I feel like that’s bad

Matt Stafford and Ryan Tannehill aren’t next-level talents. RG3 and Colin Kaepernick went bust. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota are still too green for anyone to know what they can do. That leaves … Blake Bortles? Derek Carr? Huh, maybe it’s Derek Carr? He’s exploded in his second NFL season at age 24. But is it bad if the future of the NFL quarterback position could be a Raiders quarterback? I feel like that’s bad.

What makes the struggles of the younger generation even more concerning is that, thanks to Manning and Brady, absolutely every rule in the NFL is written to help offenses – and quarterbacks specifically. And still we’re not seeing much. Imagine Andrew Luck playing under the rules that existed even 10 years ago. No turnover record would be safe. There’s not much help on the way either. I mean, teams are seriously considering drafting Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg in the first round. It might be time to re-launch the XFL, Vince.

This all isn’t just to lament the younger generation of quarterbacks or say they suck. Newton is good, a team can obviously win with Wilson, and Luck still has plenty of time to turn it all around. It’s to make the case that, with most of the 30-something QBs still producing, that we’re in the later days of a golden age of NFL quarterbacks. Six future Hall of Famers are in action every Sunday. Enjoy it while we have it. It might not be long before talents akin to Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer are winning Super Bowls again.

Of course, maybe Tom Brady really will play 10 more years as he recently said he hopes to. If that happens, everything will be just fine. Just please don’t suspend him, Mr Goodell.