When younger people see Peyton Manning on television Sunday afternoons they see a man who promotes insurance companies, enjoys chicken parm sandwiches and sits in living rooms with Lionel Richie singing a changed lyric version of “Easy On Sunday Morning” while talking about Direct TV but what our younger generation doesn’t know that this man who enjoys Papa John’s Pizza is one of the greatest quarterbacks of the post-merger NFL and one of the best quarterbacks of OUR GENERATION! “The Sheriff” wasn’t just a quarterback for the Colts and in his later career the Broncos, he was the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and head coach on these teams and of course you could say “Jim Mora, Tony Dungy and John Fox were the head coaches!” and yes, they were but Peyton Manning ran his offense “his way” and is one of the best on-field leaders in this sport.

Here are my Top 10 games of future hall of famer Peyton Manning!

10. October 4th, 1998 Week 5 vs San Diego Chargers W 17-12

137 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception 66.8 QB Rating

You might think,”137 yards, a touchdown and an interception with a 66.8 QB rating? Why is this game on the list?”. Well the reason is this is Peyton Manning’s first NFL win as a pro and the true beginning of a legend. Back in 1998 when our president was in a sex scandal for receiving “oral office favors” and Armageddon was the biggest movie of the summer there was much debate on who the Indianapolis Colts were gonna select for the 1st overall draft pick of the 1998 NFL draft.

It was down to two men, Peyton Manning out of Tennessee University and Ryan Leaf out of Washington State University. Many thought the Colts were gonna go for Leaf due to his upside and his strong arm and others thought they were gonna go with Manning due to his maturity and his big league readiness. On April 18th, 1998 to the surprise of many, the Indianapolis Colts selected Peyton Manning with the first overall pick and the rest was history.

For the first 4 weeks of his rookie season Peyton Manning got off to a slow start, losing to the Dolphins, Patriots, Jets and a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Saints then on Week 5 against the 2-2 San Diego Chargers who were considered “lucky” for landing Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning thew the first and only touchdown of the game, a 19 yarder to NFL hall of famer running back Marshall Faulk to garner his first official win in his career against the team that could of had him.

This game was the beginning of Peyton Manning’s 18 season hall of fame career and will be remembered as one of the greatest Quarterbacks of all time. Ryan Leaf has only played to 2002 and to this day has been remembered as one of the biggest NFL draft busts in history. I’m sure the Colts made a good choice but than again in some alternate parallel universe I could be writing a “Top 10 best games of Ryan Leaf” article.

9. February 7th, 2016 Super Bowl 50 vs Carolina Panthers W 24-10

141 Yards, 0 TDs, 1 Interception 56.6 QB Rating

What? “I thought this was the “10 Best Games Of Peyton Manning” list. What is with the stat line here brah?”. Super Bowl 50 was the final game in Peyton Manning’s 18 year legendary career and his 2nd Super Bowl win. The 2015 NFL season wasn’t the best statistical season for Manning, as at this point he was 38 years old and has been dealing with post neck surgery and his throwing arm has not been the same. This year he was “carried” by a stud Denver Broncos defense featuring former defensive rookie of the year linebacker Von Miller, linebacker Demarcus Ware, cornerback Aqib Talib and strong safety T.J. Ward to a 12-4 season record.

The 15-1 Carolina Panthers was an offensive and defensive juggernaut lead by the 2015 season MVP quarterback Cam Newton. Many thought that the Panthers were a shoe-in to win Super Bowl 50 but during the defensive battle Cam Newton fumbled the ball on the Carolina 25 yard line via a Von Miller sack and recovery by T.J. Yard. Peyton Manning would go on to hand off the ball to running back C.J. Anderson for the 2 yard touchdown to secure the lead to garner Peyton Manning his 2nd Super Bowl win and finish his final game to retire as a legend. On March 7th, 2016 Peyton Manning would officially retire from football, spending 14 seasons with the Colts and 4 seasons with the Broncos.

This was Peyton Manning’s final words of his retirement speech,

“I’ve fought a good fight. I’ve finished my football race and after 18 years, it’s time. God bless all of you and God bless football.”

Just wow.

8. February 4th, 2007 Super Bowl XLI vs Chicago Bears W 29-17

247 Yards, 1 Touchdown, 1 Interception 81.8 QB Rating

“OMG this list fails! Peyton Manning has had way better games than this!” Hold your horses readers, We’re gonna get to that please bare with me. This game was Peyton Manning’s first Super Bowl win. The 12-4 Indianapolis Colts was facing off against the 13-3 Chicago Bears lead by quarterback Rex Grossman (Yeah, Rex Grossman was at a Super Bowl) and after the game opening kick return touchdown by Bears kick returner Devin Hester, Peyton Manning would hook up with Reggie Wayne for a 53 yard touchdown to return fire.

After a Adam Vinatieri field goal, a Dominic Rhodes rushing touchdown and a few more Vinatieri field goals the Colts would go on to win Super Bowl XLI and cermet Peyton Manning’s first Super Bowl win.

Peyton Manning’s season stats to his first Super Bowl appearance were 4,397 yards, 31 touchdowns, 9 interceptions with a 63% completion rate and a 85.42 QB rating.

7. October 19th, 2014 Week 6 vs San Francisco 49ners W 42-17

318 yards, 4 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions 157.2 QB Rating

Finally, a good stat line! This Sunday Night Football matchup was between the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ners in which the last 2 seasons the 49ners had a notoriously good defense featuring future hall of famers Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman in which one year prior helped this 49ners team make an appearance at Super Bowl XLVII in which they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens.

Well, Willis wasn’t at this game due to a nagging toe injury and Bowman wasn’t there for the entire 2014 season due to a torn ACL and MCL and the Sheriff took advantage of this and hooked up with Emmanuel Sanders, Wes Welker and Demaryius Thomas twice for touchdowns for 22 completions on 26 attempts.

This was the game where Peyton Manning surpassed record holder Bret Farve (509) for most career passing touchdowns. He ended the night with 510 career tds. (Peyton Manning ended his career on 539 career tds, a record he still holds to this day).

The Broncos would end up going 12-4, clinching the AFC west and then losing to his former team, the Indianapolis Colts 24-13 in the divisionals. Peyton Manning would finish the 2014 season with 4,727 yards, 39 touchdowns, 15 interceptions with a completion rate of 66.2% and a QB rating of 101.5.

6. December 14th, 2003 Week 11 vs Atlanta Falcons W 38-7

290 Yards, 5 Touchdowns 0 Interceptions 146.5 QB Rating

See, I told y’all to keep reading so I get on to the good stuff! The 11-3 Colts was facing the 3-11 Falcons and the first touchdown was thrown in the 1st quarter to Reggie Wayne, then to Brandon Stokley in the same quarter, then to Marvin Harrison in the 2nd quarter and then to Harrison again in the 3rd quarter.

The Colts would end up going 12-4 and then meeting the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game and losing 14-24. Peyton Manning’s season record for 2003 was 4,267 yards, 29 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 67% completion rate and a 99.0 QB rating.

5. October 22nd, 2000 Week 7 vs New England Patriots W 30-23

268 Yards 3 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions 158.3 QB Rating

This game is on the list for the reason being this that this was Peyton Manning’s highest season NFL QB rated game. In this game the 5-6 Colts are facing the 2-6 Patriots and in the 1st quarter Manning would throw to his main man Marvin Harrison a 53 yard touchdown pass then in 3rd quarter he would throw another td to (you guessed it) Marvin Harrison for 78 yards and then while trailing behind in the 4th quarter Manning would throw the third td to Edgerrin James for 1 yard to gain the lead then later hand off the ball to Edge for another td to win this game.

Yeah, that Marvin Harrison guy is pretty good. Maybe one day I should do a top 10 list for him?

The colts would finish the 2000 season 10-6 and then lose to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card match. Peyton Manning would finish the 2000 season with 4,413 yards, 33 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 62.5 percent completion rate and a QB rating of 94.7.

4. January 4th, 2004 Wildcard vs Denver Broncos W 41-10

337 yards, 5 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions 158.3 QB Rating

Daaaamn! The 13-4 Indianapolis Colts would meet the Denver Broncos in the 2003 NFL AFC wildcard game and in the 1st quarter Manning would throw his first td of the game to Brandon Stokley for 31 yards and in the same quarter Manning would throw a 46 yard td pass to Marvin Harrison.

Then in the 2nd quarter Peyton Manning would throw a 23 yard td pass to Harrison again then in that very same quarter he would throw a 87 yard bomb to Stokley. In the 3rd quarter Manning would throw his 5th and final td pass, a 7 yarder, to Reggie Wayne to win the game 41-10 and advance into the divisonals to beat Kansas City 38-31 then face defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game 24-14 in which the Patriots would go on to face the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XXXVIII.

What a shame…..

This game was tied for Manning’s best season rated QB game at 158.3, making this his highest rated postseason game.

3. November 25th, 2004 Week 11 vs Detroit Lions W 41-9

236 Yards, 6 Touchdowns 0 Interceptions 141.4 QB Rating

You just don’t mess with Manning! When the 8-3 Colts rolled into Ford Field to face the 4-7 Lions on Thanksgiving you could say the Lions got thrown into the Colt’s Den? Anyway the game started off with a Brandon Stokley 4 yard td pass, then Brandon Stokley caught another td pass from the Sheriff for 12 yards, then in the 2nd quarter who was the blessed fellow to catch Manning’s third td catch?

You guessed it, Brandon Stokley! For 25 yards.

Then in that very same quarter a 4th td was thrown? Who was it? Nope, wasn’t Stokley it was Marvin Harrison for 13 yards! Then in the 3rd quarter Manning threw touchdown #5 to Marvin Harrison for 10 yards then in the same quarter the 6th and final touchdown was thrown to Mr.Harrison for 5 yards.

I’m not gonna lie, I wish I got into Fantasy Football around this time but then again I would I want to be the one to play the team that had Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Brandon Stokley that week. Maybe better I didn’t.

2. September 28th, 2003 Week 4 vs New Orleans Saints W 55-21

314 Yards, 6 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions 158.3 QB Rating

55-21? Gee, I hate to be the one to bet the under. The 4-0 Indianapolis Colts came to the Louisiana Superdome to face the 1-3 New Orleans Saints. Peyton Manning threw touchdown 1 of 6 in the first quarter to running back Ricky Williams for 17 yards. Then 6 minutes later Manning throws a 14 yard touchdown, 2 of 6, to Marvin Harrison. Then in the 2nd quarter Peyton Manning throws touchdown 3 of 6 to Marvin Harrison this time for 79 yards.

Then in the 3rd quarter Manning throws touchdown 4 of 6 to running back Dominic Rhodes for 12 yards then later in the 3rd quarter Manning would throw another td, 5 of 6, to Marvin Harrison for 32 yards. Then in the 4th quarter Peyton Manning would throw his final touchdown, 6 of 6, to his longtime drinking buddy, Dallas Clark for 11 yards.

I’m noticing a trend here where Peyton Manning likes to blow out teams on the road. Remember in the beginning of this post I said he is not just the QB but the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and head coach of his teams? Well, he is also the homefield advantage of his teams too.

Silly me, I forgot to mention this game was 3rd tied for his best QB rating in a game. Just wanted to throw that in there.

1. September 5th, 2013 Week 1 vs Baltimore Ravens W 49-27

462 Yards, 7 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions 141.1 QB Rating

You probably guessed that this game was going to be #1, right? Well you my good friends are correct! I’ll give a little backstory to this one. On February 3rd, 2013 the San Francisco 49ners met the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII in which the Ravens were leading 28-6 then there was a 36 minute blackout in the 3rd quarter then when the lights came back on the 49ners came back with 17 unanswered points then the ravens forced a turnover on downs, did an intentional safety and won the game 34-31.

The driving force of the ravens 8-8 season record, wild card berth and Super Bowl appearance was that it was the final season of future hall of famer linebacker Ray Lewis. After Super Bowl XLVII Ray Lewis announced his retirement and then on week 1 of the 2013 season on the Thursday opening kickoff game the Super Bowl defending Baltimore Ravens would go on to face the Denver Broncos. Ravens fans thought they would pick up were they left off especially after the retirement of Ray Lewis.

Oooh boy, were they wrong.

The first touchdown Manning threw for the night and the 2013 season was tight end Julius Thomas in the 2nd quarter for 24 yards. Then in the same quarter Julius Thomas caught another td pass for 23 yards. Then in the 3rd quarter Manning threw touchdown #3 to Andre Caldwell for 28 yards then in the same quarter Manning throws to Wes Welker for a 5 yard touchdown, #4 then 4 minutes later Manning throws touchdown #5 to Wes Welker for 2 yards. In the 4th quarter Peyton Manning throws td #6 to Demaryius Thomas for 26 yards then 4:30 left in the quarter Manning would throw touchdown #7 to Demaryius Thomas for a 78 yard bomb.

Peyton Manning in this game would go on to share a record of most touchdowns thrown in a single game alongside Sid Luckman, Chicago Bears, 1943; Adrian Burk, Philadelphia, 1954; George Blanda, Houston, 1961; Y. A. Tittle, N.Y. Giants, 1962; Joe Kapp, Minnesota, 1969; Nick Foles, Philadelphia 2013.

Even though the Broncos would finish the season 13-3 then meet the also 13-3 Seattle Seahawks in Superbowl XLVIII and get blown out by them 43-8. Peyton Manning finished the season and holds the record for most touchdowns thrown in a season with 55 AND the most passing yardage in a season with 5,477 yards. He also ended the year with a 68.3% completion rate and a QB rating of 115.1.

This would make 2013 Peyton Manning’s best statistical season.

Hope you enjoyed this list! Please leave a comment on your thoughts or if I missed any other best games of the Sheriff.

Thanks For Reading!