Peyton Manning joined Brett Favre on Thursday night as the only NFL quarterbacks to throw for at least 70,000 yards in their careers. And for a while at Arrowhead Stadium, Manning resembled the version of Favre we last saw on the field five years ago: weak-armed, vulnerable to the pass rush and -- at least according to one Super Bowl-winning coach -- occasionally even disinterested.

Manning rebounded to spearhead the Denver Broncos' stunning 31-24 comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, a turn of events that will trigger an "all's well that ends well" conclusion in some quarters. But in the clarity of a night to sleep on that result, it's important to be realistic about what we did and didn't see from Manning and the Broncos' offense.

In short, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak would be foolish to abandon the supplementary elements he has added to the traditional Peyton offense. Frankly, Manning did not provide enough evidence to support a full-time return to it. Through two weeks, at least, this looks like a team that will need to cultivate a New England Patriots-like schematic flexibility to patch together a big season.

While Manning had enough arm to attempt nine "downfield" passes Thursday night, defined by ESPN Stats & Information as throws that traveled at least 15 yards past the line of scrimmage, he was rarely accurate on them. He completed only two, and the longest was his 19-yard touchdown to receiver Emmanuel Sanders in the fourth quarter.

ESPN Stats & Information

There is no doubt that Manning found a groove after the Chiefs took a 14-0 lead. He focused on short passes in the middle of the field, completing 16 of 23 attempts -- including all three touchdown passes -- to receivers who were between the numbers. Those are the kinds of passes we know Manning can still throw effectively. But let's not forget what happened when he threw elsewhere. He missed on 12 of 22 passes to receivers who were outside the numbers, including an interception that Marcus Peters returned for a touchdown. In consecutive weeks, in fact, Manning has thrown a pick-six on out routes outside of the numbers -- passes where a quarterback must drive the ball to beat the defensive back's break.

A smart coach can minimize the possibility of such throws, and Kubiak certainly qualifies there. But you can expect good defensive coaches to respond in kind. They'll do whatever they can to take away the middle. Manning will beat some of those efforts, but others will expose his limited menu and leave open the more difficult passes.

Those are the occasions where the Broncos will benefit from a steady dose of running, from both under center and the shotgun. Maybe it will take three tight ends on the line of scrimmage to make it happen. Perhaps they'll need to mix in some unbalanced lines. Sometimes, play-action passes will make the most sense. All of that is preferable to asking Manning, with any regularity, to beat defenses deep or to the outside.

The Broncos have a quarterback with enough arm talent, not to mention leadership and competitive moxie, to help them win the Super Bowl. But they don't have Peyton Manning anymore, at least not the one we're used to seeing. Nothing we saw Thursday night tells us otherwise. Fortunately, the Broncos have options. They'll need to use them all to get where they want to go.