Part of the mystery has been solved
Peyton Manning has not looked like himself since the middle of last season and his mediocre —and damn near horrendous— play has continued for much of this season even though the Broncos started the year undefeated. He can thank his defense for that, though.
After being put on the injury list for a foot injury earlier this week, the Denver Broncos has revealed that Manning has a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot. There is no timetable for his return and may not miss any games, but after his four interceptions this past Sunday, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Brock Osweiler get the start next Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
Broncos players have been quoted to have said they saw Peyton struggling to walk as far back as last week and coach Gary Kubiak blamed himself after the game, saying he probably made a bad decision letting him play through the pain. The Broncos QB has been suffering from plantar fasciitis for weeks but things got worse for him in the Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts where he aggravated his injury to the point of a partial tear.
The result was one of Manning’s worst games of his career, throwing for only 35 yards, four picks, getting sacked twice and fumbling the ball once. And this was all on his career-setting day where he became the all-time leader in passing yards in the history of the NFL.
Peyton has been banged up all season with a list of minor injuries, but he will have to heal up and get back in form if Denver has any chance to make a run this playoff season.
Update: Peyton Manning has tear of plantar fascia in left foot. Whichever foot, hard to imagine QB Brock Osweiler isn't starting Sunday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 16, 2015
UPDATE: The Denver Broncos have announced that Osweiler will start for the injured Manning in Week 11 against the Bears.