Broncos Lose to Chiefs as Manning Gets Benched

Sunday's game at home against the Kansas City Chiefs will be a very monumental game in the history of the Denver Broncos. It was the day that the Peyton Manning era ended in Denver. Manning came into the game battling some injuries, and he left the game in the third quarter with four interceptions and a QB ration of 0.0. By the way, he actually broke Brett Favre's record for all time passing yards in the first quarter, but that was the only highlight for Manning and the entire Broncos all day long. The Chiefs handed the Broncos a humiliating 29-13 loss that dropped the Broncos to 7-2. It was revealed Monday that Manning has a tear in his left foot and it seems like he will be out at least a few games. The Chiefs dominated the Broncos from the get-go and intercepted Manning on the third play of the game. Three more picks in the first half, and the Chiefs had built a 19-0 lead at the half, and at that point the game was long over. And it looks like the Peyton Manning era has come to a crashing halt in Denver as well. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game....

1) There is no reason to go into a detailed account of the key plays in this game. It was that big of a debacle. Manning and the offense were awful in the first half and Manning's interceptions were just killer and lead to points each time. You could tell right away that Manning was injured or hurt because he had nothing left on his throws at all.

2) After his fourth interception, Gary Kubiak finally pulled Manning and put in Brock Osweiler. Oz fared a little better (14-24 for 146 yards 1 TD and 1 INT), but you really can't critique his performance because the game was out of reach from the beginning.

3) It was odd because the crowd seemed dead and there seemed to be no life to the Broncos. It was like they knew Manning was hurt and there was nothing they could do about it. It is hard to imagine this Broncos team in this shape just two weeks after they beat the Packers to get to 7-0.

4) The Broncos defense was without Aqib Talib and Demarcus Ware and they were not given a break in this game. Most of the Chiefs possessions were at midfield or were starting in Broncos territory. The fact that they forced so many field goals by the Chiefs should be commended. They need to get their horses back and they need to get their swagger back.

5) You never would imagine that Manning would go out like this, but there will be a time to analyze and discuss that. This is not the time. The Broncos are in this situation: Brock Osweiler will start for Manning on Sunday in Chicago. Manning will be out indefinitely, and when he feels better he will come back and start. Until then, it is Osweiler's show. They are 7-2 and still have a three game lead in the AFC West. If they can just get a few wins-even without Manning in the lineup-they will be able to win the West, but it will be very tough moving forward. That is the short-term outlook for this team. Hopefully, they can pull together as a team and deal with this adverse situation and get a win on the road this week in Chicago.