Things went haywire for the Broncos in the fourth quarter against the Bengals on Monday night as quarterback Peyton Manning threw three interceptions, including one that Dre Kirkpatrick returned for a touchdown.
Manning had four picks overall, the first time he’s done that as a member of the Broncos, and the outing came on the heels of other shaky performances by the five-time MVP. Manning has been bothered by a thigh injury recently, but said that his performance had nothing to do with any injury and coach John Fox said Tuesday that he hasn’t noticed any changes in Manning’s throws or velocity.
He also offered up his own version of Aaron Rodgers’s request that fans “R-E-L-A-X” earlier this season when asked about the state of his team heading into the final week of the regular season.
“It wasn’t all horrible. The sky is not falling. We’re not getting ready to get rid of our quarterback. He’s fine,” Fox said, via Andrew Mason of the team’s website.
The sky may not be falling, but the Broncos have some things to smooth out with Manning going through the rockiest stretch of his Denver tenure. It started when he was pounded by the Rams in a Week 11 loss and the Broncos have a couple of weeks to sort it out before they’ll be starting what they hope will be an extended stay in the postseason.
