We all love a good storyline. We wanted to see Peyton Manning face Andrew Luck at Peyton’s place this Sunday. We wanted to see Broncos vs. Colts. It would have gotten everyone talking, and the media would bombard us about this matchup to ad nauseam, especially ESPN.
There was disappointment from a national perspective when the Chargers beat the Bengals Sunday afternoon. That means there won’t be Luck vs. Manning matchup until the AFC Championship Game if the Colts and Broncos advance.
Instead, we will be watching Philip Rivers and the Chargers being in Manning and Broncos’ way of going to the title game on Sunday. This is not a bad thing at all.
The matchup with Rivers and Manning should be a shootout considering both teams don’t play defense. Now, both teams are capable of playing well defensively for one game. Maybe it happens on Sunday. The Chargers were able to get to Manning in the second half of the Thursday night game last month, so it could happen again. It would be quite an irony if it happens.
There is always going to be a storyline with Manning. He always provides that with his play, and his postseason woes is going to be a focus for his critics.
Rivers is a storyline, too. Forget about his personality for a second. In the class of 2004 QBs that featured Giants quarterback Eli Manning and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Chargers quarterback has not won a championship while the Giants quarterback won twice and Steelers quarterback won twice. There is no question the Chargers quarterback would like to win one to match up with his contemporaries.
Rivers has always been a quarterback that people forget since he has not won a Super Bowl. He is as good as Manning and Roethlisberger, but no one cares unless he wins a championship. That’s how athletes are judged fair or not. There is no question that has to be gnawing at him being the competitor he is. In his world, he feels he is better than his contemporaries.
The Chargers quarterback knows his opportunities of winning a championship is dwindling every year. He is one step closer from being past his prime. He knows this has to be the year. He feels the Chargers are good enough to win the championship, and he wants to strike while the opportunity is there.
Rivers knows it’s not about the best team winning it all, but it’s about the team that is hot that wins it all based on the last two years with the Giants and Ravens. The Chargers are as good as any team when it comes to winning a championship.
The polarizing quarterback is playing some of his best football now for the Chargers, so that’s why it will be intriguing to watch him do his thing against the Broncos on Sunday. He knows he is going to put up passing numbers against the Broncos defense.
It should come down to who will step up in the final drive. That will be the most intriguing part of the game more than anything.
Let’s face it. Whoever the Broncos play will get everyone’s attention. There’s pressure on them to win the Super Bowl. They have been all in since the offseason. They spent money this offseason in signing guys like Wes Welker and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to help achieve their goal. They did not need the Colts to be a storyline to this Sunday’s game.
It would make more sense to have Luck play Manning in the AFC Championship Game. It would mean the new Colts quarterback preventing the old Colts quarterback of achieving his goal of going to the Super Bowl by beating him in the title game. It would mean the changing of the guard with a young quarterback starting his own legacy by advancing to the Super Bowl.
Conference Championship games should be about the best teams, not the two hot teams. That’s why it makes sense for the Colts to meet up with the Broncos in the next round than now.
Of course, both teams have to get there for that to happen. It comes down to the much-maligned Broncos defense shutting down Rivers and his constant yapping.
The challenge that the Broncos defense face makes the matchup with Rivers and Manning a must-watch than people give credit for.
It’s better to embrace this than moan what could have been from a national perspective.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter.
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Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
