Peyton Manning’s former No. 1 receiver knows how much is on the line for the Denver Broncos quarterback in the AFC Championship Game.
The former Indianapolis Colts wideout spoke out about Manning on NFL Network’s “NFL GameDay Morning” ahead of Sunday’s New England Patriots-Broncos matchup, and he didn’t hold back about Manning’s lack of playoff success. For that reason, Wayne thinks the AFC Championship game is much bigger for Manning.
“It’s a great legacy quarterback and I’m part of that, also,” Wayne said, per NFL.com. “And when it comes to the postseason, he struggles. There’s a lot of one-and-dones in there. I just think this is a bigger — it’s bigger for him to get this. Seventeenth time going up against Tom Brady. If you look at the wins versus losses, it favors Tom Brady. So I think it’s a bigger situation for Peyton.”
While Wayne’s opinion isn’t a novel one, it’s interesting to hear from a guy who caught 787 of Manning’s passes for 10,748 yards and 69 touchdowns. Not to mention, he thinks the outcome of Sunday’s game will affect Manning’s legacy.
“It’s a huge legacy for Peyton Manning because as we all know, he’s on the back-end of his football career,” Wayne said. “And then he’s going against his arch-nemesis Tom Brady. The schedule during the regular season is built around these two great quarterbacks, and so now they’re in the playoffs. So if Peyton can’t beat Tom Brady, the stigma will be, well he’s one of the greatest regular-season quarterbacks to ever play the game.”
Manning will get the chance to change his legacy Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
