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Watch: Broncos QB Peyton Manning pancakes Donte Whitner

By Sayre Bedinger

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Apparently I missed this in his three-interception performance on Sunday, but Peyton Manning threw the best block of his NFL career on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.

That’s right, he threw a block.

And this wasn’t just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill block. This was a pancake. It was a pancake that came against one of the hardest hitting safeties in the league, a player that was actually flattened a couple of times yesterday against the Broncos. This block came against Pro Bowl safety Donte Whitner, the Cleveland Browns safety and lead head-hunter.

Take a look.

I completely didn’t notice this during the game, and perhaps it’s because when the offense was on the field — for the most part — my head was spinning in disgust. The block thrown here by Manning is an effort we’ve only seen a few times in his NFL career, but when we saw him try and throw a block last year, he ended up with a torn quad and completely derailed an otherwise great season.

The effort here by Manning is what’s admirable, and the technique is great. It doesn’t look like Whitner was completely blind-sided by the block, but I seriously doubt if he expected Manning to throw his throwing shoulder into his chest.

On a day in which Manning threw three picks, all to Browns linebackers, this was an excellent play even if the result wasn’t a big chunk of yards on the ground. Manning even being willing to throw his body out there shows some toughness, which we all know he has from his days as the NFL’s iron man, constantly playing through any dings or injuries he had until a neck injury finally put him out for a year.

As much slander as I had for Peyton Manning yesterday (thank goodness you weren’t all in my living room watching the game with me…), this is a play that I really like.

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