Broncos vs. Texans: Peyton Manning will play up to half
After not getting to see Peyton Manning in action in the preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Gary Kubiak told media on Tuesday that we’ll get a nice dose against the Houston Texans.
Kubiak said manning will play quite a bit. Quarter and a half or a half #broncos
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) August 18, 2015
Manning playing in the preseason is a scary concept to the fans, but he — like everyone else on the team — needs some live reps. The Broncos are certainly going to monitor his snaps and if the offense goes down and scores on two or three drives in a row, Kubiak might call it an early exit for Manning.
The key here is going to be getting Manning some live reps against a different team, allow him to get out there and test out some of the basic plays of this new playbook, and work on getting some chemistry with that new, young offensive line.
We know all to well (painfully) how important good chemistry between a center and quarterback is, so I’m excited to see how Manning does with Paradis at center, as well as how he does taking a lot of snaps from under center.
That’s one thing Manning is going to need some work on as well. There were a couple of dropped snaps in training camp, which is bound to happen anyway, but we’ll see if the intensity and speed of an actual game causes any miscues in that area as well.
More important than anything, this is our first opportunity to see Manning playing live after a disappointing finish last season. From what I could see in person and what everyone has been saying, this is a re-born version of Peyton Manning who is in great shape and rejuvenated by Gary Kubiak’s offense.
It’s going to be fun to watch, even if it’s just preseason.