This being Christmas week, a very Merry Christmas to all fans of the Denver Broncos.
And what a Merry Christmas it is!!!
This week's Monday Morning Manning stats show that Sunday against Cleveland Peyton Manning became the first quarterback in National Football League history to post nine 12-win seasons—and he is the only quarterback with more than six, the figure that Tom Brady and Brett Favre each have.
And Manning joins "The Mad Bomber," Daryle Lamonica, in posting a 10-win season the year after joining a new team—Lamonica, by the way, was a 25th round draft choice before achieving his great success with the Oakland Raiders. Manning was the first player selected in the draft and if it is possible to say, he has had an even better career than was anticipated. The only four-time most valuable player in NFL history, he certainly is a viable candidate for that award again this year.
Manning now has 72 games with at least three touchdown passes after Sunday's game, and that total ties him with Brett Favre for the most in pro football history. Against the Browns, Manning completed 30-of-43 passes (69.8 percent) for 339 yards and three touchdowns, producing a passer rating for the game of 106.6.
But Bronco fans do not just have a stocking full of Peyton Manning — which overflows the stocking before we even count other blessings.
But the Broncos now have fashioned a 10-game winning streak, tied for the second longest in team history (Denver also had a 10-game streak in 1984), and this year's streak came after a 2-3 start, making this year's Denver record the franchise high after any 2-3 start season.
Meanwhile, linebacker Von Miller now has 17.5 sacks after Sunday, the new single-season record that breaks the mark previously set by defensive end Elvis Dumervil.
This year fans are watching two Broncos with 10-sack seasons for the first time since 1991.
It just goes on and on, all in a good way—almost in a surreal way.
Wide receiver Eric Decker had six receptions against the Browns for 65 yards and two touchdowns. He now is just 12 yards short of a 1,000-yard season, and his two scores give him 11 in 2012 and 19 over the course of the past two years. That figure ties the all-time team record for reception touchdowns in a two-year period.
If Decker reaches 1,000 yards he will be the second Bronco wide receiver this year to do that, joining Demaryious Thomas, who Sunday led all players with nine catches for 102 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Meanwhile, Knowshon Moreno had over 100 yards from scrimmage again against the Browns, his fourth 100-yard from scrimmage game in five starts.
The 2012 Pro Bowl team will be announced this Wednesday, and we have no idea who will make it or how many Broncos will be selected, but it will be an exciting day in an exciting week in a very special season.
Merry Christmas to all Bronco fans and remember to savor the season along with your families and friends and the holiday punch.
