Right on cue, Manning provided Robert Saleh with one receipt to save for later
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh boldly challenged the team’s detractors and critics, saying that he’s “saving the receipts” to call back upon when the Jets finally hit their groove.
A mere few hours later, Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning took the first public shot on ‘Manningcast,” the ESPN show hosted by Peyton and Eli during Monday Night Football.
“Well, the Jets threw it 59 times and that worked out well for them. They looked good,” said Peyton, tongue-in-cheek.
Eli chimed in, “Wow, shots fired early.”
Peyton continued to state adamantly that you can’t throw the ball 59 times in the opener with your backup quarterback, or you’re not going to win.
Saleh will surely save this receipt since it comes from one of the NFL’s prominent personalities who maintains a large TV audience each Monday night.
We suppose Peyton would just continue to run the ball if he were down 24-3 late in a game, just so as not to throw the ball 59 times in the opener. This is Peyton Manning who hated running the ball and grimaced when a run call came in.
This is also the same Peyton Manning who had a 52-attempt game in Week 9 of his rookie season (in a 21-16 loss to the Patriots), a year in which he set the dubious record for most interceptions thrown by a rookie quarterback (28). It’s a distinction he still holds.
It makes you wonder if Peyton is still salty about his 41-0 defeat at the hands of the Jets in the 2002 Wild Card Playoff Round, in which he went 14-for-31 for 137 yards (45.2% completion rate), with no TDs and two picks. His rating in that game was a robust 31.2, which is worse than if he had spiked the ball into the ground on every play.
Or maybe it’s Manning’s final game in Indy that has him twitchy on the trigger. Remember, it was a 17-16 AFC Wild Card Playoff defeat at Lucas Oil Stadium, coming against none other than the New York Jets. No. 18 never played another down with the Colts.
Peyton, might we remind you that it was your recommendation that led to one of the bleakest periods in Jets history: the two-year torture chamber that was the Adam Gase era.
So maybe concentrate on your former team, Peyton. They looked like they could use some competent coaching after choosing to run a minute off the clock and kick a 62-yard field goal rather than go for it on 4th and 5 (decisions which yielded a win probability of 7.4% and 36.1%, respectively).
The decision-maker? Nathaniel Hackett, who appears to be following in the wildly conservative footsteps of his father, much-maligned former Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett.
As Will Smith would say (politely), Peyton, kindly remove the New York Jets from your mouth.
Bookmark this one for future reference.
