[Quesadilla Joe]

Pete Prisco's Top 5 NFL Myths

1. Peyton Manning is done: The last time I saw Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning walk off the field, a loser in a playoff game to the Indianapolis Colts, I really thought it signaled the end of his career, his body clearly impacting his play in that game and in the second half of the 2014 season.

I spent time with Manning after the Colts game that night, and the passion that always came through seemed replaced by some doubt.

What wasn't known was just how hurt he was late last season, a leg injury that took away his ability to truly drive the football. “It was hard for him to move and use his legs,” a Broncos source said.

Manning has never complained about being hurt, and he's hidden his fair share of pain over the years, but this time it seemed that this injury might finally be the end. I thought it was so.

One problem: Manning still has the drive to play, but, more importantly for him, the drive to do the work to play. There is no half-ass in his game, so it was all-in or out, nothing in between.

When he made the decision to return to the Broncos, the Manning bashers took out their bullhorns again.

“He's washed up. He's too old. He can't throw.”

In the second part of the 2014 season, that was the case. It's clear watching the tape that he was struggling to use his legs to get juice on the football. Quarterbacks need healthy legs. His passes fluttered more than the norm, and they aren't exactly known for being spiral beauties.

But forget the notion that he is washed up. Pop on the tapes from the first 10 games like I did, a stretch that saw him carve up some good teams, and then try and tell me he can't play. He was the same Manning we had come to know in his career, an accurate, smart passer who rolled up big numbers.

Manning finished with 39 touchdown passes last season. In the history of the game, Manning is one of 10 men to throw 39 or more touchdown passes in a season, something he's done three times. The 39 he threw in 2014 were one off the league best of 40 set by Andrew Luck of the Colts.

In the past two seasons, Manning has thrown 94 touchdown passes. And he's done? But it's not just touchdown passes. It's the numbers all the way around, but more than that it's the tape. Manning can still play at a high level when healthy. That's the key moving forward, the health.

Nobody works harder at the game than Manning, both physically and mentally. He will be ready for the season. If he's on the field and he's healthy, he's still one of the five best.

So don't count him out. Anybody who thinks he's done is way off base.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/...-stinks-hardly