Peyton Manning figures he's got a two-day free pass.
Call it a cushion from critics.
Today and tomorrow, Manning can bask in the aftermath of what was one of the greatest performances of his career - or anyone's career, for that matter - without taking any grief.
He silenced his critics into stunned and awed respect with 377 yards passing, five touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating in leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 41-10 win over the Denver Broncos in the wild-card round of the AFC Playoffs on Sunday in the RCA Dome.
Manning was so good against the Broncos, he looked like a video-game version of himself. The only thing missing was a teenager slouching on the couch in front of the big screen.
"He played the perfect game," tight end Marcus Pollard said.
To say Manning proved he could excel in a big game would be an understatement along the lines of saying the Colts played slightly better than the Broncos. The win was Manning's first in the playoffs in four tries, and left the distinct impression that it won't be his last. And, yes, I'm aware he's playing at Kansas City next Sunday.
"I'm going to enjoy it, and keep playing," Manning said. "It's good to get that little monkey off my back. I'm sure by Wednesday, it'll be something else that will be created and I'll try to have an answer for you."
Only the most extreme and desperate critic could find any more complaints about Manning's game. And that's giving them two days, two weeks or two years. We'll wait. It's not gonna happen. This is a quarterback on top of his game, having the season of his life and positioning his team for the ultimate prize.
The Colts hadn't looked much like Super Bowl contenders the past few games. They did on Sunday, and Manning was the No. 1 reason why.
"He played like the MVP," said Jeff Saturday, who moved from center to guard in a subtle change to improve the Colts' pass protection. "He won the big game. I'm glad he doesn't have to hear that nonsense anymore."
No more nonsense, indeed. What Manning has set up now is the more difficult task of living up to heightened standards. For a guy who played so-so in three previous playoff games, he established the kind of pure dominance others may be measured against in the future. The scary thing was, he would have set quite a standard even if he'd played only the first half.
Manning completed 16 of 18 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters to build a 31-3 lead. He was even a little miffed that the Colts were forced to settle for a field goal as time ran out on the half.
"I'm big on who dictates who," Manning said. "As an offense, you want to be the one dictating."
The Colts' offense dictated so much on Sunday, the dome should have been christened an independent country and Manning named ruler for life.
Indianapolis scored four touchdowns on its first four possessions, with two touchdown passes apiece to Brandon Stokley and Marvin Harrison. Harrison's first catch was a classic. He dived for the ball, rolled untouched between Denver defenders (if you could call them that) Al Wilson and Kenoy Kennedy, got back up and sprinted untouched for the score.
Harrison makes a habit of hopping up and high-tailing it away when he's grazed while diving for catches. This time, his sixth sense that he hadn't been touched proved true.
"I was trying to get up slowly so I wouldn't get knocked in the head," Harrison said, "and I got up and ran."
Manning had already begun to turn away, his mind moving to the next play. He did a double-take when he saw Harrison heading for the end zone.
"Something like that tells you maybe it's going to be our day," Manning said.
Manning, of course, wasn't alone in exorcising some demons. Colts coach Tony Dungy had lost four straight playoff games and the entire team was still smarting from a 31-17 loss to Denver on Dec. 21, a game in which the Broncos controlled almost every aspect.
Much was made, rightfully so, of the fact that the Colts' offense had the ball for only 15 minutes in the earlier loss to Denver. Yet the Colts needed only 11 minutes, 16 seconds to put up 31 points in the first half on Sunday.
Manning credited the dominance in part to a spirited practice on Friday, when Dungy took over the scout team defense and called plays and formations he thought the Broncos would use to try to stop the Colts' offense. They didn't.
"We had a good day against him as defensive coordinator," Manning said.
Few defenses would have been a match for Manning's precision, timing and play-calling on Sunday. He threw only four incompletions in 26 attempts. He started the game 16 of 17, with his only miss a slight overthrow to Harrison under some heavy pressure. His other first-half incompletion was a near-touchdown pass to Stokley, who could get only one foot in-bounds in the end zone.
Manning's quarterback rating of 158.3, which is way too complicated for a sports columnist to understand, let alone explain, was his second perfect one of the season. His first came in a six-touchdown performance at New Orleans.
"Peyton Manning was Peyton Manning today," Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe said. "I think everybody knew he was going to have a breakout game and I would've preferred to have seen it much later than sooner, but he's as good as advertised."
Manning was, in fact, better than advertised.
And he left no room at all to be criticized.
This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of The News-Sentinel. "Ask Reggie" can be found under Sports at www.news-sentinel.com. E-mail him at rhayes@news-sentinel.com.
