Peyton Manning: Critics can 'shove it'
— -- After throwing for 397 yards and four touchdowns in the Denver Broncos' 51-28 victory Sunday over the Tennessee Titans, Peyton Manning had a pointed response to those who say his play suffers during games in cold weather.
"Whoever wrote that narrative can shove it where the sun don't shine," Manning told Denver radio station 850 KOA following the win, which clinched a playoff berth for the Broncos (11-2). "I felt pretty good out there today."
The temperature at kickoff at Sports Authority Field at Mile High was 18 degrees. With the victory, Manning improved to 4-7 in his career in games where the temperature is 32 or below at kickoff.
Manning's 39 completions Sunday set a team record, and his 59 attempts matched a franchise high. He was not intercepted.
Asked earlier in the week if he thought he was a different player in cold weather, he simply answered, "I don't."
In Sunday's postgame news conference, Manning said he wasn't trying to answer his critics with his performance.
"I mean, I wasn't trying to answer [the criticism] because I didn't give it any validation in the first place," he told reporters, according to the Denver Post. "We had a good plan, and ... guys caught the ball well."
Manning's seven games this season with at least four touchdown passes is the most in NFL history. He'll appear in the playoffs for a 13th season, breaking the record for quarterbacks he shares with Brett Favre. And Manning led the Broncos past the 50-point mark for the third time this season, the first time a team has done that since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
With 4,522 yards and 45 touchdown passes, Manning remains on pace to break the league records of 5,476 and 50.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
