Peyton Manning's decline: "I felt good enough to play, it ended up hurting the team"

Just two weeks ago Broncos Country was singing the praises of Peyton Manning’s “triumphant return to form” against the Green Bay Packers, but it appears that was closer to a mirage than the truth. Maybe health has something to do with the poor performance. Maybe Peyton Manning is the latest Hall of Famer that stayed too long, and we are now just watching a shadow of his former self.

It happened to Brett Favre in his last year in Minnesotta, Jerry Rice with the Seattle Seahawks, Tim Brown as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver, present day Tiger Woods, and even Kobe Bryant. The list of the fallen superstars that didn’t know when to quit goes on and on and it crosses sports borders.

Trying to tough it out and play injured to help your team win and not knowing if you’ll actually be a detriment to your team if you do; it’s a fine line. For the Broncos and Manning, it was definitely the latter.

Manning on injuries “I have a really hard time using that as an excuse.” pic.twitter.com/g8xT9wQqvK

— Adam Kinney (@AdamKinneyRadio) November 16, 2015

Manning perhaps had the worst start of his career on Sunday in Denver’s first loss to the Chiefs since New Year’s Day 2012.

“I thought I felt good enough to play, that’s what I thought,” Manning said after the game. “Maybe it was a wrong feeling, or a false feeling but maybe looking back, that was a wrong indication by me. By going out there trying to help the team it ended up hurting the team. I’m disappointed by that.”

Broncos quarterbacks combined for five interceptions Sunday, four of which came from the arm of Manning. Gary Kubiak has already said that he takes responsibility for starting Manning in the first place, and that Peyton will remain the starter if he is healthy.

At the beginning of the year, Manning said that he will continue to play as long as he is enjoying himself and is capable of helping his team win. After Sunday, it doesn’t look like he is able to do either of those things anymore.

Here’s a look at Manning’s third interception of the day, his worst decision:

More Broncos – Chiefs news:

Report: Peyton Manning has torn plantar fascia, worsened in loss to Chiefs

Gary Kubiak: “Peyton is our quarterback”

Peyton Manning: “I felt good enough to play, it ended up hurting our team”

T.J. Ward sounds off on Chiefs: “They are a pretty dirty team”

Recap: Chiefs beat-down Broncos 29-13

Gary Kubiak: “I should have made the decision not to play Peyton Manning”