It aint easy being brilliant...

One week removed from every sports personality on God’s green Earth proclaiming Peyton Manning “back and better than ever the Broncos new starting QB looked more like Jay Cutler than the only 4 time MVP in the league’s history on Sunday night.

After tossing 3 interceptions in less than a full first quarter on Monday night, Manning failed to do what his brother had done the day before, and lead his team bag from a huge hole that his arm had single handedly dug.

Yes, Manning looked great against the Steelers openming week. But anybody who thought that Manning was never going to suffer any setbacks after 4 neck surgeries and a full year of no football was simply kidding themselves.

In my mind, YES the Falcons were great, and yes they got the win, but the result of this game has far more to do with what Manning and the Broncos failed to do than what the Falcons actually did.

The Broncos threw for more yards, ran for more yards, had more total offense, ran more plays, and accomplished more yards per play than the victorious Falcons.

But all you need to know about this game can be found in 1 statistical category.

Broncos 4 turnovers, Falcons 0.

If you are the Broncos, you did everything you need to do in order to win the game aside from taking care of the football. The problem with that, is that that is the most important statistic in all of football. Of everyone guilty of reading too much into the “Peyton is back” hype, perhaps the Denver Broncos and head coach John Fox were most guilty of all. 

If you are the Falcons, this is a huge, primetime television victory. You are 2-0 in a division in which the Saints are struggling, your defense appears to be firing on all cylinders, and Matt Ryan is more than capable of getting the job done under center. Get excited, Falcons fans. This has the potential to be a big year for you.