Football

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Perfect Peyton unimpressed with Colts' mediocre victory

By: Michael Marot

5/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

0-for-4 in the red zone vs. the 49ers just doesn’t cut it for Peyton Manning. (JOHN RUSSELL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning keeps raising the standards.

He wants to complete 70 per cent of his passes, lead the league in third-down conversions and be No. 1 in red-zone touchdowns every season. The victories, he figures, will follow.

But are the expectations getting too lofty, even for the three-time MVP?

In the Colts' 18-14 victory over San Francisco, Manning went 31 of 48 for 347 yards, numbers that would constitute season-highs for most other quarterbacks this side of Boston. In Manning's case, his passer rating of 86.0 was a season low and he acknowledged the offence was out of sync.

On Wednesday, Manning insisted the Colts still have work to do on an offence that ranks No. 4 in the NFL.

"We want to convert more third downs and we were 0-for-4 in the red zone last week. That's not good enough," he said. "We really need to try to score more touchdowns on offence, and, of course, you're always looking to improve."

Yet he topped 300 yards for the sixth time in seven games and became the fastest player in league history to 4,000 completions.

Indy is now 7-0 for the fourth time in five years and is the last remaining unbeaten team in the AFC.

What's wrong with numbers like that? The problem for Manning is living up to his nickname, Perfect Peyton, is darn near impossible.

This week, Indy hosts AFC South rival Houston (5-3), then AFC East-leading New England (5-2). After that, they head to Baltimore (4-3) and Houston.

"We are getting into the teeth of our schedule right now," Manning said.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2009 C4

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