NFL teams
Adam Schefter, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Numbers add to Andrew Luck's aura

NFL

From the time he entered the NFL until his upcoming Monday night game against the New York Giants, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has gone from replacing Peyton Manning to preparing for Eli Manning.

One of the truest measures of Luck's immense talent is the fact that the Colts were willing to release all-time-great quarterback Peyton Manning to make room for him.

There isn't another player in the game, any player, who is even remotely qualified to help mitigate the loss of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterbacks in NFL history. Only Luck could provide enough hope that the decision is, and one day will be, validated.

But the other measure of Luck's talent is in the numbers. This season, Luck is averaging almost 342 passing yards per game, which puts him on pace to throw for 5,462 yards -- right in the area of the single-season NFL record that Peyton Manning set last season with 5,477.

Passing yards sometimes get more difficult later in the season, when the weather gets colder and the players become more beleaguered.

But if there's any quarterback in the game who is going to challenge Manning's single-season passing record this season -- or maybe in another one, as well -- it's likely to be the man who replaced him in Indianapolis.

Back in the summer of 2012, before Luck even played his first NFL game, one Colts executive mused that he thought Indianapolis' rookie quarterback already was one of the best five quarterbacks in the league.

Those debating that list today could make arguments on behalf of quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick.

It's hard to know exactly where Luck would fit into that list today. But make no doubt, he would. He is somewhere on the list of the top five -- and, heading into Monday night's game versus the Giants, rising.

The other big QB matchup: As the weekend and matchup approaches, it's only fair to step back and look at these two quarterbacks one more time. The two Pro Bowlers have played so long, at such high levels, that it's only natural to compare them.

They both are in first place.

They both are near the top of their games.

They both have overcome major injuries and returned to the lineup unaffected.

They both still are shining, all these years later.

Let's hear it for ... Carson Palmer and Tony Romo.

Enough has been, and is being, said about Manning and Brady. And deservedly so. But the undercard to Sunday's heavyweight matchup in Foxborough, Massachusetts, matches two quarterbacks who have failed to reach the big game but have put up big numbers. This is the Non-Manning-Brady matchup.

They are doing it again this season, with Palmer positioning the Cardinals atop the NFC West and Romo doing the same for the Cowboys in the NFC East.

It's not the first time these two quarterbacks have been grouped together. Both were a part of the quarterback class of 2003 -- Palmer becoming the first overall pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, Romo becoming an undrafted free agent who signed with the Cowboys. Romo, by the way, was hardly the only undrafted free agent in 2003 to make a mark in the NFL; tight end Antonio Gates has fared all right as well.

But Palmer and Romo always have operated in the shadows of Manning and Brady, and they will do so again Sunday.

The interesting part this year is that Palmer and Romo have just as good a chance at leading their teams to the Super Bowl. If Palmer could do it, it would mark the first time a city hosting a Super Bowl had its home team in the game. If Romo could do it, it would elevate the Cowboys franchise to even greater heights and validate every move their owner Jerry Jones ever made.

But as the weekend and big game approaches, let their careers be compared to one another again.

It's time for two quarterbacks who have been around this game for well over a decade, who have made "SportsCenter Top 10"-type throws just as long, whose names are not Manning and Brady, to get a little of their due. It's overdue.

More Broncos-Patriots intrigue: While the focus is on Manning and Brady, there has been more drama in recent seasons surrounding Denver's and New England's wide receivers and how they're connected.

New England thought it was close to a deal with wide receiver Wes Welker in the summer of 2012 only to see it fall through and Welker sign a two-year, $12 million contract with Denver the following spring.

New England signed restricted free-agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a one-year, $2.5 million offer sheet that Pittsburgh eventually matched in the spring of 2013 only to see Sanders then sign a three-year, $15 million deal with Denver this year.

Before making a play for Sanders, Denver expressed interest in signing free-agent wide receiver Brandon LaFell only to see him sign a three-year, $9 million deal with New England.

As if those weren't enough intriguing connections and mutual interest, there's this as well: Most people choose to remember former Broncos head coach and current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the man who traded up in the first round to draft former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

But in the very same draft, McDaniels' first first-round pick was former Georgia Tech wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, now one of the league's elite players. It is just one more tie between Denver and New England that extends beyond Manning and Brady.

SCHEF'S SPECIALTIES

Player of the Week: Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch -- His play, his team and his future have come under question, and it will be Oakland's misfortune to run into the tough Seattle running back Sunday.

Game of the Week: Denver at New England -- As a general rule, anytime Manning and Brady square off, it's automatically the Game of the Week.

Upset of the Week: Buccaneers over Browns -- A team that keeps inventing ways to lose, Tampa Bay will find a way to win in Cleveland.

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