ENGLEWOOD, COLO. (AP) - Peyton Manning says his records won’t last long. One of them might not even last the week.
Elias Sports Bureau, which keeps the NFL’s statistical records, is reviewing a 7-yard pass from Manning to Eric Decker that occurred in the first quarter of Denver’s 34-14 win at Oakland on Sunday to make sure it was a forward pass.
If not, he’ll lose the single-season passing record he set on the final day of the regular season.
Manning finished with 266 yards passing before sitting out the second half, and his final throw was a 6-yard TD toss to Demaryius Thomas which gave him 5,477 yards for the season _ one more yard than Drew Brees’ 2011 record.
Elias routinely reviews plays and often tweaks totals in the days following games, then notifies teams of corrections to totals such as yardage or sack numbers.
If Elias determines the throw to Decker with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter was actually a lateral, Decker would be credited with a 7-yard run, not a catch.
That would leave Manning with 5,470 yards passing, still his career high but six yards shy of Brees’ record.
Remember that camera angles can be deceiving, depending on where the camera is located. But Manning’s pass looks like a lateral in one camera angle. Another angle, from above, however, appears to show Decker gathering in the ball at the Denver 48-yard line with Manning about a foot deeper than that.
Manning also threw four TD passes Sunday, finishing the season with 55, five more than Tom Brady’s record set in 2007, considered a much more significant achievement that the single-season yardage mark.
Manning broke the TD record two weeks ago at Houston and was all smiles afterward, crediting his coaches and teammates and saying it was a significant mark that meant a lot to him because it came in the midst of a successful season. The Broncos (13-3) are the AFC’s top seed in the playoffs for the second straight season. They have a bye this weekend and will host a divisional round game Jan. 12.
Had the play in question originally been ruled a lateral, Manning would have finished the first half six yards shy of Brees’ record of 5,476 yards, and that might have prompted the Broncos to send him out to start the third quarter instead of backup Brock Osweiler even with a 31-0 lead and the playoffs looming.
Then again, maybe not.
Coach John Fox demurred when asked Monday if he would have considered sending Manning out for another series after halftime if he hadn’t already broken Brees’ mark.
“That’s hard to say. … What was very positive was I thought we played, if not our best, one of our better halves of football that put us in a position where we could do different things,” Fox said. “No. 1, all those things are great, those individual accomplishments, team accomplishments, but not at the risk of putting a player at risk. So I don’t know if I’ve answered your question, I’m just kind of telling you what would go through our minds in that situation.”
After breaking Brady’s TD record, Manning said he expected Brady to break the mark again soon, adding that all sorts of marks will fall like dominoes if NFL owners get their way and expand the regular season from 16 to 18 games.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
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Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/arniestapleton
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