Fantasy football players hoping to ride the right arm of Peyton Manning through the fantasy playoffs were sorely disappointed by his performance Sunday. Manning threw for 172 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a grand total of ... wait for it ... 2.72 fantasy points. Brian Hoyer was the only quarterback in Week 14 to start and finish his game and post a lower fantasy total than Manning's. That is not quarterbacking company Manning usually keeps.
The last time Manning failed to eclipse at least double digit fantasy points was Week 2 of 2012, when Manning and the Broncos went into the Georgia Dome to take on the Atlanta Falcons. Manning threw three first-half interceptions in that game and finished with 7.54 fantasy points.
Historically speaking, you have to go all the way back to 2008 to find a game where Manning had fewer fantasy points than his 2.72 from this afternoon. In Week 13 of 2008 when Manning was still under center for the Indianapolis Colts, he struggled mightily on the road against the Cleveland Browns, only managing 125 passing yards on 21 attempts with two interceptions for a grand total of 0.8 fantasy points.
If Manning was your fantasy quarterback and you somehow survived this performance, you can sleep easy this week knowing Manning gets to travel to San Diego next week (warm weather, yay!) to face the Chargers (banged up secondary, double yay!) in Week 15. Expect a bounce-back game from Manning then, assuming his performance today didn't bounce you out of the fantasy playoffs.
-- Alex Gelhar is a fantasy and features writer for NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter @AlexGelhar
