Brock Osweiler, not Peyton Manning, would have thrown a Hail Mary if the Broncos needed it Sunday night. Osweiler was getting his arm warm on the sidelines until the Falcons put the game on ice. Although Manning's arm strength has certainly waned significantly, Osweiler probably has a bigger gun than the future Hall of Famer ever did. Manning's best asset has always been his head, not his arm.

Peyton Manning completed 24-of-37 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions against the Falcons in Week 2. Manning struggled mightily right out of the gate by throwing all three of his interceptions in the first eight minutes of the ballgame. All three picks came on similar throws down the seams of the field. Manning just didn't have the zip on the ball that we are accustomed to, while also throwing a few lame duck passes. In Week 3, the Broncos welcome the Texans and their top-ranked fantasy quarterback defense to town. Manning is a QB2 next week.

Making his first start in 616 days, Peyton Manning looked like his old self in Denver's 31-19 win over the Steelers, completing 19-of-26 passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In his first appearance since Indianapolis' Wild Card loss to the Jets in the 2010-11 postseason, Manning looked nothing like a player who had missed 20 months with neck issues, commanding the hurry-up with typically ruthless efficiency. Manning did not appear to have quite the velocity he possessed in his Indy prime, and rarely challenged downfield, but looked very much like a quarterback ready to lead the Broncos and fantasy owners to big things. He'll get a Falcons defense next Monday that allowed 258 passing yards to Matt Cassel on Sunday.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports Peyton Manning never informed the Cardinals that they were eliminated in free agency before they picked up Kevin Kolb's $7 million roster bonus on March 16. Mort's sources insist Manning wasn't prepared to make a decision by March 16, and the Cardinals likely would have gone down to the wire with the Broncos. It's easy to slam Arizona for going all-in on Kolb, but this report may include a good deal of revisionist history. The Denver Post as well as Mortensen's ESPN colleague, Adam Schefter, reported at the time that Manning's camp had essentially informed the Cardinals that they should proceed as if the quarterback would not choose Arizona.

After viewing Peyton Manning's preseason game tape, ESPN's Ron Jaworski declared the 36-year-old "back" to the form he showed prior to his three neck surgeries, two seasons ago. "There is no doubt, Peyton Manning is back," said Jaws. "He looked like the Peyton Manning of two years ago as I watched him later in the preseason, controlling the line of scrimmage, moving his offensive linemen back into proper pass protections. ... The guy is a master at controlling the football game. And he made all the throws that are necessary. I'm fired up to see Peyton Manning against that Steelers defense (on Sunday Night Football)."

Peyton Manning has reportedly had issues throwing to his right. ESPN's John Clayton and Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. have both picked up on this. Per Clayton, Manning is still having problems when trying to throw to his right for more than 10 yards. It's a reminder that Peyton has had three recent neck surgeries, is 36 years old and has shown signs of diminishing arm strength. He's slipped to No. 10 among fantasy quarterbacks in our latest Draft Guide update.

Peyton Manning completed 16-of-23 passes for 177 yards and two interceptions in the Broncos' second preseason game Saturday night. Jacob Tamme dropped an easy touchdown and Eric Decker an easy slant in a two-minute drill against the Seahawks, tanking Manning's stats. The weak TD-to-INT ratio might generate some headlines this coming week, but Manning looked quite a bit better than the box score claims. Through two preseason games, Manning is 20-of-30 (66.7 percent) for 221 yards (7.37 YPA), no touchdowns, and three interceptions. We'd caution that Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez, and Luke McCown combined for nine TD passes and just one INT last preseason. McCoy and McCown lost their starting jobs, and Sanchez led the NFL in turnovers.

Peyton Manning concedes that his arm strength has diminished and he "still has work to do" to regain form after four neck surgeries at age 36. "I still have strength to recover, still have work to do," he said. "I am 36 years old. My arm has a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns on it, so it's probably not going to be the same as it was when it was 22, but I still think it can complete some passes. I can move the chains and hopefully get our offense into the end zone." We don't doubt Manning gives Denver a good chance to win, but reduced velocity and downfield throwing ability can impact fantasy production. We're shying away from Manning at his current top-65 ADP (Early sixth round).

Peyton Manning completed 4-of-7 passes for 44 yards and an interception in Denver's preseason opener against the Bears. Most of Manning's passes were lobs to the sideline or backs running flat routes, but he did uncork one throw over the middle to Eric Decker on third-and-17, gaining 19 yards and showing some velocity. Manning's interception came on a red-zone throw a bit behind Brandon Stokley, and Bears slot CB D.J. Moore tipped it into the air, for SS Major Wright to pick it off. We'll continue to monitor Manning throughout the preseason, but nothing that occurred on Thursday night would discourage us from drafting him as a mid- to low-end QB1.

Peyton Manning will only play one or two series in Thursday's preseason opener. Manning hasn't thrown a pass in a game since January of 2011, but the Broncos aren't going to expose him. Like most other starting quarterbacks around the league, he'll get his work in and get out. We'll be watching for signs that Manning's arm strength on deep balls is up to snuff.