Arizona Cardinals will no longer have to face Peyton Manning

The Denver Broncos quarterback to announce his retirement on Monday

The Arizona Cardinals will no longer have to face quarterback Peyton Manning.  Manning, the current Broncos and longtime Indianapolis Colts quarterback is calling it a career.  The decision had been expected since the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on February 7th.

Manning had been rumored to be thinking about playing another season.  However given the facts that most teams were set with a starting quarterback and the seemingly unwillingness to be a backup, the writing on the wall will become permanent on Monday.

As for Cardinals, Manning will no longer be a worry.  Manning played in three games against the Cardinals in his career.  He went 3-0 in those games.  The most recent matchup with the Cardinals and Manning took place in October 2014.  In that game, the Cardinals kept things close at 27-20 until a couple of fourth down scores put the game out of reach.  That was also a game Cardinals starting quarterback Carson Palmer missed.

Not only did Palmer miss that game but Manning also handed the Cardinals their first loss of the 2014 season.  Manning still had all of the tools to take over a game at that time.  Now the Broncos likely will turn to former Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler, although that is not a certainty given that Osweiler has not yet agreed to the deal the Broncos put on the table this week.

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians had some thoughts on Manning’s retirement.  He was a coach with the Colts during Manning’s time there.

Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell also made a mention of Manning on Sunday. Manning after all did tackle him after he intercepted him in that 2014 game.

As for Manning, he had very good numbers against the Cardinals.  He finishes his career with a 117.3 quarterback rating against them, third highest on his resume.  He only had a better rating against the New Orleans Saints (121.0) and the Detroit Lions (118.3).

He did finish with the most yards gained per pass attempt than another other team at 10.27 yards.  Manning threw eight touchdowns and three interceptions in his three career games against the Cardinals.

Now Manning rides off into the sunset amid investigations off the field having to do with his University of Tennessee days and HGH allegations.  It was the right time to leave though.  No better way to leave the game than on top.