Peyton Manning's streak of consecutive games with a TD ends

There's one record Peyton Manning won't get.

He came into Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills with 51 straight games throwing at least one touchdown pass. The record is 54, held by the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees. The way Manning has thrown touchdown passes for the Denver Broncos, it looked like a lock that he'd get the record.

But, over the past few weeks, Manning hasn't looked like an elite quarterback. He hasn't looked like Peyton Manning.

Manning didn't throw a touchdown against the Bills, and he didn't play that well either. The Broncos are becoming a running team, and while running back C.J. Anderson has gotten a lot of attention for his exploits, what has gone mostly unsaid is that Manning doesn't look like the same quarterback who won the MVP award last season. His arm strength, after multiple neck surgeries, famously hasn't been the same the past couple seasons. But that issue seems exacerbated lately. He hasn't thrown the ball that well, and his role in the Broncos offense has been lessened.

Manning was just 14 of 20 for 173 yards on Sunday. He threw no touchdowns, breaking the streak, and two interceptions. Unlike last week at Kansas City, the weather was just fine; temperatures remained in the 50s even after sunset in Denver. The Broncos won 24-17 because the defense was very good and so was Anderson, with three more touchdowns.

Manning will gladly take the win, which puts the Broncos closer to winning the AFC West and getting a bye in the playoffs. And if the Broncos can ride this formula to a Super Bowl, he presumably won't care. But things look a lot different in Denver than last season, or even a few weeks ago. Manning didn’t throw a touchdown pass for his first time as a Bronco. He hasn’t had more than 200 yards passing either of the past two weeks. The record-smashing offense of a year ago isn't around anymore. The Broncos are still winning, but it looks a lot different.

And at 38 years old, it’s fair to ask what we should expect from Manning the rest of this season, and maybe beyond as well.