Worst of times for Manning, Broncos backers

In Denver, there was a funeral for Peyton Manning as we once knew him. In Green Bay, there was controversy. In Las Vegas, there were busted bettors and celebrating bookmakers.

Charles Dickens is not around today to write “A Tale of Three Cities,” so I’ll review the story of the NFL playoffs.

It was a strange Sunday. Of course, most Sundays during the football season are strange but always in different ways. This one started as a rainy day in Vegas and ended with a great quarterback’s demise in Denver.

Manning was a mess, and the Broncos, bet from 7- to 9½-point favorites, crushed the bettors in a 24-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that turned a winning day for bookmakers into a blowout.

“Everything was good,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, South Point sports book oddsmaker. “We were so live with teasers on the Broncos, it made the entire weekend for us.

“You could see it from the beginning. Manning looked lost after the first few drives. I surely think there is something wrong with the kid. It’s very apparent that something was missing, and I’m glad it was missing today.”

For the Broncos, it was another season of darkness, ending in a winter of despair. The first drive ended with a Manning touchdown pass, but by nightfall he was fielding questions about retirement. He completed 26 of 46 passes — 2 of 12 on throws of 15 yards or more — and few of them were pretty.

Manning appeared old and tired and probably injured. Meanwhile, the quarterback who replaced him in Indianapolis, Andrew Luck, was making plays and showing flashes of the future. As for Manning as an elite quarterback, it seems that time has passed.

“I’m blown away,” said Ken Thomson, a Pregame.com handicapper, radio host and longtime fan of Manning and the Colts. “But I’m pleasantly surprised by the changing of the guard. Something is wrong with Manning. His passes were fluttering. There’s no zip on the ball. I think he’s hurt.

“The crowd was in shock. You heard rumblings, but it wasn’t cheering, it was people talking and saying, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ ”

The rumblings came from Denver and the sports books, where Broncos minus-1 teasers and parlay tickets with the Broncos turned into donations to the bookmakers. From the so-called squares to the wiseguys, there was overwhelming support for Manning.

Denver was the lone home favorite to lose in the divisional round. Green Bay and New England won but failed to cover, and both teams were fortunate to advance.

The Packers, laying 5½ to 6 points, rallied from a 21-13 deficit late in the third quarter to eliminate Dallas 26-21. For the Cowboys, it was the best of times and the worst of times.

A week ago, in a controversial victory over Detroit, the Cowboys benefited from officiating blunders. This time, after an apparent 31-yard catch by Dez Bryant at the 1-yard line, they were screwed when a replay ruling overturned the play.

“Last week, it looked like they got the best of it, and this week, it looked like they got the worst of it,” Vaccaro said, loosely quoting Dickens. “What can you say?”

You could say Bryant made a clean reception and was lunging for the goal line when he hit the frozen tundra and the ball popped loose. In fact, he never did truly lose the ball. Bryant clearly caught the pass from Tony Romo on fourth-and-2 with 4½ minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But he did not complete the process of the catch when going to the ground, according to the nonsensical rule.

“Any football fan says it’s a catch, and the letter of the law says it’s not a catch,” said Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill sports book director. “It was a phenomenal catch, and to take it away from him on a ridiculous technicality, it was absolutely crazy. Personally, I don’t think they should overturn that call, not in a million years. I’m a common-sense guy.”

But it prevented bookmakers from paying out Dallas money-line tickets and a lot of wagers over the total of 52.

“It was huge for everything,” Bogdanovich said. “For us, it was good. We won every decision on that game.”

The bookmakers won smaller decisions Saturday, when Seattle beat Carolina by 14 to cover and New England twice came back from 14 down to beat Baltimore in a 35-31 thriller.

A hobbled Aaron Rodgers, the big mystery going into the weekend, was only slightly more mobile than a mannequin (or a Manning) but played great. He passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers are 7½-point underdogs to the Seahawks in the NFC title game.

In the AFC title game, the Patriots are 7-point favorites over the Colts, who might have ended Manning’s historic career.

“Something has got to be done or he may be finished,” Thomson said. “Manning may retire. I think there’s a chance.”

The odds are Manning will see a doctor and come back for another year. But he’ll probably never get another shot to get embarrassed in a Super Bowl.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.