Peyton Manning

For a guy who can find the good in just about anything, even Tim Tebow is having problems putting a positive spin on what's gone on with the New York Jets this season. All that talk about his being a true factor in the offense? Blather. Tebow hasn't been involved in one scoring play this season, and the notion of his running the wildcat or being a threat around the goal line doesn't rank as even an afterthought anymore. Greg McElroy will start at quarterback Sunday when the Jets host the San Diego Chargers, yet another admission that the decision to trade for Tebow was a failure.

Eric Dickerson is pulling for Adrian Peterson to become the seventh NFL running back to gain 2,000 yards in a season. The former Los Angeles Rams great who owns the single-season rushing record also wants to see Peterson named both the league's most valuable player and comeback player of the year. But Dickerson is a realist, too, and concedes both those awards will probably wind up in Denver with Peyton Manning, who has come back from a serious neck injury to lead the Broncos to an AFC West title.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - All Peyton Manning wanted was a haircut. Somewhere between his Denver home and the barber, he got lost. That's right, the NFL's premier traffic cop on the field, a guy who does commercials for cars that talk back to him, had to call his wife for directions. Mr. Manning was Mr. Magoo. "I'm calling Ashley all the time, 'Now, how do I get here again?'" he said. "She's got an unbelievable sense of direction. I don't. " The Indianapolis transplant, now star quarterback for the Broncos, eventually reached his destination - and found a bright side.

This week's Friday edition of our NFL Google+ hangout -- "NFL Slam with Mark and Sam," starring Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer and Mark Thompson of "Mark and Brian" radio fame -- spent most of its time talking about the greatness of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. As Farmer wrote earlier this week : If the Colts were looking for a carbon copy of Manning, they made the right call. "He's not Peyton Manning, but I swear he has a lot of the mannerisms," said Hall of Fame coach John Madden , who lives in Pleasanton in Northern California and saw a lot of Luck's games at Stanford.

Andrew Luck might have the NFL on a string, but that doesn't mean he has the Internet at his fingertips. Smart quarterback? Without question. Smartphone? Slow down there, Wozniak. "I still have a flip phone," Luck told The Times this week, calling from that digital dinosaur. "It served me well and continues to serve me well. If it worked the past four years since high school, why change it now?" It's a fittingly retro device for a guy who's making it feel like the late 1990s all over again in Indianapolis.

Writers from around the Tribune Co. debate who is having a better season: Denver Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning or the guy who replaced him as the Indianapolis Colts' QB, rookie Andrew Luck. Join the conversation by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own. Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times It's a bizarre coincidence that at the midway point of the season, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck have identical passing yardage totals (2,404, tied for third) and team records (5-3)

  Our special edition of "NFL Slam with Mark and Sam" was held Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., and the big topic was the Denver Broncos' amazing comeback Monday night against the San Diego Chargers. Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes in the second half and Tony Carter and Chris Harris scored off turnovers by Philip Rivers as the Broncos overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to stun the Chargers, 35-24. Manning was an amazing 13 of 14 for 167 yards in the second half for the Broncos (3-3)

Peyton Manning not only led the Denver Broncos to an amazing comeback victory over the San Diego Chargers, he also led them to a surge in The Times' NFL power rankings. The Broncos were the biggest risers in the poll, jumping from No. 14 to No. 8. The loss hurt the Chargers, who sank from No. 11 to No. 16. The Chargers weren't the biggest losers of the week though. That dishonor belongs to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who dropped 11 spots all the way until No. 23 after their embarrassing loss to the Tennessee Titans on Thursday.

SAN DIEGO - That huge gush heard just shortly before 9 Monday night was the massive deflation of the San Diego Chargers' NFL season. Air left the Chargers' balloon like a jet stream. Whoosh. Bye-bye, Chargers. The team owned and operated by the family Spanos goofed. Put a fork in them. This one will be forever remembered as the Collapse at Qualcomm. Losing is one thing. The Chargers did that, 35-24, to the Denver Broncos before the ever-eager, ever-hopeful packed house of 68,604.

  This week's Friday edition of our NFL Google+ hangout -- "NFL Slam with Mark and Sam," starring Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer and Mark Thompson of "Mark and Brian" radio fame -- was taped a day earlier because of scheduling issues, but that didn't stop an interesting discussion. Farmer, showing Kreskin-like predicting skills, opened by telling everyone: "Of the three undefeated teams in the NFL, the one most likely to lose is Arizona. " And, of course, Arizona lost later that night to the St. Louis Rams.