In an otherwise magnificent game, Peyton Manning’s tackle attempt was hysterical

Look, we know that quarterbacks are made of fine china and tissue paper and they're not supposed to tackle anything tougher than a plate of grilled chicken. But even by the absurdly low standards we set for them, Peyton Manning's performance above in trying to bring down San Diego's Quentin Jammer is just ... well, it ain't pretty, we'll tell you that.

Midway through the second quarter, Manning had just thrown an interception and Jammer was rolling right down the sideline when Manning found himself in one of those oh crap what do I do now situations. And, like almost all of us would do when faced with a speeding cornerback bearing down on us, Manning just went fetal. Jammer's biggest concern in regards to Manning was possibly stubbing his toe on Peyton's shoulder pad.

This was, of course, the smart play; we're still not sure that Manning's neck isn't going to explode at some point this season. And in the grand scheme of things, it had exactly zero impact: Manning brought his Broncos back from a 24-point deficit to win 35-24. The comeback was Manning's 47th fourth-quarter/overtime game-winning drive, tying Dan Marino for most all time, and the 24-point comeback also tied a record for the largest by a road team in NFL history.

So yeah, the attempted tackle was ugly, but excusable in the context of the whole package ... like a Miss America winner whose talent is projectile vomiting.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-