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Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos (6-0) host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (6-0) in a Battle of Undefeateds on Sunday Night Football on November 1st. With a tip of our hat to Eric Goodman and Zach Fogg at The Afternoon Drive, here are a handful of storylines entering Week 8.
1. This is a historic matchup
It's not every day you have two 6-0 NFL teams facing off in primetime.
Oh wait, that's never happened in a century of NFL football.
#Packers at #Broncos on @SNFonNBC is the first-ever primetime NFL game featuring teams with 6-0 records or better. #GBvsDEN
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) October 26, 2015
Undefeated teams this late in the season almost never face each other.
#Packers at #Broncos is only the 4th game between teams with 6-0+ records in NFL history. Previous three: pic.twitter.com/7vV7V0MX1s
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) October 26, 2015
2. Both Broncos, Packers are looking healthy out of their respective byes
With Emmanuel Sanders and DeMarcus Ware returning to Denver's practice Monday, the Broncos are looking healthy entering Week 8.
"It's huge. I think the team is energized," Mike Pritchard said on The Afternoon Drive Monday. "You look around - the defense is playing passionate football... It makes all the difference in the world because now you're talking about going on a stretch run."
The Packers also had their bye in Week 7 and are benefiting from the extra rest.
3. Peyton Manning might practice Wednesday
So far this season, quarterback Peyton Manning has been a noticeable no-show for Broncos practices on Wednesdays. That has been by design; Gary Kubiak said he is trying to save Manning for December and the postseason.
However, as we all know, the Broncos offense has been basically putrid. Perhaps it's simply because the bye week just came and went, but Kubiak acknowledged Monday that there may be a change in Peyton's practice routine this week.
"We're going to talk about that (Manning practicing Wednesday) today," Kubiak said. "I would say no, but obviously, he's had some good rest. We'll see. I think that he will practice some on Wednesday. How much? I don't know, we'll see."
Fogg read my mind with his reaction: "If Manning goes out and has a full week of practice this week, and the offense looks as good as it has all year or looks better than it has all year, I'd be hard-pressed to go back to the old routine after that."
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