Lowell Cohn: Peyton Manning plays the part of weary hero in this drama

SANTA CLARA

The Super Bowl is about Denver quarterback Peyton Manning. Not just thematically - although he is the major theme of the game. But in reality. Manning will win the game for the Broncos or he will lose the game for the Broncos.

Sure, the Broncos have a great defense and it will keep the game closer than people think - many assume the Carolina Panthers will sprint away from the Broncos. Probably won’t happen. And the game is, in a sense, about Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Can he perform well against the Denver defense and on this big stage?

But it comes down to Manning. Think of this as his last stand - even if he plays another season. Entirely iffy. He is here now. In Santa Clara. With us.

He is Gary Cooper in “High Noon,” the great 1952 western. If you haven’t seen “High Noon,” rent it tonight. It will change your life. Cooper, playing the marshal of a New Mexico town, has retired and is moving onto a domestic peaceful life with his new bride Grace Kelly. Except that the Miller Gang is coming to town to settle an old score with him. To kill him. And reluctantly, Cooper, the retired gunslinger, has to strap on his gun belt and fight one more time, Cooper looking old, his face lined and careworn, his posture life-weary.

Manning, way past his prime, is Cooper. And he is again fighting the Miller Gang. And so many NFL fans hope he rides into the sunset victorious.

Will he?

Well, there’s the rub.

He is in the twilight of a legendary career. He’s had neck surgeries and suffered nerve damage, damage that diminishes his skills more than mere age. He’s 39.

He has smarts like no one else. Is his own offensive coordinator, has statistical guys who prepare tape and stats according to his specifications. The Broncos pay analysts who work solely for Manning. He is an offensive coordinator in addition to being a quarterback.

There is not a blitz or defensive disguise he hasn’t seen. He has ideas the opposing defensive coordinator has not even thought of. He understands what the defense might do on some play even if the defense never showed it before. He is a savant.

But - and this is the but of all buts - he no longer has the physical gifts. If he is Gary Cooper, he can’t draw as fast as he used to. This weakness, this failing, is why he grabs our emotions, engages us completely - makes us feel awe and, yes, pity.

His ball waffles. He no longer has vertical reach in his arm - like a fastballer who goes sidearm. He is not a good deep thrower. Has become a horizontal passer. A junk thrower.

His limitations limit the Denver offense. May doom the Denver offense. He’ll put teammates in the right play at the line of scrimmage. No one does it better. Can he connect if he puts them into a pass play?

Debatable.

Now defensive backs knock down his passes. Never used to happen. His throws no longer are precise. He can see an opening, can confirm it’s there, but the arm won’t cooperate. He no longer has the command.

He’s had two weeks off. That may help. The Broncos keep him on a “pitch count” in practice so his arm won’t become a limp noodle.

He has quick receivers. That’s not a problem. Wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas can go deep. Will Manning find them? The Broncos must go deep, at least some of the time. Need to complete more than short passes. It is difficult for the Denver offense to go down the field with slow 12-play, 13-play drives, to keep multi-play drives going. Carolina is built not to allow that to happen. Denver cannot beat the Panthers with a horizontal passing game. Carolina is too fast.

So, will the old gunslinger complete some deep balls to his speed receivers, get what they call “chunk” yardage? That’s the determining edge. The Denver defense can keep the game close. If Manning finds a way to make a few quality throws, the Broncos have a chance to win the Super Bowl.

And now I want to switch metaphors. Let’s say goodbye to Gary Cooper as he solves his problem with the Miller Gang and move on to Muhammad Ali as he solved his problem with George Foreman in 1974. It’s the same story played out all over again, played out endlessly in our history - Cooper’s story, Manning’s story, Ali’s story. The great man who is old and time-ravaged, the great man asked to do it one more time.

Ali was 32 and he was skill-diminished and Foreman was a terror. And Ali outsmarted Foreman, rope-a-doped him, drained his energy, knocked him out in the eighth round, beat brawn with brain. Watch the fight on YouTube. It will change your life.

And now we see Manning fighting that inevitable fight, looking for the mental advantage, the cunning, the wisdom. Looking for the indefinable “It.” If you care about these things, you root for the old man making one more heroic try. The try is everything. The heroism is in the try, in the denying age yet again, spitting in the eye of age. I wish I could say this has a happy ending.

Me, I pick Carolina 24-17. Sorry, Marshal. Sorry, Ali. Sorry, Peyton.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.