ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Peyton Manning tied yet another NFL record Thursday when he won his sixth career Offensive Player of the Month award.
Manning joined Kurt Warner (2001) as the only players with 10 TDs, 1,300 yards, a 70 per cent completion percentage and five wins in December as the Broncos (13-3) captured the top seed in the AFC playoffs.
He did it while wearing a glove on his throwing hand, testing it in home games against the Browns and Chiefs in preparation for cold weather games in January. Manning never bothered with a glove while playing indoors in Indianapolis.
"You know, for wearing it for the first time in my entire football career, I guess you could say it's been OK the past two weeks," Manning said.
He's been more than OK: his completion percentage was 5.8 points higher and his QB rating was 19.2 points better that it was without the glove.
"Yeah, he can throw with a glove, he can throw without a glove; he can play a lot of different ways," tight end Jacob Tamme said. "It's been pretty impressive to see him throw with a glove on and it's like it's not even there. It's working great."
Manning completed 123 of 174 passes (70.7 per cent) for 1,399 yards with 11 touchdowns with three interceptions and a 108.4 passer rating in December. In the regular season finale, he broke Brett Favre's record with his 73rd career game with three or more TD passes.
Manning also won the honour in October, making this the first season he's won it twice in one season. He's one of seven players to win the honour six times since the award was instituted in 1986, a list that includes active QBs Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
