With just over eight minutes left in the third quarter in Sunday’s regular season finale against the San Diego Chargers, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak made the long awaited decision to put healing quarterback Peyton Manning back in the game.

For six consecutive games, Manning has stood eagerly on the sidelines, offering whatever help he could. Throughout this time, Manning spent much of his time rehabilitating his foot, which he did not favor the night of his return.

The stakes for this game were extremely high. The Broncos went into this game knowing that the New England Patriots had lost. With a victory, the Broncos could lock up the No. 1 seed in the A.F.C.

After Brock Osweiler struggled following two leading plays in which he threw a 72-yard touchdown drive, Manning told head coach Gary Kubiak that he was ready to play. Mid-third quarter, he was put in. The home crowd erupted with excitement. Manning led Denver to points on four of the first drives that he played, two of them were touchdown drives. He completed 5 out of 9 passes for a total of 69 yards. If he was still in pain, his performance sure did not show it. Manning led his team to a 27-20 victory over the 4-12 Chargers, and secured their spot as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

The Broncos have still not made a decision as to whether Peyton will be the starting quarterback or not, but one thing is for sure: Manning is ready regardless of the outcome.