The key phrase when the announced 's was that he would be out at least two weeks. With it already official that Manning would not face the -- scuttling a matchup that is annually one of the most highly anticipated and perhaps ending one of the greatest rivalries the NFL has ever seen -- the were sent searching for the scant video of . Manning fans, meanwhile, were left with a disconcerting po sibility: With Manning out at least through mid-December, might he have already played his final game this season?There is no way to know when -- or if -- Manning will be healthy enough to play again. (NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reported Thursday that ) And the need only look acro s to the other sideline Sunday night for an example of how and never gave up the job. Drew Bledsoe was not a legend like Manning, and it is absurd to suggest Osweiler could have 's career arc, but in Bill Belichick's 2001 decision to stick with the hot hand and the quarterback he had wanted to try even before Bledsoe got hurt, he might have provided a precursor to the ' own very public, very delicate -- though perhaps inevitable -- distancing from Manning.It was lost on no one Sunday that Denver coach Gary Kubiak noted Osweiler's ability to bootleg helped the running game . That is how Kubiak wants to play. Kubiak's system was always an awkward fit for late-career Manning and their attempts to piece together an offense on the fly resulted in a pastiche that included Manning playing out of the pistol and the ungainly sight of Manning occasionally trying to throw while rolling to his left. Osweiler is simply more capable at this point of doing what Kubiak wants done.Still, that was Tony Snell Jersey against the . And for all the positives -- most notably, that Denver did not turn the ball over for the first time this season -- the scraped together just 17 points, almost six full points fewer than they averaged with Manning. Osweiler's audition figures to get significantly more difficult and it carries extra weight. Sunday is Denver's opportunity to see how a post-Peyton team with a formidable defense Reggie Jackson Jersey and running Kubiak's offense would stack up in the playoffs.Can the play complementary football -- the defense holding Brady and an injury-riddled offense in check, while Osweiler leads a running game-centric offense -- to stay competitive with the ? And, more to the point, will John Elway and Kubiak come away from the game believing that Osweiler gives them at least as good a chance to beat the and other likely playoff teams in January as Manning does? With in the AFC West, that is really what these next few weeks are about.The answer might not be easy to define. The and both have and New England's offense is currently battling injuries to skill-position players and a near-constant shuffle on the offensive line. And there was no guarantee that Manning, playing as he had been, would have beaten the anyway -- Brady has won four of the last five games in their epic series.But Osweiler faces a steep climb nonethele s. Quarterbacks making their first start against Belichick and the are 24-68. And quarterbacks who make their first or second career starts against Belichick and the are 1-8 with 15 touchdowns pa ses and 13 interceptions. To complicate matters for the , the Pats also have the league's -- New England's defense in general has been excellent and largely overlooked -- which means that Belichick, whose hallmark is taking away what an opponent does best, is likely to try to put the game into Osweiler's hands and let his defense, which came into this week ranked second to the in sacks this season, handle the rest."They ran the ball very well and I think that's what they're trying to get back to, is running the ball well and then setting up the play-action and boot game with it," defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. " obviously has a great system in the pa s game that he's been able to incorporate there. Osweiler definitely did a good job with the game plan pa s patterns that they've put in, hit some receivers downfield, hit some big plays and then, from a skill standpoint, once you get the ball in the hands of their skill players, it's very dangerous. They break a lot of tackles."Whatever happens , it is hard to imagine it will top some of the extraordinary games the played against Manning, when he was in Indianapolis and then in Denver. At its best, the rivalry between Brady and Manning produced brilliant shootouts, unorthodox coaching decisions, a nearly annual battle for home-field advantage in the playoffs and, le s than two years ago, designed to enhance the teams' chances of succe s while Brady and Manning were still at their peaks.It worked out better for the and Brady, who not only leads the career series Bill Laimbeer Jersey against Manning, but who won that arms race in the form of . That the prevailed just as Manning's physical travails undermined the skills that made him, as Belichick said last year, the toughest quarterback the head coach had ever faced is ironic. And, for Manning and the , maybe a bit cruel.Now, with Manning out, perhaps for good, it is entirely po sible Brady and Manning will never share a field again. If they do not, it would be a sudden and sad end to an extraordinary series that, in 16 meetings dating to the third game of the 2001 season -- -- had come to seem like an NFL birthright. In fact, those games were just a gift.Three more things to watch around the NFL in Week 12With just six weeks remaining in the regular season, these are three more games with significant playoff implications for every team:1) Defense is the name of the game for . Yes Jerami Grant Jersey , Seattle has the in the league, and yes, , too. But also threw for three touchdowns and the scored 39 points on the . Enter a rested and , who is second in the league and and has helped the to the second overall ranking in (6.3). The do have multiple giveaways in each of their last four games, and Roethlisberger has thrown an interception in four straight games. is allowing a pa ser rating of 110.2 and hasn't had an interception in 11 games, and Seattle already has given up 34 pa s plays of at least 20 yards, more than they did in all of 2014 or 2013. The magic number for the is 20: They are 5-0 when holding opponents to 20 points, and 0-5 when allowing more than 20. That's partially due to the struggles of the offense, which has improved in the last two weeks but has still allowed the (35). and Co. now face a D that, although it entered this week tied for eighth in the league in sacks, is on pace to give up the most yards per game in team history.2) The talking point around the this week was that, while they are now relevant and leading the division , they have to finish. The stretch run begins , which would take over the NFC East lead with a victory Sunday. All four of the ' victories , the most recent of which was where and company were held to just 14 points. They'll have their hands full with the , who are , with playing better than in either of his two seasons, throwing 10 touchdown pa ses in his last three games. But it is New York's defense that could make the difference. The entered this week leading the league with a plus-13 turnover differential, and have forced at least two turnovers in each of the last five games. One key to watch: Will the ' blitz , who has never beaten them in his career? He completes 73 percent of his pa ses against the blitz, best in the league, but also has thrown five interceptions when blitzed, the most in the league. The have blitzed on just 21.3 percent of pa s plays this season, the sixth-lowest figure in the NFL, but a healthier secondary could free up the blitz.3) All the attention will be between old () and young (), but the real focus should be on the ' defense. Indy's D is and has to contend with a Bucs offense that exploded for 45 points and Winston, who threw five touchdown pa ses. The Bucs have the league's (142.2 yards per game). This game has unexpectedly significant . The surging Bucs are just a game behind the for the NFC's last wild-card spot, and the are and trying to hold on without . Ha selbeck Dewayne Dedmon Jersey has been more efficient than Luck, winning all three of his starts, but Indianapolis has scored at least 30 points just once . Watch for potential tweaks from new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski.Follow Judy Battista on Twitter .