Peyton Manning talks about Patrick Mahomes with Peter King

Former Indianapolis Colts (and Denver Broncos) quarterback Peyton Manning was always a thorn in the side of the Kansas City Chiefs. Except for one game in 2004 — a 45-35 loss to the Chiefs that must be seen as revenge for the Chiefs’ loss to the Colts in the playoffs the previous season — Manning won every game he ever played against Kansas City.

That is, until November 15, 2015 — when Manning was humiliated in his final start against the Chiefs. Playing at home in Denver — and poised to set the record for the most career passing yards in NFL history — Manning was sacked twice and intercepted four times before being pulled from the game in the third quarter.

Manning set the record, but had just five completions on 20 attempts. He finished the game with a passer rating of 0.0, and was handed just his second loss to the Chiefs over sixteen career starts.

The photo above was taken as Manning left the game that day.

Still... I wouldn’t blame you if you aren’t much interested in what Manning has to say. But the man is a certain Hall of Fame quarterback — and appearing on the Peter King Podcast on Wednesday, Manning spoke about your favorite quarterback: Patrick Mahomes.

“I think that some of the throws he’s making [are ones] I don’t think anybody’s seen before,” Manning told King. “The no-look throws, the ability to sprint left and throw back right — he’s got a little John Elway in him. Elway was kind of famous for that. The Denver Broncos actually started designing plays to sprint left and throw back right. Mahomes is still improvising.”

But Manning — rather famously a quarterback who didn’t do a lot of things on the fly — isn’t just impressed with Mahomes’ improvisational skills.

“What I like about him is that he’s taking coaching. Andy Reid is going to coach the stew out of him. I like that for him — and his future. I like head coaches calling the offensive plays because you know they’re going to be there — they’re not going to have a coordinator leave the next year and you’re going to have to learn some new system. That’s kind of what Matt Ryan has had to deal with a little bit once Kyle Shanahan left. It’s hard learning the new systems.”

King reminded Manning that when he first arrived in Denver, he had rather pointedly asked Jack Del Rio and Adam Gase if they were going to stick around.

“Exactly. You’re looking for some continuity. Alex Smith told me he had five different coordinators his first five years. That’s tough. So I like the fact that Mahomes is going to be coached, that he takes coaching and that he plays in a disciplined system — but at the same time, he can make a lot of plays on his own.”

But most of all, Manning just likes watching Mahomes play.

“He’s just fun and entertaining to watch. I like his spirit -- and the love and passion for the game that shows up when you watch him play.”

Click here to hear Manning’s whole interview with King.