When my Dad used his favorite phrase to describe a floundering NFL player in reference to Peyton Manning at the beginning of this season, I thought he was jumping the gun. Now, I'm honestly starting to think he was right. Though he has passed out the "washed up" tag fairly liberally in the past (he used it on Adrian Peterson the year after his knee surgery in which he ran for 2097 yards and won the league MVP Award), I think he may have nailed this one.

Peyton Manning is one of the best Quarterbacks to ever play the game of football, and there is really no debating that. In a discussion about the undisputed greatest signal-caller, his name has to be mentioned, at the very least. Two Sundays ago, he passed Brett Favre to become the NFL's all-time leader in Passing Yards, further cementing his legacy in pro football.

However, as the same can be said for pretty much any hot take in the sports realm, some context would be nice here.

Entering the game, Peyton Manning needed all of three yards to pass Favre in the record books, which he did on his second pass attempt of the game, a short pass to Ronnie Hillman that gained four yards. His first pass attempt? That one was intercepted, as were three more of Manning's many errant balls that day. After going 5/20 for a paltry 35 yards and four interceptions, he was benched in favor of backup Brock Osweiler about halfway through the third quarter. Yes, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history was benched.

After the game, the Broncos released some more valuable context--Manning had been playing with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot. This injury has put Manning on the sidelines for now and potentially the rest of the season, leading many to finally pose the question we've all seemingly been avoiding: Has Peyton Manning's time in the league run out?

While Manning will turn 40 next March, he has already proven his ability to bounce back from dire circumstances in his career. Two years after two neck surgeries in 2011 (both of which had a formidable chance of ending his career) he won the 2013 league MVP award and took the Broncos to the Super Bowl.

But that was then, and this is now. The Broncos offense has struggled mightily this season despite the team's winning record, and many of those struggles can be attributed to Manning's difficulty to grasp first-year coach Gary Kubiak's offensive scheme. He's thrown nine touchdown passes to 17 interceptions this season, and honestly, at 39 and having already firmly cemented his legacy, why would he want to stick around any longer?

I'm not saying I think Peyton Manning should retire, but I believe retiring may be in his best interest at this point in his career. Statistically, he has fallen off of a cliff since his 2013 MVP year, and the regression has only gotten worse this year with a turnstile of an offensive line. He has been listed on the injury report nearly every week this season, and even though the Broncos have downplayed his injuries as just bumps and bruises, it is evident in Manning's recent foot injury that playing football is taking a real toll on his body right now. As decorated as he is, why risk any long-term health effects by forcing his body to keep playing?

To be completely fair, it will be a sad day in football when the creator of the "Omaha" check hangs up his cleats in spite of his recent shortcomings on the football field. Just because he's under-performing now, that doesn't deplete the historic numbers he's accumulated over his career, or the name he's made for himself starring in many commercial ads (Chicken Parm, you taste so good). I just think it's extremely ironic that Peyton Manning broke the NFL's all-time passing record in one of the worst games of his entire career, and potentially his last.

Cris Carter said it best on Monday Night Countdown the day after Manning's four interception performance: "Father time has called, and he's undefeated." It really seems like my dad was onto something when we were discussing those preseason fantasy football QB rankings back in August.