Peyton Manning ugly win may be a perfect finale

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Everyone got spoiled.

Over two decades of watching Peyton Manning play on the biggest stages, fans became numb to all he could do — the way he dissected defenses with clinical precision, the way he rewrote the record book, even the way he came back from a neck injury that was supposed to be career-ending.

Then this.

Hobbled, creaking, sputtering to the end of his 18th season, he became a different quarterback. Not the Alpha Dog who needed to call all the shots. But a 39-year-old game manager who needed others to carry him over the finish line.

And what a finish the 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers was — if, in fact, this was it.

Not so much because of the 13 completions…