Peyton Manning holds the NFL record for most MVP awards, with four, but there's increasing talk that the trophy could be headed his way for a fifth time, at the age of 36.

Manning has fueled that opinion with five consecutive 300-yard passing efforts, including the sparkling Sunday-night performance against New Orleans that saw him finish with a 138.9 passer rating.

Manning's last MVP came in 2009 at Indianapolis, and current Bronco and former Colts receiver Brandon Stokley says Peyton is at that same vintage standard now.

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Asked by the Denver Post if Manning is as good now as he was in 2009, Stokley answered:  "Oh, before that. You've got to go back to 2004. People say you can't play as good as you did five or six years ago, because of your age. I don't believe in that. If you've got it in you, age doesn't matter."

Predictably, Manning downplayed talk that he's the leading candidate for this season's MVP award, telling Yahoo's Mike Silver that:

"I don't agree with that. I feel like I'm a different player, in different circumstances. I've learned a lot about myself and my body – what I can and can't do. Somebody asked me if I was doing the same things I did in 2004. I'm like, 'Are you kidding?' That was a different team, and we were on a crazy level. There's no comparison."