The Cardinals aren’t scared of Peyton Manning.
But he does confuse the heck out of them.
“It’s like a foreign language and we don’t speak it,” defensive coordinator Bill Davis said.
Davis, of course, is referring to the finger-pointing, arm-waving gesticulations Manning makes at the line of scrimmage as he’s calling plays. No quarterback does it as often or drives defenses as crazy.
Just ask the Miami Dolphins. Indianapolis scored the game-winning touchdown Monday when the Dolphins flooded the line of scrimmage and Manning, recognizing the blitz, audibled to a bubble screen pass to wideout Pierre Garcon, who ran 48 yards for a touchdown.
“When he comes to the line it’s like he’s orchestrating music,” nose tackle Bryan Robinson said. “Usually, it’s really good music.”
The freedom Manning has to recognize defenses and then call his own plays is unique in the NFL. Kurt Warner is his own man when the Cardinals are in their no-huddle offense, but Manning has free will on every down.
He doesn’t play football as much as he does chess and, more often than not, he’s a couple of moves ahead. Colts coach Jim Caldwell said coaching Manning is like teaching a “gifted student.”
“He pores over so much film and gathers so much information,” Caldwell said. “Often times you will find that some people can gather all that information but not be able to utilize it. He not only can gather the information and regurgitate it, but he can also use it in a nanosecond during the course of a game.”
He can also protect those secrets as if he were a CIA agent.
“I guess I have gotten pretty tight-lipped about what we do and the scheme of it,” Manning said … “It’s kind of controlled chaos out there.”
Chaos? That suggests disorder and bedlam. There’s nothing chaotic about what Manning does.
“He’s the mastermind,” linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “If he knows exactly what you’re doing you have no chance.”
So just how do the Cardinals deal with Manning Sunday? How do they counter his experience, his ability to read a defense and then call the perfect play to beat it?
Oddly enough, the best move may be to do nothing at all.
Trying to guess what Manning is signaling to his teammates – and then changing the defense accordingly – is fruitless. It plays right into Manning’s hands.
He wants defenders uncertain of their assignments or responsibilities, particularly as the ball is about to be snapped. Also, there are times when Manning’s gestures are a decoy. He’ll call a running play and then try to convince the defense with his mannerisms that he’s going to throw the ball.
Guess wrong, and some Colt will be celebrating in the end zone.
“Anytime you try to figure out what the quarterback is doing, you’re going to mess yourself up,” linebacker Gerald Hayes said.
Davis said the Cardinals’ defense will need to be more disciplined than Indianapolis’ offense. The problem, of course, is that Manning has been doing this for 12 years. The Colts’ offense runs like a Swiss watch. Indianapolis had the ball for just 14 minutes and 53 seconds against the Dolphins and still scored 27 points.
“Three-fourths of the battles in this business is knowing where you need to go with the football and doing it quickly enough that you can react to what a defense does,” Warner said. “Peyton does it as well as anybody.”
The one advantage the Cardinals might have over other clubs is that the defense has gone up against Warner and the no-huddle in practice.
“If there was a (training) camp to be in this year to prepare for Peyton, it would have been ours,” Davis said.
Ah, but that was training camp and offensive signals they’re used to seeing. This Sunday is Manning and a Colts’ offense they haven’t played against since 2005.
I’d wish the Cardinals good luck, but when it comes to Manning, there’s no luck involved.
Just hard work, hours of film study and the NFL’s fastest-thinking quarterback on his feet.
© 2009 Freedom Communications / Arizona. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.
