Peyton Manning
Page 12
Location: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver
Game clock: 8 minutes, 13 seconds to go in the second quarter
Situation: 2nd down and 6 at Pittsburgh 41-yard line
Score at the time: Pittsburgh 3, Denver 0
The curtain went up on the NFL season. Enter Manning, stage right, wearing number 18 for the Denver Broncos. In his opening act, there was a big surprise. One of the greatest quarterbacks in league history changed the course of this game against the Steelers on a play where Manning used . . . his feet.
What the heck? Tim Tebow was long gone from Denver and riding the pine for the New York Jets, was he not? And we are supposed to believe that Manning’s first beautifully heartbreaking work of staggering genius in a Broncos uniform occurred when he carried the football?
Believe it.
After his opening three possessions as the Denver quarterback ended with the whimper of a punt, fumble, and punt, when the Broncos got the football back in the second quarter, they put the maestro to work, with Manning directing a no-huddle attack.
Each time he lined up in the shotgun formation behind center, there were two plays on the Manning menu. A primary option and an audible call, depending on the look presented him by the Pittsburgh defense.
Manning operates the no-huddle the way Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic. After wrapping four completions around a short run by Willis McGahee, the Broncos had advanced to the 41-yard line of the Steelers in five plays.
Manning called signals from the shotgun. The ball was snapped. Pittsburgh linebacker Lawrence Timmons shot a gap on the right side of the Denver offensive line. Under pressure, running back Knowshon Moreno freaked out for an instant, stepped the wrong way in the backfield, and missed the assignment of picking up Timmons, who was hurtling toward a veteran quarterback playing his first game back from four neck surgeries.
As an act of self-preservation, Manning smartly darted to his right, scampered around end, and gained seven yards to pick up the first down, before stepping out of bounds in front of the Pittsburgh bench.
Well, well, well. The old QB proved his wheels still worked.
Take that, Tebow.
But the scramble was not the act of genius.
The genius was what Manning detected about the Pittsburgh defense while running for his life.
At halftime, Manning suggested the coaching staff make a small adjustment. During the first half, when the play choice being supplied by a coach talking through the speaker in Manning’s helmet was between a run and a screen pass, the run was the primary call, with the screen as an audible.
But on the blitz by Timmons, Manning noted a defensive vulnerability that could be exploited by a screen pass. So the veteran quarterback made a very simple, very subtle change. He flipped the order of play priorities, making the screen pass his first option when supplying the code words to teammates at the line of scrimmage.
With his amazing football ESP, Manning had seen the future. If Pittsburgh was caught showing the same blitz in the third quarter and Denver had a screen pass dialed up, Manning promised his coaches: I have the Steelers exactly where we want them. And the result is going to be a home run.
As the Pittsburgh defenders jogged on the field for the second half kickoff, they were in big trouble, blissfully unaware of how much their future was going to hurt. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger guided the Steelers on a 16-play, clock-chewing drive to open the third quarter with a field goal that put the visitors ahead 13–7.
It had been nearly an hour of real time since Manning had thrown a pass. But the Broncos offense came out in the no-huddle. And on the second play of the drive, the quarterback saw precisely the future he had foretold to Denver coaches at intermission.
A screen pass was the call. The throw by Manning barely traveled an inch past the line of scrimmage, where receiver Demaryius Thomas grabbed the football, as tight end Jacob Tamme applied a crisp seal block on Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor in the left flat.
Manning had the Steelers precisely where he wanted them. Here is what boggles the mind. Manning did not check into the play when he detected a safety tipping off the blitz prior to the snap. That would have been amazing. But what Manning did was spooky brilliant. He had anticipated that exact blitz coming at him for more than an hour, and patiently waited to ambush Pittsburgh’s Dick LeBeau, one of the finest defensive coordinators in the NFL.
How well did Manning see what the future held?
Without a defender so much as placing a fingernail tip on him, Thomas bolted 71 yards for a Denver touchdown. The Broncos led 14–13 and were on their way to a rousing victory in Manning’s debut.
Thomas was asked to identify the short route he ran to produce the 400th touchdown pass of Manning’s illustrious career. Would it best be described as a bubble screen?
“No,” replied Thomas, laughing. “It was more like a smoke screen. It was something we saw at halftime.”
As Manning trotted toward Denver teammates celebrating the Thomas touchdown in the stadium’s south end zone, the quarterback briefly swiveled his head toward the Denver sideline and flashed an I-told-you-so-smile so huge it could shame a Cheshire cat.
A genius, doing work.
Date: October 15, 2012
Opponent: San Diego Chargers
Site: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Game clock: 9 minutes, 32 seconds to go in the fourth quarter
Situation: First down and 10 at San Diego 21-yard line
Score at the time: San Diego 24, Denver 21
A genius resides in his own private world, sometimes so lost in the complexities of his work that he forgets what time it is.
Maybe that explains why the most memorable touchdown pass of Manning’s first season with the Broncos almost did not happen.
Instead of the defining moment of the remarkable 24-point comeback against the San Diego Chargers, it was nearly a delay-of-game penalty by the nutty professor. While gesticulating, orchestrating, and basically telling everyone else on the field for the Broncos how to do their jobs, Manning almost forgot to complete his most basic assignment: Get the ball snapped before the 40-second play clock expired.
“What a catch! What a play! What a comeback!” ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico would succinctly shout, perfectly honoring the biggest Denver score of 2012. Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley had leapt higher than any 36-year-old man should be able to hop and hauled in a 21-yard pass, then landed barely inbounds with a touchdown that not only blew the minds of the Chargers, but signaled a change in the power structure of the AFC West. With that throw, Manning wrested control of a division long owned by San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers.
But here is what was left unsaid and largely went unnoticed until the game video could be reviewed frame by frame: Only the quick, level-headed thinking of center Dan Koppen saved the fourth-quarter touchdown from being a forgettable little disaster. As the “shot clock” dwindled to four seconds, Koppen told Manning to shut the hell up and play football.
From a spot on the sofa back home, it is sometimes hard to detect how keenly aware NFL players are about the small details that can make the difference between winning and losing. Manning lifts the IQ of all his teammates. But Koppen might be able to whip his quarterback in a Sudoku showdown. The dude is smart.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Koppen growled, as Manning hastily retreated to his position in the shotgun formation and the veteran center snapped the ball with one slim second to spare before a yellow flag would have flown, blowing the play dead for delay of game.
Up to the point where Koppen needed to jump his case, Manning had been as flawless as a quarterback can possibly be during the second half, completing all dozen of his pass attempts for 146 yards.
The Chargers owned a daunting 24–0 lead at halftime. But by the time the fourth quarter began, they were choking. Sometime after intermission, Rivers had lost his poise, not to mention two turnovers, via a fumble and in
terception. Taking over at the 50-yard line and trailing by only three points with 11 minutes and 11 seconds still remaining on the clock, Manning smartly marched the Broncos to the doorstep of the red zone with three quick plays and the help of an encroachment penalty by San Diego.
The time was right for Denver to go for the jugular.
At such a critical moment in the game, how could a quarterback as fastidious as Manning possibly lose track of time?
He tried to do everything at once.
As the play clock began to wind down, Manning looked to his right, immediately recognizing how desperate the Chargers defense was to force the issue in a contest the jittery home team realized was slip-sliding away. San Diego defensive backs Marcus Gilchrist and Quentin Jammer were in double-press coverage, lined up so close to Stokley and Eric Decker they could smell what the Denver wideouts ate for lunch.
After stamping his left foot twice, looking as if he were ready for the snap, Manning broke out of his stance in the shotgun formation and walked toward his receivers. With a simple hand signal, Manning altered the routes for Stokley and Decker to run, ordering a deep crossing pattern. Decker would now drive downfield and switch to the inside lane with a hard cut, while Stokley would break out toward the pylon at the goal line.
The time on the play clock had dwindled to ten seconds. But with the nonchalance of a safecracker, Manning decided he needed to change his offensive line’s blocking scheme. The middle linebacker was indentified.
Six seconds, five, four . . .
And Koppen could not take it any longer. With a dismissive wave of his left hand, Koppen swatted at the nuisance of his quarterback’s incessant chatter and gruffly ordered Manning to get back in position to take the snap.
Somehow, Manning set his feet and opened his palms before Koppen knocked him over with the football.
And there was no doubt where Manning was going with the pass. He looked immediately toward the spot in the end zone where Stokley was running. Before the receiver could turn his head, Manning let rip a high, soft spiral.
Matching Stokley stride for stride in exemplary man-to-man coverage, Gilchrist reached with his right hand to swipe at the football. Swing and a miss.
Stokley jumped halfway to the moon and grabbed the pass just inside the sideline chalk.
Falling to his butt, Gilchrist sat up and waved incomplete, begging an official for a call.
But there was no doubt. Stokley got both feet inbounds. The football was adhered to his palms.
It was touchdown, Broncos. They had come all the way back to take a 28–24 lead.
Good night, San Diego. Drive home safely.
Stokley’s catch was literal proof that teammates go above and beyond to make plays for Manning. If the quarterback delivers a perfect pass at the perfect time, a receiver is not going to drop Manning’s work of art.
“Without him, I wouldn’t have played this year,” Stokley said of Manning, who has thrown him touchdown passes from Indianapolis to Denver. “There’s no doubt I would be retired . . . and probably about 20 pounds heavier. So, yeah, I owe him a lot. For this year, and a lot for my career in general. Playing with [Manning] kind of sparked my career. I owe that guy a lot.”
Stokley waited 14 NFL seasons to catch a football so spectacularly thrown. For the second-oldest wide receiver in the league, the wait was well worth it.
Real genius cannot be rushed.
Date: December 2, 2012
Opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Site: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver
Game clock: 4 minutes, 45 seconds to go in the third quarter
Situation: 2nd down and goal at Tampa Bay 10-yard line
Score at the time: Denver 14, Tampa Bay 10
It took until week 13 of the NFL season for an observation Thomas offered me way back in June to sink in: “The more Manning stays on your case, the better football player you become.”
While other Broncos hit the showers at the conclusion of that late spring practice, Manning held a one-sided, animated discussion with his receiver. But not before the quarterback paused to make certain no television cameras were rolling. Praise in public. Work out the kinks in private. It is smart business.
A quarterback’s primary duty is to lead touchdown drives. Along the way, Manning is also driven to teach talented teammates how to become even bigger winners.
After discovering that Manning’s pearls of wisdom are a strand stretching to infinity, Thomas might never graduate from Professor Peyton’s class. But, on December 2, 2012, weeks shy of his 25th birthday, the physically gifted receiver earned a gold star for academic achievement.
Thomas began thinking like PFM does.
Have you ever watched the wonder of cherry flowers blossoming with time-lapse photography? That is almost as cool as watching the football IQ of Thomas spike through the ceiling on a play in the third quarter of Denver’s 31–23 victory against Tampa Bay.
With the football resting on the 10-yard line, the Broncos emptied their backfield and gave Tampa Bay a mouthful of trouble to chew on. This offensive formation was not a good look for the Bucs in the red zone. To Manning’s far left flank, lining up near the sideline was Moreno, a running back. Standing in the left slot, creating an instant mismatch, was Thomas.
Manning did not immediately grasp the obvious opportunity to hurt the Bucs. He was taking care of details in his blocking scheme, paying no attention to Thomas.
Rather than straining to be noticed with the annoying urgency of a teacher’s pet, Thomas calmly caught the eye of Manning. The message from Thomas to his quarterback was direct and to the point: Check this out. You’re going to love it. Do you see what I see, Professor?
The Tampa Bay defense had bracketed Thomas with two defenders. On the inside was rookie linebacker Lavonte David. On the outside, standing near the goal line, playing too soft to be a serious threat, was safety Ahmad Black.
The way Thomas had it figured, there was no way either Bucs defender could hang with him.
What Thomas did next demonstrated that when the lightbulb goes on for a star pupil, it shines brightly. Without being prompted, Thomas flashed a hand signal to Manning. The receiver, not the quarterback, was the Denver player calling the audible here.
Hit me on a square-in pattern to the post, Thomas silently informed Manning, and this double-coverage will be made to look stupidly inept with an easy touchdown.
What was so beautiful is that Manning instantly recognized that his receiver had solved a problem with the efficiency worthy of an A+. Manning lifted his left index finger in the direction of Thomas. No words accompanied Manning’s gesture, but his subtle finger wag of acknowledgment absolutely shouted to Thomas: Eureka! You’ve found it!
When Manning no longer needs to do all the thinking, he can concentrate on throwing a spiral through a window so slightly cracked that a 20-dollar bill might not slide through the opening. When teammates start analyzing football on the level of PFM, then the Broncos have matured into an offense that can reasonably expect to score 30 points against any defense.
The play went as Thomas had predicted. He beat the Tampa Bay linebacker in one quick and easy move and left the safety slowly shaking his head in disgust as Manning delivered the throw. This 10-yard touchdown pass was indefensible.
When he entered the NFL as a rookie from Georgia Tech in 2010, the quickie scouting report on Thomas read: “Genuinely blessed athlete, painfully raw at the art of football.” But look at him now: Student of the game, all grown up.
“We go out every day and try to get better at what we do, get better at our craft,” Thomas said.
The student pleased his professor. Big time.
“What I liked about the touchdown was Damaryius was seeing the same thing I was seeing,” Manning said. “He was kind of looking for something. He had another route and we changed it at the line. We were kind of thinking along the same line. That was good to see—that kind of communication and growth.”
A genius, passing on his knowledge.
Chapter 12
No Laugh Track Required
We should have known Peyton Manning would be almost as unbeatable on Saturday Night Live as he is on Sunday afternoons.
When he removes his helmet, Peyton Manning looks a little like a Conehead.
Sharing much in common with Stuart Smalley, this NFL quarterback is good enough. He is definitely smart enough. And, doggone it, people do like Manning.
The point is: “Da Bears” were worshipped by Bill Swerski and his merry band of superfans. But even “Ditkaaa” would have to agree.
The funniest athlete ever to grace the television soundstage of Saturday Night Live is Manning. In this contest, there is no second place.
Here is what’s so remarkable. It is easier for an athlete to knock down the door of the Hall of Fame than score an invitation to host SNL. The NBC-TV production is the most famous brand in the history of American comedy, created by Lorne Michaels, launched in 1975, and still going strong.
A jock must possess rare skills, not to mention an off-the-charts Q score, to land the gig as host. The roster includes: John Madden, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Jeff Gordon, Lance Armstrong, and two brothers named Manning.
But enough about Eli.
The show is built on comedy sketches that have become woven so tightly in American pop culture that classic scenes can instantly bring smiles with the mention of two little words (“More Cowbell!”). Manning will be forever linked to the most surprising performance of his career. And it had nothing to do with completing 25 passes while leading the Indianapolis Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLI.
To discover the quarterback’s best chance at pop-culture immortality, all anyone needs to do is Google this phrase: “Manning United Way.” Hundreds of thousands of people already have done it.