Manning sets tone for Colts

With quarterback Peyton Manning at the helm, the Indianapolis Colts have been one of the decade’s most dominant teams. This season, the Colts started off the year with 14 straight wins and went on to earn the No. 1 AFC playoff seed. In the playoffs, the Colts handled two of the leagues best defenses in the Baltimore Ravens (20-3) and the New York Jets (30-17). Luckily for the Colts, Peyton Manning and company will face a much easier New Orleans Saints defense in the Super Bowl.

Manning is arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Since coming into the league in 1998, he has won a record four MVP awards (including this past year), won a Super Bowl, thrown for 50,128 yards (fourth all-time), and 366 touchdowns (third all-time). The reason behind his success is his intelligence. Manning reads defenses in his spare time and has been known to put in unprecedented time in the film room and learning the playbook. No player has ever studied defenses the way he does. He knows the playbook and the defense to such an extent that nearly every time he approaches the line of scrimmage, he reads the defense and audibles to a different play. The Colts even run a no-huddle offense in order to give Manning additional time to orchestrate his game plan.

Colts’ rookie head coach Jim Caldwell stepped into the perfect situation and has smartly allowed Manning to run the show. He is a Tony Dungy disciple who worked with the Colts for the past seven years as a quarterbacks coach, assistant coach and associate head coach. Caldwell fully understands how good Manning is, and will not get in the way of his success.

Manning is not the only great player on the Colts offense. Wide receiver Reggie Wayne kills defenses with precision route running, catching 100 balls for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Most defenses also have trouble matching up with star tight end Dallas Clark, who creates problems in the middle of the field. Rookie receiver Austin Collie and second-year receiver Pierre Garcon have become favorite targets for Manning because they tend to draw single coverage. Manning has thrown to Garcon and Collie in more than half of his 83 attempts during this postseason. Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams is going to have his hands full trying to stop Manning’s precision offense.

On the other side of the ball, the story sounds familiar. The Colts defense will have a lot of trouble dealing with the prolific passing attack of Drew Brees and the Saints. It appears the Colts will also be missing Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney, which means the pressure up front will be limited. The Colts need defensive ends Roger Mathias and Raheem Brock — who will play if Freeney can’t — to pressure Brees into poor decisions. Losing Freeney is a big problem for the Colts. With him, the Saints would have used an extra man to double-team him, which would free up other Colts players. Now the Saints have an extra man to block the Colts rushing attack. This means that Brees will have more time to throw come Sunday.