Pass-Fail Test

The coach looked in the eyes of his downcast players, who had just lost their first game, and put the blame where he believed it belonged.

“The reason you lost was that you didn’t have your minds ready to play,” the coach said.

It was Peyton Manning who responded for his teammates.

“The reason we lost,” he told the coach,” is that you don’t know what you are doing.”

The sport was basketball, not football. The coach was George Fowler, not Tony Dungy. Peyton Manning was 11 years old.

Manning, now the Indianapolis Colts’ record-breaking quarterback, has always set high goals and been confident he knows what is required to get there.

In the NFL playoffs, getting anywhere can be difficult for an offense, markedly different from the regular season. The stakes are higher, the weather is colder, the defenses are tougher and the field seems longer.

On Sunday, that was not the case for Manning. Oblivious to the cold temperatures in Indianapolis in the climate-controlled RCA Dome, undaunted by the pressure of a playoff opener and largely unstoppable against the Denver Bronco defense, Manning picked right up where he had left off in a regular season that earned him most-valuable-player honors.

After throwing a record 49 touchdown passes in the regular season, Manning completed 27 of 33 passes against Denver for 457 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another in a 49-24 Indianapolis victory.

Nobody, not even Manning, expects it to be that easy this Sunday in the second round. His postseason journey will go down a road he knows all too well, a road that leads to Foxboro, Mass., where he is 0-6, a road that leads to Gillette Stadium, where the elements and the New England Patriots have devoured many a quarterback. They gobbled up Manning in last year’s AFC championship game, intercepting four of his passes, sacking him four times and holding him to 237 yards passing and a dismal 35.5 passer rating en route to a 24-14 victory.

As Manning tries to overcome his history of tribulation and failure in Foxboro, a group of experts was asked to analyze the quarterback’s spectacular rise and his prospects against the Patriots.

The Coaches

Jim Mora was Manning’s coach for his first four years in the pros. Marv Levy was a Hall of Fame NFL coach.

How Manning beats you -- Mora: “He played well when I was there, but not nearly as well as he is playing now. He is physically better, emotionally better, mentally better, unbelievably special. I didn’t foresee him becoming this good. I don’t think anybody could have. At the time, a lot of people thought we made a mistake drafting him over Ryan Leaf.

“He is given a lot of leeway in calling plays. The defense might think he is calling for a post route, but then he’ll signal the receiver to fake the post, but run a corner route. He is always screwing up the defense like that. And if you try to blitz him, he’ll eat you up. He knows where the unblocked guy is coming from.”

Levy: “Peyton Manning puts in more time studying and reflecting on the game plan than any guy I’ve ever seen. He’s a coach on the field. Their offense is extremely limited. There are not a lot of plays to learn, about eight basic plays, but he is superb at executing them. Too many teams come in with these massive playbooks and try to dazzle you. Peyton knows when to throw hard and when to lob. And he executes so well on that play-action. He doesn’t give you the desultory fake. He gets the defense to bite on it because his mechanics are so great.”

How to beat Manning -- Mora: “You can’t stop him. You can slow him down, do things offensively to keep him off the field. You’d better mix it up on him or it will be like shooting fish in a barrel for him. You’ve got to do some different things, but you can’t go crazy trying to change or he’ll beat you that way, too.”

Levy: “It’s tough. There are no easy answers. The Colts have such tremendous balance. They go to the no-huddle a lot, which means you don’t have time to substitute. If you try it, they can catch you in the middle. How do you stop him? You have to stop the entire team.”

Sunday’s outcome -- Mora: “I think the Colts are going to win. New England would have to outscore him, and I don’t think they can do that. I love the Patriots, but they are a little beat up in their secondary, which is going to hurt them. And I think the Colts’ defense is underrated.”

Levy: “The Colts are going on the road against a great defensive team. And they won’t have that crowd noise that helps them at home. But in a tough game like this, I would sure like to have Peyton Manning on my side.”

The Quarterbacks

Joe Theismann and Sean Salisbury are former NFL quarterbacks.

How Manning beats you -- Theismann: “He is surrounded by a lot of healthy talent. And healthy is the key word. He is the only quarterback who totally controls what goes on at the line of scrimmage. He chooses which play is best. No other quarterback has that kind of latitude. That goes to his work ethic because he prepares like a coach. When I started playing, we still called our own plays, but the defenses weren’t as complex as they are now. I don’t think it’s too early to say he’s one of the best ever.”

Salisbury: “There are quarterbacks with stronger arms, better feet, but he’s the only quarterback who could operate the game plan if his coach got the flu and didn’t show up, and still win. He’s the gym rat, the guy in high school who stayed behind and shot free throws on prom night.”

How to beat Manning -- Theismann: “Teams feel that if they score 21 points, they can win. You can’t do that with the Colts. You have to score 30, 31 to have a chance. Their offense puts so much pressure on the other offense.”

Salisbury: “On Sunday, in [New England coach] Bill Belichick and Peyton Manning, you will have the two best guys in the league in Xs and O’s. But the Patriots better get a 14-0 lead and use Corey Dillon an awful lot.”

Sunday’s outcome -- Theismann: “I still think New England is the best team. The Colts have to prove they can win outside the dome. But the Patriots will have to give Manning multiple looks and pressure him a lot. They can’t let him stand back there and be comfortable.”

Salisbury: “The only way the Patriots win is if Manning misses the team bus.”

The Defense

Deacon Jones was a Hall of Fame defensive lineman.

How Manning beats you -- “Every time he steps on the field, Manning reminds me of Johnny Unitas, who I played against. He even runs like Unitas with that little hitch in his step. Manning has five great receivers, and every one of them acts like he’s No. 1. Manning’s got all the pieces and he uses them as well as anybody who ever played the game.”

How to beat Manning -- “You’ve got to have four defensive linemen who dedicate themselves to getting to him. And you’ve got to rush all four every time. If you kill the head of a snake, the body dies. If you don’t get in there, you are going to let Manning embarrass you. You’ve got to hit him as hard as you can. If he’s going to throw four touchdown passes, he is only going to do so with pain. You can’t allow him to sit back there. He has too many weapons.

“Four-man rush. That’s the only chance you got with this guy. Otherwise, with that killer instinct, he’ll burn you every time, baby.”

Sunday’s outcome -- “If they don’t have bad weather, Manning will light it up. The Colt defense is two shades lighter than that of the Patriots, but Manning is the great equalizer.”

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Can’t Stand Pats

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Since Bill Belichick took over as the New England coach in 2000, Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning is 1-6 against the Patriots, completing 59% of his passes (*AFC championship):

*--* Year Result Cmp Att Yards TD Int 2000 at New England 24, Indianapolis 16 31 54 334 1 3 at Indianapolis 30, New England 23 16 20 268 3 0 2001 at New England 44, Indianapolis 13 20 34 196 1 3 New England 38, at Indianapolis 17 22 34 335 1 0 2003 New England 38, at Indianapolis 34 29 48 278 4 1 at New England 24, Indianapolis 14* 23 47 237 1 4 2004 at New England 27, Indianapolis 24 16 29 256 2 1 TOTAL 0-4 at New England; 1-2 at 157 266 1,904 13 12 Indianapolis

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