What was it like watching mid-late 2000's Peyton Manning?

[mistakey]

frustrating... he never messed up and when he did the colts complained to the league and they made rule changes multiple times to make offense easier

awful to play against him in madden

[skywlker32]

I always like to explain it as he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. He was essentially an on the field coach. He wasn't necessarily the most physically gifted (not to take away from his physical abilities), but he may have been the smartest QB.

[JiffyJag]

32 minutes ago, skywlker32 said:

I always like to explain it as he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. He was essentially an on the field coach. He wasn't necessarily the most physically gifted (not to take away from his physical abilities), but he may have been the smartest QB.

unfortunately for 'ol Peyton, the playoffs only accepted checkers rules

[Hunter2_1]

This is just a theory (one which others hold as well), but I think the pre snap engineering was a bit over the top and that he went to the LOS looking to change the call. It's like whatever the coach called was just a rough sketch for Peyton to just tear up or alter. I think it's one of the best things about the sport, listening and watching the QB rearrange. But he doesn't have short filmed called "just snap the damned ball" named after him for nothing. 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

I don't think that pre snap jargon was necessarily the difference between him an other players. Plenty of other quarterbacks never did that and had marvelous careers. I think it just got out of hand over the years with the casual fan, and then it just snowballed into something bigger than it actually was. 

"Look at all that stuff he's doing at the LOS, he must be smart". 

Just like Richard Sherman is a genius because he went to Stanford. *yawn* 

[cddolphin]

Lot of good posts in here talking about his abilities as a field-general and reading the field pre- and post-snap. Instead of echoing those sentiments, I'll bring up a game that for me was a perfect example of who exactly you were dealing with when you played against Peyton.

2009 Season, Week 2: Indianapolis @ Miami

Dolphins held the ball for 45:07. Had 239 rushing yards. Went 15/21 on 3rd down and had a total of 84 offensive plays. Gameplan was clearly to minimize the amount of time Manning was on the field.

But it didn't matter. 35 offensive plays and only 23 passes is all Manning needed to exploit his matchups (in this game it was TE Dallas Clark ripping up Miami's secondary) to end up winning 27 - 23.

[y*so*blu]

As you can see from the last two pages, there are a lot of guys here who are better football analysts than me.   While I saw quite a bit of Manning in his prime, I can't tell you what he did right from an X's and O's standpoint but I can tell you he was a lot of fun to watch. Mid-2000s Manning was like a general going into battle. The Colts' no-huddle offense was a war machine that worked with deadly accuracy and efficiency, driving opposing defenses crazy and racking up a ton of points. It was like watching a real-life video game.

Of course, watching Peyton was also as frustrating as any video game, because no matter how well he played in the regular season he always seemed to choke in the playoffs, year after year. In particular, they really had no excuse for not making it to Super Bowl XL. (My dad and I sat through that game bored by the action, stupefied by the terrible officiating, and thinking 'if only the Colts had made it, at least this would be exciting.')

Mercifully, Manning, finally made it to Super Bowl XLI and won it all, and I was happy to see him do it. Later, in '09, I predicted the Colts would make it back to the big game and sure enough, they did. (They didn't win, but c'est la vie.)

[El Ramster]

A wizard. He was playing chess while the chiefs and the rest of the NFL were playing checkers..

The Raven battles were fun.. Lot's of audibles by both teams.. 

[Apparition]

Watching him against most defenses was awe-inspiring. I think in those days it was a real test of mettle for a defense to go up against him. If you managed to slow him down, let alone stifle him, your defensive unit - and even more so your defensive coaches - were pretty much automatically viewed as elite.

[footbull3196]

1 hour ago, cddolphin said:

Lot of good posts in here talking about his abilities as a field-general and reading the field pre- and post-snap. Instead of echoing those sentiments, I'll bring up a game that for me was a perfect example of who exactly you were dealing with when you played against Peyton.

2009 Season, Week 2: Indianapolis @ Miami

Dolphins held the ball for 45:07. Had 239 rushing yards. Went 15/21 on 3rd down and had a total of 84 offensive plays. Gameplan was clearly to minimize the amount of time Manning was on the field.

But it didn't matter. 35 offensive plays and only 23 passes is all Manning needed to exploit his matchups (in this game it was TE Dallas Clark ripping up Miami's secondary) to end up winning 27 - 23.

This was one of the best games I can remember from that season.  No team has ever won a game before when they've possessed the ball for less than 25% of the game except for them.  The dolphins were moving the ball effectively throughout the game, but whenever the colts had the ball they were extremely efficient.  Manning was 14/23 for 303 and 2 TDs with an 80 yard touchdown to Dallas Clark on the first offensive play of the game for the colts and a 48 yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon on their last offensive play

This game is the closest comparison I can think of to playing against the CPU on defense in All-Madden mode

[Carmen Cygni]

I'm slightly taken aback by those dismissing Manning's command and poise at the LOS (in shotgun or under center). I can assure you that it wasn't just some hearsay and made for TV drama driven by one of the four letter networks. The attempts to dismiss that aspect of his game should be laughed at and brushed aside

OC Tom Moore would call three plays and Manning was given the opportunity to decide which was the most effective one to attack the defense. That's why there was always a "check with me" when they lined up, especially in HUNH situations. And to top it off there were also hot reads and adjustments to be made post snap. You also have to take into account dummy calls (think "omaha"). As DC's became more aware of Manning's pre-snap abilities they gave their defensive captains more freedom to audible vs the Colt's offense as well. Sometimes the Colts would come to the line having a play they would want to use but the defense was in position to stop it. So instead of checking out of the play Manning would use dummy calls. In turn the defensive captains would think they were going to another play, audible themselves out, and essentially put them in a worse position to defend the original playcall.

As far as the knock on him playing under center I can only assume you never watched Manning because he used a substantial amount of play action rollouts and bootlegs. This was also helped by OL coach Howard Mudd and his re-introduction of dish set pass protections that mimicked run blocking and kept the DL at bay from immediate penetration in thinking they needed to re-establish the LOS to defend the run.

Last but not least, Manning's footwork as near flawless. I in fact dare anyone to post tape showing otherwise. 

[LaserFocus]

1 minute ago, Carmen Cygni said:

I'm slightly taken aback by those dismissing Manning's command and poise at the LOS (in shotgun or under center). I can assure you that it wasn't just some hearsay and made for TV drama driven by one of the four letter networks. The attempts to dismiss that aspect of his game should be laughed at and brushed aside

OC Tom Moore would call three plays and Manning was given the freedom to decide which was the most effective one to attack the defense. That's why there was always a "check with me" when they lined up, especially in HUNH situations. And to top it off there were also hot reads and adjustments to be made post snap. You also have to take into account dummy calls (think "omaha"). As DC's became more aware of Manning's pre-snap abilities they gave defensive captains more freedom to audible vs the Colt's offense as well. Sometimes the Colts would come to the line having a play they would want to use but the defense was in position to stop it. So instead of checking out of the play Manning would use dummy calls. In turn the defensive captains would think they were going to another play, audible themselves out and essentially put them in a worse position to defend the original playcall.

As far as the knock on him playing under center I can only assume you never watched Manning because he used a substantial amount of play action rollouts and bootlegs. This was also helped by OL coach Howard Mudd and his re-introduction of dish set pass protections that mimicked run blocking and kept the DL at bay from immediate penetration in thinking they needed to re-establish the LOS to defend the run.

Last but not least, Manning's footwork as near flawless. I in fact dare anyone to post tape showing otherwise. 

You're talking about aspects of QB play which are important, yet not easily measured. In the 2015 postseason, a physically diminished Manning was still able to use his mind with key audibles, and going to a different receiver in key moments which helped Denver advance and win the SB.

It's so incredibly important to watch the games, and pick up things which the box scores cannot. 

[Carmen Cygni]

9 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

You're talking about aspects of QB play which are important, yet not easily measured. In the 2015 postseason, a physically diminished Manning was still able to use his mind with key audibles, and going to a different receiver in key moments which helped Denver advance and win the SB.

It's so incredibly important to watch the games, and pick up things which the box scores cannot. 

Bingo. He was crucial in reading defenses, and putting Denver's offense in the best position to succeed (or rather even, not fail) and in turn helping the Bronco's defense by not putting them in bad field position and maintaining TOP. 

[titans0021]

Painful. Really, really painful.

[Apparition]

Weird stat I came across:

The only team against which Peyton, in his career, threw more INTs than TDs was the Browns. But he was 7-0 against them.