Turnovers And Disguising Coverages Are Keys To Beating Peyton Manning

The big question the Eagles defense has before them is how do you stop Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense.  Manning is great at getting to the line of scrimmage early, reading what the defense is doing, then making the proper adjustment to take advantage of the defense.

“You just have to make sure you hold your water against (Manning),” outside linebacker Brandon Graham said  meaning the Birds must not revealing what they’re doing defensively until the ball is snapped. “Once he finds out what you’re doing, he’s going to pick you apart. We have to make sure as a front that we get to him. As soon as his first read is gone, we should be there. We have to take away that first read and make sure we get some pressure on him and get him off his spot.”

This is the game that is played with Manning.  Like Phillip Rivers did in the San Diego game, Manning with get out of the huddle early, if he takes his team into it at all.  Once he gets to the line of scrimmage, he will go into what is a fake snap count.  It will seam like the offense is going to snap the ball, but they are simply forcing the defense to show exactly what it’s going to do.

I know you’re probably saying, why doesn’t the defense ignore the fake snap count, if they know it’s a fake snap count.  Manning will quick snap the defense every now and then, so they don’t when it’s a fake snap count and when it’s real.

The Eagles defensive secondary will have to play the disguise the coverage game, but make sure they’re close enough to where they need to be to do their jobs in the coverage.  It’s a complicated game of “cat and mouse”.

There are only two defenses that has consistently given Manning problems over the years.  Onc is the old New England Patriots squad with a bunch of wily old veterans like Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi.  The other defense was the Baltimore Ravens defense which was led by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.  One of the Eagles cornerbacks, Cary Williams, played on that defense.

“You try to show him different things, give him different looks,” Williams said. “Not give him an easy read on a lot of things. He’s going to come up there [to the line of scrimmage] and do his show and try to get you to show what you’re doing.

“The thing is, you have to try and stay as calm as possible during those situations and not give him anything. He can look at your stance. He can look at your eyes and tell if you’re coming [on a blitz]. He’s been around the game for so long, man, he’s mastered all of those things.”

“I just remember (in 2010) that we were getting back there (into the backfield),” outside linebacker Trent Cole said yesterday. “We were hitting (Manning), but he was getting the ball off so fast. I can remember him just reading the whole (defensive) backfield, I could see his eyes flicking back and forth. He didn’t even stand up (from under center), he was just looking (side to side). I saw his eyes cranking back over, he was just trying to disguise what he was reading. It was crazy, but – and I can’t give away the secret – I remember we did jump on him for a minute. We did something to distract him, and, I remember it now, I’m going to go tell (defensive coordinator Bill Davis). I think you can get on him if you apply pressure, disguise (your looks) and get after it.”

Disguising will be part of the solution to beating Manning and the Broncos, but turnovers is the best thing the defense can do to come out of the battle with a win.  Manning will anticipate where every defender is going to be, so they’ve got to mix up the coverages and catch the football if and when Manning makes a mistake.  The veteran quarterback hasn’t thrown an interception yet this season.