Peyton Manning drops back to pass. He looks left then right, quickly realizing that, once again, he is quickly running out of time. Manning quickly dumps off a pass before a group of lightning-bolt-clad behemoths have the opportunity to bury him in the turf.
The date? Nov. 23, 2008. Minus one Shawne Merriman.
The Chargers only sacked Manning once on the day but kept steady pressure in Manning's face, which prevented the perennial All Pro from eclipsing 300 yards passing. Perfect Peyton completed 32 of 44 passes for 255 yards in the game while taking all of the short passes the Chargers were giving him.
Let's get one thing straight. The Chargers' defense has not been dominating Peyton Manning in every game. They have done just enough to allow the Charger offense to keep the game competitive.
Peyton Manning is not just going to simply pick the Chargers defense apart like former Colts head coach Jim Mora suggests, nor will the Colts "beat the brakes off" the Chargers as Deion Sanders so eloquently stated.
There is nothing to suggest this will happen based on the recent history between the two teams.
First of all, quarterbacks that give the Chargers the most trouble can make plays with their feet, and I don't mean sliding around in the pocket, I mean scrambling out of the pocket. Tyler Thigpen was a tremendous thorn in the Chargers' side, as was the fleet-footed Jeff Garcia.
Another situation that gives the Chargers' defense fits is a strong running game coupled with the play action pass.
The Colts do not pose either one of these threats.
Some of the talking heads on TV are saying that the Chargers 3-4 style of defense is what gives Manning trouble, but that is only part of the equation. What gives Manning problems is that San Diego refuses to allow him to get a good pre-snap read by moving their defenders around prior to the snap of the ball.
This forces Manning to try to figure out what kind of coverage the Chargers are playing on on the fly. Anything the Chargers can do to make Manning think during a play as opposed to before the play could lead to pressure, a sack, or an interception. The Chargers have the athletes to make plays on errant Manning strikes that other teams don't.
The 3-4 further complicates matters for Manning. No matter how many times he faces it, Manning still doesn't know who the fourth rusher will be on any given play. Will linebacker Shaun Phillips come flying off the edge or will Jyles Tucker? Will Stephen Cooper come storming through the middle of the line or will Tim Dobbins?
A mobile, yet unaware quarterback like Tyler Thingpin who only looks for his big playmakers Tony Gonzales or Dwayne Bowe will not have as many problems with this as Peyton Manning. At the first sign of trouble, a Tyler Thigpen will take off and run with the ball.
Manning will try to find that third or fourth receiving option, while simultaneously trying to figure out what coverage the Chargers are playing, while also trying to look off safeties who know he's trying to look them off.
The Chargers create pressure on Manning by using his cerebral nature against him. Force Manning to make decisions on the fly and he is all but guaranteed to throw at least two passes right into a defender's hands during the game.
2 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Kent Nguyen 6 months ago
Great analysis. I never knew before why the Chargers were keeping it close against the Colts.
The Chargers receivers scare me though. Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers tower over the undersized Colts d.
Sproles is just too small and too fast?
LT is LT.
But the difference in this game will be the lack of pass rush in my opinion. No Merriman. No win.
On 4th and Goal last year, Merriman beat Ugoh one on one for the QB Pressure. I don't think any other Charger could of made that play. And won't come Saturday.
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Ed Lee 6 months ago
Oh please, i think phillips, cooper, dobbins, or even wilhelm can beat out any of the colts olinemen if the game was on the line at 4th and inches. also, the chargers pass defense has improved greatly since the last time we played the colts. I really think the chargers are underated, and the colts are overated. With our current pass rush/defense, i expect manning to throw 1 or 2 picks today.
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