Kansas City Chiefs vs. Indianapolis Colts Key Matchup: Manning vs. Berry

On the Indianapolis Colts sideline is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL in Peyton Manning.

On the Kansas City Chiefs sideline is a rookie named Eric Berry who most draft experts considered the best all-around football player in this year’s NFL draft.

What these two have in common is their alma mater, the University of Tennessee. And that one similarity could play a critical part in how well the Kansas City Chiefs defend the Colts’ passing game on Sunday.

The fact that Manning has been such a great alum to the Tennessee football program over the years, could very well be the advantage Berry uses to beat him. Unlike other rookies who may face Manning this season, Berry has benefitted from playing live snaps against the future Hall-of-Famer in Vols’ 7-on-7 drills while at Tennessee.

That experience will be paired with the confidence of playing for a defensive coordinator in Romeo Crennel who has had more success than most against Manning. As a coordinator, Crennel is 6-0 against Manning. And while as a head coach of the Browns his teams were 0-2 against Manning, they didn’t allow a single passing touchdown compared to forcing three interceptions.

In fact, in the eight games where Manning has faced a Crennel-coached defense, he has thrown just nine touchdowns against 13 interceptions. And unlike this season, where Manning has thrown for three touchdowns in three of four games, he has only thrown for more than one touchdown twice in eight tries against Crennel-coached teams.

So while odds-makers and pundits around the league are predicting that Manning will shred the Chiefs defense and lead them to victory on Sunday, the Chiefs will be looking to prove that they deserve the respect that no one around the league is giving them as the only undefeated team left in the NFL.

For Berry, who has yet to make the highlight reel during his first three games in Kansas City, this could very well be the breakout performance where he proves why so many thought he should have been the first overall pick back in April.