One of the overlooked elements of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning’s game is how accurate he is.
Manning rarely misses. I’m not saying he never does because that’s not true, but it’s rare you watch him and say, ‘Wow, he’s missing guys in this game.’ You’re almost surprised when he throws an incompletion.
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As Manning broke the NFL career touchdown record against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, he was spot on, especially on his two touchdown passes to Demaryius Thomas.
The record-tying score to Wes Welker wasn’t a high degree of difficulty because the design of the play was so good, and we’ll look at that one first. The Broncos faked a bubble screen to Thomas, and Manning pump faked it to him, which brought safety Eric Reid up. That allowed Welker to run by Reid on a fade route to the sideline. That’s pitch and catch for Manning.
The record-breaking score was a nice throw. The 49ers doubled both slot receivers, Welker and Emmanuel Sanders, in Denver’s empty set. 49ers cornerback Tramaine Brock was matched up on Thomas on the outside. It was outstanding timing and anticipation, and just as importantly it was great ball placement on the throw to Thomas. It could only be put in one spot. And Manning doesn’t miss those throws.
The 40-yard touchdown to Thomas later was a great, precision throw, and a good job by Manning to recognize Thomas had a shot at a big play. Single-high safety Antoine Bethea was on the opposite hash from Thomas and was slow to react to his deep middle responsibility – also, range is not Bethea's strength. Thomas was matched against Perrish Cox, and Thomas got inside and just on top of Cox. But it wasn’t like he was wide open. It was just a great throw from Manning to get it to him.
It was a great performance by Manning. The question becomes, how do you stop him?
One unusual thing I think about Manning is that while you want to speed up almost every quarterback, you need to actually slow Manning down. His decisiveness is ridiculous. I don’t think he ever pauses. More than any other quarterback I can recall, the ball is out fast and decisively and 99 percent of the time it’s to the right receiver at the right time. When he’s playing fast, he’s at his best.
When the Jets slowed him down a few times two weeks ago, you’re surprised. The Jets had a coverage-based scheme, often dropping eight into coverage and rushing three. They’d line up a linebacker and a cornerback over a receiver to say, you can’t throw it here; you have to throw it somewhere else, and we’ll try to take that away too. Or, sometimes teams get quick pressure on Manning with four rushers. That’s what happened in the Super Bowl last season against Seattle. Many teams try to rush Manning with four, because he’s outstanding against the blitz and coaches believe if you blitz him you’re wasting a defender because that defender won't get there anyway. So sometimes teams like the Seahawks, or to a lesser scale the Jets, affect Manning. But, it’s not the first time any of these things have been tried. Strategies have worked and then you think there’s a blueprint ... like they’re the only teams to try those strategies. Other teams try. It’s just that most times, like Sunday night against the 49ers, Manning beats you anyway.
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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
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