Coogs
02-04-2010, 08:26 AM
The Manning Wall deserves more credit
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | It’s shameful how little credit Peyton Manning’s blockers get for keeping him dry.
Everyone in football agrees there’s only one way to slow a Manning-led offense. The opposition must hit Manning, a four-time MVP. That’s why New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is begging his defenders to uncork “remember me” shots on the Indianapolis quarterback during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
It’s impossible to confuse Manning with exotic or multiple coverages. He’s too accurate to be bothered by great man-to-man coverage or an eight-defender zone.
Manning, more than most great QBs, is bothered by consistent contact. When he gets hit, he gets rattled and his passes float. The Indy offensive line simply doesn’t allow contact with Manning.
The pass-happy Colts gave up a league-low 13 sacks and 44 QB hits during the regular season. The Titans were the only team in the same ballpark when it came to keeping their QBs upright (15 sacks and 44 QB hits). But the Titans protected their quarterbacks by running the football. Indy threw the ball 601 times, the second most in the league. Tennessee put it in the air 476 times, the 29th most in the NFL.
No, The Manning Wall — center Jeff Saturday, guards Ryan Lilja and Kyle DeVan, tackles Ryan Diem and Charlie Johnson — deserves mucho credit for the success of Indy’s offense. The unit gets unfairly criticized because allegedly the Colts “can’t run” the football.
The Colts choose not to run the football.
“It’s hard to get a rhythm when you only run 12-15 times a game,” Diem said. “We don’t run the ball often enough to kind of feel that run rhythm that maybe some other teams do.”
Peyton Manning is an awesome player. He might someday deserve recognition as the greatest QB of all time. But his prowess should not overshadow the superb play of the men who make it possible.
In the AFC championship game, the Jets jumped to a nice lead primarily because Rex Ryan’s defense beat The Manning Wall with a blitz on Indy’s first possession and sacked Manning. On Indy’s next possession, Manning fell to the ground and took a sack when he thought the Jets had slipped past The Manning Wall.
The reality was, Manning’s offensive line picked up every New York blitz and rush after Indy’s first possession. Once Manning got comfortable, he stayed away from Darrelle Revis and picked apart the Jets’ secondary. The Colts rallied from a 17-6 deficit and won the game easily.
All the postgame praise was directed at Manning. The Manning Wall, a collection of mostly undrafted no-names, won the game.
I get that offensive linemen rarely draw media attention. But no all-time great quarterback has ever been more dependent on his offensive line than Manning, and this group of linemen is rather unique.
Saturday, Lilja and DeVan weren’t drafted. Johnson, the team’s left tackle, was a sixth-round pick. Diem, the squad’s right tackle, was a fourth-round pick. It’s an unheralded, relatively inexpensive group of football players protecting the NFL’s most expensive and valuable asset.
DeVan played Arena Football in 2009. He played for the Boise Burn! Of course, we know Ryan Lilja’s story quite well. Kicked off his Shawnee Mission Northwest High School team for drinking a beer, a two-year starter at Kansas State and an undrafted signee by the Chiefs in 2004, Lilja has been a mainstay in Indy ever since Carl Peterson made the ridiculous decision to waive Lilja in hopes of placing him on the practice squad.
In Kansas City, we think the solution to the Chiefs’ struggles along the offensive line can be solved with a couple of high draft picks. Maybe the Chiefs need better coaching. Indy’s offensive-line coach, Howard Mudd, has made quite a reputation turning scraps into stars.
“He’s kind of known for, I guess the best way to put it is the diamond in the rough,” Diem said. “He’s never had any guys that have been really high draft picks. He always kind of works with what he can and with what he can find, and he just does a good job preparing everybody whenever there’s an injury or for whatever reason somebody can’t go, that next man is ready to go.”
Mudd, a former Chiefs assistant under Marty Schottenheimer, is known for teaching great fundamentals and being a little screwy.
“I call him ‘old crazy’ because he can be that way,” said Saturday, a four-time Pro Bowler. “When he’s on the sidelines, he’s going through his hair, he’s throwing his hat down, he’s doing all kinds of crazy stuff, but you know that there’s a method to his madness. He truly knows what he’s doing as an offensive-line coach. He’s been an all-decade player, Pro Bowl player. (He) has been in the trenches. He knows what it’s about, so I think that lends a little bit of credibility to his coaching style as well.”
Indy’s offensive line is as meticulously prepared as Manning. The Manning Wall almost never makes a mental mistake. You rarely see the Colts resort to max protection. To be effective and take advantage of Manning’s ability to read a defense and release the ball quickly, the Colts need to send four and five receivers out on patterns.
On Sunday, everything the Colts accomplish offensively (and defensively) will be credited to Peyton Manning. Trust me, the guys in front of him are just as responsible.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1726343-p2.html
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | It’s shameful how little credit Peyton Manning’s blockers get for keeping him dry.
Everyone in football agrees there’s only one way to slow a Manning-led offense. The opposition must hit Manning, a four-time MVP. That’s why New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is begging his defenders to uncork “remember me” shots on the Indianapolis quarterback during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
It’s impossible to confuse Manning with exotic or multiple coverages. He’s too accurate to be bothered by great man-to-man coverage or an eight-defender zone.
Manning, more than most great QBs, is bothered by consistent contact. When he gets hit, he gets rattled and his passes float. The Indy offensive line simply doesn’t allow contact with Manning.
The pass-happy Colts gave up a league-low 13 sacks and 44 QB hits during the regular season. The Titans were the only team in the same ballpark when it came to keeping their QBs upright (15 sacks and 44 QB hits). But the Titans protected their quarterbacks by running the football. Indy threw the ball 601 times, the second most in the league. Tennessee put it in the air 476 times, the 29th most in the NFL.
No, The Manning Wall — center Jeff Saturday, guards Ryan Lilja and Kyle DeVan, tackles Ryan Diem and Charlie Johnson — deserves mucho credit for the success of Indy’s offense. The unit gets unfairly criticized because allegedly the Colts “can’t run” the football.
The Colts choose not to run the football.
“It’s hard to get a rhythm when you only run 12-15 times a game,” Diem said. “We don’t run the ball often enough to kind of feel that run rhythm that maybe some other teams do.”
Peyton Manning is an awesome player. He might someday deserve recognition as the greatest QB of all time. But his prowess should not overshadow the superb play of the men who make it possible.
In the AFC championship game, the Jets jumped to a nice lead primarily because Rex Ryan’s defense beat The Manning Wall with a blitz on Indy’s first possession and sacked Manning. On Indy’s next possession, Manning fell to the ground and took a sack when he thought the Jets had slipped past The Manning Wall.
The reality was, Manning’s offensive line picked up every New York blitz and rush after Indy’s first possession. Once Manning got comfortable, he stayed away from Darrelle Revis and picked apart the Jets’ secondary. The Colts rallied from a 17-6 deficit and won the game easily.
All the postgame praise was directed at Manning. The Manning Wall, a collection of mostly undrafted no-names, won the game.
I get that offensive linemen rarely draw media attention. But no all-time great quarterback has ever been more dependent on his offensive line than Manning, and this group of linemen is rather unique.
Saturday, Lilja and DeVan weren’t drafted. Johnson, the team’s left tackle, was a sixth-round pick. Diem, the squad’s right tackle, was a fourth-round pick. It’s an unheralded, relatively inexpensive group of football players protecting the NFL’s most expensive and valuable asset.
DeVan played Arena Football in 2009. He played for the Boise Burn! Of course, we know Ryan Lilja’s story quite well. Kicked off his Shawnee Mission Northwest High School team for drinking a beer, a two-year starter at Kansas State and an undrafted signee by the Chiefs in 2004, Lilja has been a mainstay in Indy ever since Carl Peterson made the ridiculous decision to waive Lilja in hopes of placing him on the practice squad.
In Kansas City, we think the solution to the Chiefs’ struggles along the offensive line can be solved with a couple of high draft picks. Maybe the Chiefs need better coaching. Indy’s offensive-line coach, Howard Mudd, has made quite a reputation turning scraps into stars.
“He’s kind of known for, I guess the best way to put it is the diamond in the rough,” Diem said. “He’s never had any guys that have been really high draft picks. He always kind of works with what he can and with what he can find, and he just does a good job preparing everybody whenever there’s an injury or for whatever reason somebody can’t go, that next man is ready to go.”
Mudd, a former Chiefs assistant under Marty Schottenheimer, is known for teaching great fundamentals and being a little screwy.
“I call him ‘old crazy’ because he can be that way,” said Saturday, a four-time Pro Bowler. “When he’s on the sidelines, he’s going through his hair, he’s throwing his hat down, he’s doing all kinds of crazy stuff, but you know that there’s a method to his madness. He truly knows what he’s doing as an offensive-line coach. He’s been an all-decade player, Pro Bowl player. (He) has been in the trenches. He knows what it’s about, so I think that lends a little bit of credibility to his coaching style as well.”
Indy’s offensive line is as meticulously prepared as Manning. The Manning Wall almost never makes a mental mistake. You rarely see the Colts resort to max protection. To be effective and take advantage of Manning’s ability to read a defense and release the ball quickly, the Colts need to send four and five receivers out on patterns.
On Sunday, everything the Colts accomplish offensively (and defensively) will be credited to Peyton Manning. Trust me, the guys in front of him are just as responsible.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1726343-p2.html