DENVER – The undrafted rookie wideout who’d been plucked off the practice squad a day earlier had a suggestion for Peyton Manning at a key stage of Sunday’s game, and the NFL’s most exacting quarterback rightfully could have rolled his eyes and told the kid to shut up and block somebody.
After all, logic suggested that allowing an untested player to improvise an end-zone route against the Denver Broncos at Invesco Field might play out like a horror flick for the Indianpolis Colts.
Instead, the Blair White Project was scary only in its illustration of Manning’s preternatural mastery of his craft.
Or, as veteran nose tackle Jamal Williams put it after his Broncos had suffered a 27-13 defeat to the defending AFC champions and their future Hall of Fame quarterback, “He’s a monster, man. That’s [expletive] Peyton Manning.”
That’s as good a description as any of an all-time great at the height of his powers, and one who seems to be capable of singlehandedly combating the so-called Curse of the Super Bowl Loser.
On Sunday, Manning showed up at Mile High without two key wideouts Pierre Garcon and perpetually injured ex-starter Anthony Gonzalez and with three unfamiliar newbies on his offensive line, including rookie left tackle Jeff Linkenbach. As a result the Colts had virtually no running game, not to mention a shaky secondary that allowed Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton to throw for 476 yards – for perspective, more than John Elway ever did.
The emotional Broncos were attempting to honor the memory of second-year wideout Kenny McKinley, who died Monday at his home near the team’s training facility from what law-enforcement officials believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Sunday, that storyline became yet another casualty of Manning’s cool, relentless efficiency, which endures no matter who takes the field in blue and white.
White, perhaps the rawest receiver Manning has broken in over the course of his 13-year career, was a former Michigan State walk-on who signed with the Colts (as did Linkenbach) as a free agent after being blown off in April’s NFL draft. He was released after a strong preseason and signed to Indy’s practice squad, earning a promotion Saturday after starting wideout Garcon was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
With the Broncos making a concerted effort to take away Manning’s top targets, wideout Reggie Wayne (blanketed by Denver’s star cornerback, Champ Bailey) and tight end Dallas Clark (continually detained at the line of scrimmage by a defensive end, then bracketed in coverage), White joined second-year wideout Austin Collie as prime options.
As Manning said after the game, “It’s hard to play with 10, right? You have to play your reads. You try to give [White] some plays that he knows and give him a chance.”
Still, with five minutes left in the third quarter and the Colts trying to extend a 13-10 lead, Manning had to be a bit surprised when White sidled up to him after Collie’s five-yard catch set up a second-and-5 from the Denver 9-yard line and offered his unsolicited input.
Um, excuse me, Mr. Manning. So, uh, I was thinking that maybe, since the defender seems to be cheating to the inside that, uh, we might be able to fool him, Sir. If you think it’s a good idea, that is …
Well, not exactly.
"I probably should have called him 'Mr. Manning, right?” White acknowledged afterward. “He’s probably thinking, ‘Who is this kid? Get the hell out of here.’ ”
What White actually said to Manning – “My guy’s playing me inside. I think I can get him on the slant and up” – was enough to inspire the crafty quarterback’s trust. In fact, the young receiver had already laid the groundwork when few others were watching.
After the game, Manning made a point of stressing that his familiarity with White was a product of countless repetitions during offseason workouts, a reality of modern football he hopes won’t be curtailed in the next collective bargaining agreement between owners and players. Whereas a vast majority of his peers would undoubtedly relish some additional downtime in March, April, May and June, Manning is staunchly opposed to the NFL Players Association’s push to place stricter limits on OTAs.
“They’re trying to get rid of offseason workouts,” Manning said. “They’re talking about extending the season to 18 games, so they’re going to cut down the offseason stuff in return. That’s not a fair trade. Offseason workouts – that’s how we’ve gotten our edge over the years. It’s how you really develop a player and improve your craft.
"Without the offseason, how do we get anybody ready to play? I’ve thrown to Blair White since we picked him up in April, and there’s no way he’s ready to play [Sunday] if I don’t have those reps with him. In training camp, there just aren’t enough reps to get familiar with a guy [near the bottom of the depth chart]. You’ve got be able to throw to him in the spring – otherwise I wouldn’t feel good about rushing him out there.”
Even if White never catches another NFL pass, he’ll feel warm and fuzzy about the nine-yard touchdown grab that put Indy up 20-10: As he’d humbly suggested, White (three receptions, 27 yards) ran a slant on cornerback Perrish Cox, who bit on Manning’s cold pump fake, then turned it back outside as the perfectly delivered ball settled gently into his hands.
Manning threw 43 passes on Sunday, completing 27 for 325 yards and three TDs, with no interceptions or sacks. Those are impressive numbers – granted, it’s only three games into the season, but it’s not too early to proclaim that Manning, who won an unprecedented fourth MVP award last year, has a solid shot at No. 5. Still, mere stats don’t do Manning’s brilliance justice. Neither, truth be told, does television, even of the highest-def variety.
Seeing him do his thing in person, in three dimensions, arcing balls into windows tighter than a middle seat in coach between Rex Ryan and Albert Haynesworth, gives you a perspective that’ll be worth sharing with the grandkids.
You know who has a pretty cool vantage point? That would be Collie, last year’s on-the-spot neophyte as a fourth-round draft pick and now an established resident of Peyton’s Place. On Sunday he had career highs of 12 receptions and 171 yards, including a pair of touchdowns and a 48-yard reception off a pass that was simply stupefying.
With Indy up 20-13 and facing a third-and-15 from its own 17, Manning conjured an on the-fly adjustment, sending Collie on an inside route that the receiver turned back toward the right sideline. The quarterback somehow looped a crisp pass between defensive backs Nate Jones and Darcel McBath, and Collie caught it cleanly for a 48-yard gain.
"That was pivotal,” Manning said, as Magic Johnson might have once said of a no-look pass to James Worthy for a back-breaking, fast-break dunk.
Four plays later, on second-and-9 from the Broncos’ 23, Manning threw an equally beautiful ball to the right corner that Collie, falling backward, cradled with Cox in hot pursuit.
"That was a freakin’ gutsy throw,” veteran center Jeff Saturday said of Collie’s second scoring play. “He stayed in the pocket and held it, held it and knew he was gonna get hit, and he just threw the ball on a dime. What can I say? That’s what he does.”
What Manning has done so far in 2010 is complete 69.6 percent of his passes for nine TDs and zero interceptions. The Colts, who’ve won 12 or more games for seven consecutive seasons, are 2-1, tied for first atop the AFC South with the Texans and Titans and well on their way to becoming just the third team (along with the ’06 Seahawks and ’09 Cardinals) in the past decade to make the playoffs the year after losing the Super Bowl.
A curse vs. Manning? Good luck with that.
Even though the quarterback believes offensive line changes will make the quest to establish a running game “a season-long thing,” and if additional injuries strike and the Blair White Project is extended to include other dudes you’ve never heard of, counting out the Colts as a championship contender would be as foolish as, you know, a guy one day removed from the practice squad giving route-adjustment advice to (expletive) Peyton Manning in the middle of a close game.
As a crowd of reporters surrounded White in the Colts' locker room, Saturday, who has spent all 12 of his NFL seasons watching Manning make magic with so many supporting cast members, shook his head in wonderment.
"This is like Bizarro World,” Saturday said. “I mean, you love it when young guys come in and produce like they’re supposed to. But who expected this?”
Do we even have to answer that?
