RENTON — Everyone knows Peyton Manning is one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, but what fewer people know is that he was the best quarterback on the New Orleans Saints many years ago.
Well, sort of anyway.
Back when Seattle Seahawks coach Jim Mora was an assistant on his father’s coaching staff in New Orleans, a high-school-aged Manning would drop by in the summer to work out with the team. And even back then, when he was a student at nearby Isadore Newman High School, Manning’s potential was obvious to Mora.
“I kid you not, at age 17 or 18, even with Jim Everett and the talent he had, Peyton was the best quarterback on the field,” Mora said. “You’d go to his high school games and you’d watch him play, and you know that cliche, ‘He’s like a man among boys.’ It was just that way. I mean, he was just big, he was fast, he was smart. He had a whip for an arm, he made great decisions. It was a joke watching him play against these guys.”
What’s scary for the Seahawks, who face Manning and the Colts Sunday, is that a lot of those things are still true about him today.
“The funny thing is, he still looks that way today, even though he’s playing against this elite competition, he still just stands out in everything he does,” Mora said. “He’s almost impossible to fool. He very rarely makes a poor decision. He manages the game like no one’s ever managed a game before. He’s tough. He’s competitive. He’s smart. I don’t know if there’s a flaw. I really don’t.”
So what are the Seahawks, a team coming off two straight losses and missing some of their key players on defense, supposed to do about Manning and the Colts offense?
“What do we do?” Mora said. “We go play our tails off and we try to make plays on the football. We try to stop the run so we can try to harass the quarterback. It’s a formidable challenge, but we’ll be ready for it. We’ll absolutely be ready for it. He’s a great one, though.”
The Seahawks should at least be a bit healthier on defense this week than they have been. Middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu practiced Wednesday and should be able to play Sunday. Given the amount of freedom Manning has to audible at the line of scrimmage, having an experienced middle linebacker to run the defense could make a huge difference.
Cornerback Josh Wilson also could return, which would be a huge bonus considering he went down with a high-ankle sprain just a week and a half ago. Wilson, who practiced on a limited basis Wednesday, doesn’t think his return to the field will change how Manning and company go about their business Sunday.
“I don’t think Peyton Manning really cares about that,” Wilson said when asked if he was worried and his hurt ankle would get targeted. “Peyton Manning is going to throw the ball where he wants to throw the ball regardless of who’s on the field. I’m not too sure they’re worried about me.”
And for all of they physical talents that made Manning stand out as a teenager among NFL players, it might be his preparation and knowledge of the game that make him most dangerous.
“It’s just his vision of the game,” Colts tight end Dallas Clark said. “What he sees and the film study and just the time and effort he puts in — he’s the only guy that I’ve seen that just totally gives everything. Everything is football to him. He prepares every week the same, has his routine down and he can go out there and see things and see tendencies, and with all that hard work and study is able to get us in a play that gives us a chance to have a good play. … He’s able to do so much because of all the hard work he puts in during the week.”
So the Seahawks will try to show Manning looks he hasn’t seen — good luck with that — and even more importantly, they’ll try to be sound fundamentally. But even if they do both of those things, it could still be a long afternoon in Indianapolis.
“You know what?” Mora said. “With this guy, you could do it all exactly right and he can still make the throw.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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