The New Orleans Saints have two weeks to answer a question the Broncos wrestled with for much of the 2009 season.
To pressure or not to pressure?
New Orleans’ defense sold out in both the pass rush and against the run Sunday in the NFC championship game, pounding Brett Favre enough that the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback will again think about retirement. But the Saints also felt the sting of Adrian Peterson’s touchdown run in the first quarter when a run blitz went awry.
The prevailing wisdom in the NFL is that if you blitz Peyton Manning, you will spend a lot of time watching the Indianapolis Colts celebrate touchdowns.
Manning sees things. He’s like the football whisperer, thinking what you think before you think it.
Or something like that.
But each week, defensive coordinators stare at video looking for a hole in Manning’s game, only to come to the most disappointing conclusion in the football profession: You may not be able to beat Manning unless he defeats himself. Unless he makes a mistake at a critical time, Manning will win and you won’t.
Gregg Williams, the Saints’ defensive coordinator, has been there, done that in pro football. He knows the drill, but go down the depth chart and the Saints are not brimming with Pro Bowl players on the defensive side of the ball.
There’s safety Darren Sharper, and there’s linebacker Jonathan Vilma. The Saints have one player — defensive end Will Smith — among the NFL’s top 58 in sacks.
They allowed a quarterback to throw for 300 yards, allowed a running back to rush for 100 yards and allowed a receiver to finish with more than 100 yards Sunday. They surrendered 475 total yards to Minnesota — and are going to Super Bowl XLIV.
Because the Saints went for it, they saw opportunity and gambled.
They gambled they could pressure Favre enough and hit him enough that the future Hall of Famer eventually would make a mistake. Which is exactly what happened.
The Saints could choose that route again in the Super Bowl against the Colts. But Manning routinely eats pressure packages like Tic Tacs and spits them out all over the end zone after the Colts score. He completed 68 percent of his passes against the blitz this season to go with 10 touchdowns.
So the Saints have a couple of weeks to make the call. Drop back, play back and hope their patience can win the day. Or charge ahead, take some chances and believe their offense will keep up with the Colts’ offense.
A tough choice, to be sure, but one Williams and the Saints are glad they’re in position to have to make.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
