MIAMI — Many of life’s wisdoms have remained true through the generations.
Practice makes perfect. It’s impossible to skip and be in a bad mood.
Championships are won by running the ball and stopping the run. Until, that is, the NFL reaches the 21st century and Peyton Manning is playing quarterback.
Even the oldest of adages requires the occasional afterthought. In the 2006 season, the Manning-led Indianapolis Colts became the first team to rank 32nd in the 32-team league in run defense and win the Super Bowl.
To help fully grasp the unlikelihood of this accomplishment, consider that the teams who succeeded the 2006 Colts in finishing last in defending the run were 1-15 Miami, 0-16 Detroit and 3-13 Tampa Bay.
“I’ll tell you what: Give me Peyton Manning and you can have anybody else’s defense,” said former Broncos star Shannon Sharpe, now an NFL analyst for CBS. “How about that?”
Wait, the NFL has another iron-cast mold cowering beneath a raised sledgehammer. After becoming the first team to finish 32nd in stopping the run and win the Super Bowl, these Colts are one victory from becoming the first team to rank 32nd in rushing offense and win the Super Bowl.
The Colts play the New Orleans Saints, who also were built around their quarterback, Drew Brees, on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV. Apparently, football coaches have been lying for years.
“Well, they’ve got 18,” Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson said, referring to Manning’s jersey number. “Let’s check that right now. If you had another quarterback, that wouldn’t work.”
There’s no doubt Manning goes a long way toward explaining why the Colts are the exception to the rule. But building a successful franchise around a passer in the modern NFL is not restricted to Manning. For now, the Colts have only reached the Super Bowl. To find the last team to rank No. 32 in rushing offense and reach the Super Bowl, one only has to go back to last year.
Kurt Warner took the Arizona Cardinals to the brink of a Super Bowl victory with the league’s worst rushing attack.
“I think you’re seeing probably as good as this league’s ever had in quarterback play,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “There’s a dozen teams that are getting outstanding quarterback play. And you’d have to go back a long time before you could say that.”
Former New York Giants star running back Tiki Barber said the NFL has fundamentally changed its approach to the 3 1/2-yard play. How many times did the Broncos throw a screen to a wide receiver this season? The theory is, it’s easier for a receiver to get 3 1/2 yards in space than asking a tailback to get it between the tackles.
“If you get a one-on-one (situation) and make the guy miss, you score a 60-yard touchdown,” Barber said. “Where a 60-yard touchdown on a run play takes five perfect blocks, the back hitting the hole at the exact right time at the perfect pace, and maybe making a guy or two miss.”
When, exactly, did this philosophical shift occur?
“I noticed it three or four years ago, when you started seeing this specialization of running backs,” Barber said. “The position was getting marginalized.”
No wonder Broncos first-year coach Josh McDaniels added Correll Buckhalter and LaMont Jordon from free agency before using his first overall draft pick on Knowshon Moreno. This is the era of the one-down back.
Manning still likes to call a running play. After all, the fake-handoff-and-pass play works only if there’s the occasional handoff.
“I don’t think any team in the NFL can abandon the run and throw it every down like they do in college,” Manning said. “I don’t think that can ever win in the NFL.
“I don’t think you can drop back every single play and move the ball, specifically against these defenses. There’s too much specializations. There’s guys who just rush on third downs, DBs who just cover on third down. There’s too many guys who just focus on stopping the pass. So you have to have the run game to keep them off-balance.”
Just not very much of it.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
