'Magnificent' Brees Outplays Manning
Clifton Brown - SportingNews.com
Feb 08, 2010
MIAMI – Drew Brees has reached the pinnacle of his profession. He has won a Super Bowl. He outplayed Peyton Manning when it mattered most in SB 44.
Brees came to New Orleans to help heal a city and to help elevate a long-suffering franchise. With his brilliant performance in Super Bowl 44, that mission has been completed.
"It's unbelievable," Brees said after the Saints' 31-17 victory. "Just to think of the road that we've all traveled to get this–how much adversity we faced along the way. What can I say?"
Brees' play (32-for39, 288 yards, two touchdowns) spoke volumes, as he showed the world why he set an NFL record this season for passing accuracy (70.6 percent). Following the Saints' game plan to perfection, Brees tortured the Colts with accurate short passes that the Colts simply could not stop. The Colts were determined not to let Brees beat them with big plays. But instead, he beat them with little bites, solidifying his reputation as a pinpoint passer.
"Drew was magnificent tonight," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "We knew he was going to have to play well. He handled it extremely well. He's the MVP tonight for a reason."
Manning hoped this would be another special moment for him. But he was outdone by Brees, and by a Saints' defense that contained Manning more effectively than many people thought possible. Holding the Colts to 17 points is not easy. Making Manning make a key mistake is not easy. Yet the Saints did both.
They had a shrewd defensive game plan, showing Manning a 3-4 defense in the first quarter, a 4-3 defense in the second quarter and a mixture of both in the second half, along with more blitzes.
"You have to switch things up on Peyton," Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. "You can't show him the same looks. It's not me, it's our players. They did a great job of executing the plan."
When the Colts hurt the Saints with running plays, New Orleans simply accepted it. That was all part of the plan. The less Manning threw, the better off the Saints figured they were.
"We had to be patient," Williams said. "If they got 200 yards rushing, we couldn't get upset. It was the kind of game we wanted to play."
The Saints felt confident even though they trailed 10-6 at halftime and had been stopped by the Colts on a goal-line stand. Recovering an onside kick to start the second half gave the Saints momentum and Brees took over, throwing accurate darts that picked the Colts apart.
"The short passing game killed us," Colts safety Melvin Bullitt said. "They didn't throw deep. They adjusted and dumped it off, got four or five yards here and there, and it worked out well for them."
It also helped that Brees had time to throw. Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney made a gallant effort on his injured right ankle and even had a first-half sack. But the Colts never got consistent pressure on Brees, and once he got in a rhythm, the Colts were at his mercy.
Brees is now a franchise quarterback in every way, after leading a team that had never been to the Super Bowl to a championship. Manning has more commercials, but now he and Brees have the same number of Super Bowl victories. On the game's biggest stage, Brees played with no fear, and this special season elevates his stature as a special quarterback.
"Drew was unbelievable," Saints receiver Marques Colston said. "It's about time you guys talked about him being with the best."
No arguments here. Brees was the best player on the field in Super Bowl 44. And he was holding the hardware to prove it.
Clifton Brown is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at cliftonbrown@sportingnews.com.
----
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion
Copyright 2012 by SportingNews.com
