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Saturday at the center of Indianapolis line's success

Simoneau to battle Colts' lineman for control of middle

Wednesday, September 05, 2007 By Benjamin Hochman


Does a great quarterback make an offensive line great? Or does a great offensive line make a quarterback great?
Well, in the case of the Indianapolis Colts, it's likely the quarterback would be great, even if the band Green Day was blocking for him. But Peyton Manning, quite often, expresses his gratitude to his talented offensive line, mostly Jeff Saturday, the gritty Pro Bowl center.
Saturday, 6 feet 2, 295 pounds, excels, of course, at blocking, but also at directing traffic in the trenches, namely before the play starts.
"He's definitely the anchor of their offensive line -- he makes things work over there," said Mark Simoneau, the Saints' middle linebacker who will often make contact with Saturday on Thursday. "He does a great job at getting on the defensive line and getting to the second level."
For Simoneau and his fellow linebackers, cracking Saturday and the Colts' front five will be one of the toughest challenges of the season. Simoneau, who is effective at playing the outside run and looming around the perimeter, will have to make sure he remains consistently technical when needing to puncture the offensive line. Scott Shanle and Scott Fujita, his linebacking partners, will have to play poised and not allow Manning to get in their heads -- and Saturday and Co. to push them aside.
As for Saturday, Saints Coach Sean Payton said, "He's extremely smart and has very good feet. He works real hard at it, from what I've heard, and he's one of the leaders on that offensive line. Generally, when you look at a player at the center position, he has the ability to anchor, real good feet, he's a technician, and he's smart. And he knows exactly what to do."
Against the Colts, "You just have to be good with your reads and see things quickly," Simoneau said. "They're a very athletic group
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