To New Orleans Saints, roughness is necessary with Peyton Manning

QBREES9 · 02-01-2010, 10:49 PM

FORT LAUDERDALE - The New Orleans Saints can't wait to take their shot at Peyton Manning. And when they do, they hope it's a shot he never forgets.

In order to disrupt the timing of the NFL's MVP, the Saints will have to deliver some "remember me" hits to the Indianapolis Colts quarterback, according to Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. He said they need to hit Manning hard and hit him often.

And if Manning gets hurt in the process? "If it happens," Williams added, "you hope he doesn't get back up and play again.

"This guy's got a great clock in his head, and the big thing is that he throws the ball so early that we're going to have to do a good job of finding ways to get to him," Williams said last week in an interview on a Nashville radio station. "And when we do get to him we're going to have to make sure he gets a couple 'remember me' shots."

The Saints delivered a few of those to Brett Favre on Jan. 24 in their 31-28 overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game. They weren't able to sack the 40-year-old quarterback, but they did hit him at least six times, including two illegal hits by defensive end Bobby McCray that resulted in $20,000 in fines.

One of those hits - when McCray got Favre in the legs while defensive tackle Remi Ayodele hit him high - left Favre with a sprained left ankle in the third quarter and nearly knocked him out of the game.

Those shots put an unwanted spotlight on the Saints' defensive tactics, and during the interview Williams was asked if he would talk to his defense about the potential for the Super Bowl officials to lean toward protecting Manning.

"Here's the deal," Williams said. "When you put too much of that type of worry on a warrior's mind, he doesn't play all out. If it happens, it happens. And the only thing you'd like for me to say is that if it happens you hope he doesn't get back up and play again."

Of course, that comment figures to make the spotlight even brighter on the defense when the Saints arrive in Miami today. But the Colts have already dismissed the tough talk - at least they did initially, when coach Jim Caldwell was asked about it last week.

"I just think that comments that individuals make, we can't control that," Caldwell said. "They use whatever motivational tools they'd like to. And that's up to him. I'm not going to pass judgment on anything he says."

Saints coach Sean Payton didn't pass judgment, either, saying he believes Williams' comments were overblown ("I think that's a great example of (the hype of) Super Bowl week," he said). Besides, the comments may have been unusual, but the strategy is obvious. Williams has transformed the Saints' defense into a very aggressive unit in his first year with the team. They had 35 sacks this season and their pass rush helped turn them into one of the most turnover-producing units in the league (26 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries).

But it'll take a special defensive performance to disrupt arguably the best player in the NFL.

"We're going to have to mix up zone, we're going to have to mix up pressure, we're going to have to mix up man and we're going to have to do as much as we can to make Peyton figure it out after the ball is snapped," Williams said. "So it's going to be an interesting chess match. Our guys are going to play hard, I know that."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...necessary.html

02-01-2010, 10:49 PM	#1
QBREES9 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Haven Ct Posts: 23,990	To New Orleans Saints, roughness is necessary with Peyton Manning FORT LAUDERDALE - The New Orleans Saints can't wait to take their shot at Peyton Manning. And when they do, they hope it's a shot he never forgets. In order to disrupt the timing of the NFL's MVP, the Saints will have to deliver some "remember me" hits to the Indianapolis Colts quarterback, according to Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. He said they need to hit Manning hard and hit him often. And if Manning gets hurt in the process? "If it happens," Williams added, "you hope he doesn't get back up and play again. "This guy's got a great clock in his head, and the big thing is that he throws the ball so early that we're going to have to do a good job of finding ways to get to him," Williams said last week in an interview on a Nashville radio station. "And when we do get to him we're going to have to make sure he gets a couple 'remember me' shots." The Saints delivered a few of those to Brett Favre on Jan. 24 in their 31-28 overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game. They weren't able to sack the 40-year-old quarterback, but they did hit him at least six times, including two illegal hits by defensive end Bobby McCray that resulted in $20,000 in fines. One of those hits - when McCray got Favre in the legs while defensive tackle Remi Ayodele hit him high - left Favre with a sprained left ankle in the third quarter and nearly knocked him out of the game. Those shots put an unwanted spotlight on the Saints' defensive tactics, and during the interview Williams was asked if he would talk to his defense about the potential for the Super Bowl officials to lean toward protecting Manning. "Here's the deal," Williams said. "When you put too much of that type of worry on a warrior's mind, he doesn't play all out. If it happens, it happens. And the only thing you'd like for me to say is that if it happens you hope he doesn't get back up and play again." Of course, that comment figures to make the spotlight even brighter on the defense when the Saints arrive in Miami today. But the Colts have already dismissed the tough talk - at least they did initially, when coach Jim Caldwell was asked about it last week. "I just think that comments that individuals make, we can't control that," Caldwell said. "They use whatever motivational tools they'd like to. And that's up to him. I'm not going to pass judgment on anything he says." Saints coach Sean Payton didn't pass judgment, either, saying he believes Williams' comments were overblown ("I think that's a great example of (the hype of) Super Bowl week," he said). Besides, the comments may have been unusual, but the strategy is obvious. Williams has transformed the Saints' defense into a very aggressive unit in his first year with the team. They had 35 sacks this season and their pass rush helped turn them into one of the most turnover-producing units in the league (26 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries). But it'll take a special defensive performance to disrupt arguably the best player in the NFL. "We're going to have to mix up zone, we're going to have to mix up pressure, we're going to have to mix up man and we're going to have to do as much as we can to make Peyton figure it out after the ball is snapped," Williams said. "So it's going to be an interesting chess match. Our guys are going to play hard, I know that." http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...necessary.html Attached Thumbnails
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