Peyton Manning explains why it was ‘exhausting’ facing Bill Belichick’s defenses
Peyton Manning played against the New England Patriots with Bill Belichick at the helm 19 times, including playoffs, and he walked away with six wins.
Of course Tom Brady played a major factor in those games, but Belichick is potentially the greatest defensive mind in NFL history and that helps while playing against one of the greatest quarterbacks the league has seen. Manning spoke about the complexity of Belichick’s defenses on ESPN’s “Manningcast” during the Monday night matchup with the Patriots and Buffalo Bills.
“We all know New England, they give you multiple defenses,” Manning said, transcribed by masslive.com. “On any given play that can be in a four-down, even front, three-down, odd front. Every single play, you are working. Every time I played the Patriots, I was exhausted after the game because on a 1st-and-10, a 2nd-and-1 you were having to identify what the front is. Hey, it’s an odd front, it’s an even front. Who’s the Mike? It’s a lot.
“They do it on purpose. They do it because they can do it. They have the flexibility. (Dont’a) Hightower can play inside linebacker, can play outside linebacker. But they also do it because it makes you think a lot during the week and it makes you repeat each play you run in practice twice, once against even the even front once against the odd front. … It’s a pain. I’m not gonna lie.”
The Patriots walked away with the 14-10 win over the Bills in a gritty win and they gave Josh Allen many different looks — including an all-out blitz that led to Myles Bryant’s game-sealing PBU. Peyton and his brother Eli Manning both have an extreme level of familiarity with these defensive looks.
“They do a good job,” Eli said. “They’re very multiple. They mix it up week-to-week. You can game plan for certain things. But you might get something totally different on game day.
“They have smart players. They’re obviously well-coached. But they can do a lot of multiple things. They find out what your strengths are and try to stop those things.”
Belichick’s complexity on the defensive end of the ball has led to an AFC-leading 9-4 record and the league’s top scoring defense thus far.
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