Peyton Manning barks out the name of the play: "TRIPS RIGHT 255 X BLOCK SLANT H DISCO ALERT 12 TRAP."
The Colts pivot into position. He starts to call signals for the hike.
No, wait!
Manning, the NFL's best quarterback, spots something he doesn't like. Maybe a linebacker set to blitz from the blind side. Or a cornerback sneaking up.
"Blue 15! Blue 15!" he hollers. Now begins the Peyton Shuffle. Shouting. Stomping. Waving his arms like a marionette gone mad. Choreographed chaos. Manning in motion.
Every defense is a matrix, and no one in football solves them like Manning, this year's NFL MVP.
"He sees those things so well that I can't even explain it," said right tackle Ryan Diem of the Colts. "It's not to say he has a sixth sense or anything, but ..."
He does this time. Manning takes six fast steps toward the line of scrimmage. His helmet swivels as he scans the field.
Darren Sharper might take a look behind him -- if he dares. "I don't know if you want to read Peyton's eyes too much. He kind of has those cat eyes that'll trick you if you watch them too much," said Sharper, the New Orleans safety.
Here's what the Saints need to answer on Sunday in the Super Bowl against the Colts: Is he changing the play, or is he bluffing?
He looks like he's changing plays. He gets between center Jeff Saturday and right guard Kyle DeVan. He points once, twice, three times at a defender.
"Pickle!" he yells. Or "Richmond!" Or "Yo-yo!" or "Sally!" or "Orange!"
Soon, he'll be in full fury, patrolling from end to end, a Civil War general surveying his front line.
Linebacker Ray Lewis of the Ravens grins. He's seen this act before. "You've got to figure out what's real and what's not. That's the main thing," Lewis said.
You have to be fast, too.
Manning shakes his right index finger toward the right side, curls his left thumb and fingers to form a "C." Could be hand signals checking to another play, perhaps "Dice Right Ice Cream Alert 654 Jose."
"If you want to look at it like a chessboard, he is putting his pieces in place," DeVan said.
The Colts go without a huddle and Manning calls his own plays, a rarity at any level. Offensive coordinator Tom Moore usually gives him three plays per snap -- two runs, one pass. Coaches can deliver their message via wireless earpiece in the quarterback's helmet.
"I just give him ideas and he goes from there," Moore said.
"(Moore) tells me before the game, ‘Hey, if you see something out there, you call it. You change it and I have your back,' " Manning said. "Some coaches tell their quarterbacks, ‘Hey, you can change the play, but it better work.' That is not confidence. That is a threat.
"I have certain limitations. I am not allowed to change to the double reverse pass back to the quarterback."
Rookie receiver Austin Collie watches each gesture. "Everything Peyton does means something," Collie said. "Given that, it has been a journey trying to get all of that down and making sure you are on the same page as Peyton."
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