New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist lauds how quarterback Brees directs offense of Super Bowl champions. Thursday night, Saints host QB legend Favre and contending Vikings.
Quarterback Drew Brees directs the New Orleans Saints offense.By Peter Finney
Keep this in mind: Regardless what you witnessed, or read, the final score of last season's Super Bowl was New Orleans Saints 31, Minnesota Vikings 28.
It was not Saints 31, Colts 17.
Quite simply, the Minnesota Vikings were a better football team than Indianapolis.
At quarterback, a dream season by Brett Favre -- 33 touchdown passes, seven interceptions -- canceled the Peyton Manning factor. On defense, it was a matter of the Vikings' front seven being a far more dominant group in applying pressure than the front seven playing for the Colts.
Just ask New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees.
Of course, if you did, Brees would be diplomatic. But if you watched those two games, you watched Brees chew up the Colts in the second half, and although he did throw for three touchdowns against the Vikings, he graded himself poorly for 14 incompletions in a 17-for-31 performance.
"As we all know, Drew is never satisfied," said offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, the go-between between Coach Sean Payton and his quarterback on a daily basis. "What can I say? I'm living a magical life watching two brains function as one."
Another spectator with a box seat is backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who continues to say he's "blown away at the manner in which Drew can see, and evaluate, the whole picture in a matter of seconds.
"He comes out of the huddle with several things in mind, checking the front-four alignment, the depth of the linebackers, how the safeties might be rotating, blitz protection if necessary," Daniel said. "Then he's making pre-snap calls. Makes you feel you're looking at a master at work."
Ask Carmichael for an example of adjusting on the fly, and he goes back to a play at Philadelphia last season.
"It was third-and-7," he recalled. "He doesn't get the defensive look he anticipates. In this case, he had two backup calls. One is safer, but he goes to the other to get the first-down yardage. With a quarterback who's an extension of his coach, little things like this keep happening to keep the chains moving."
Sometimes, you can move the chains in spectacular fashion, as Brees did in two games last season.
Against the New York Giants, he connected with four receivers for touchdowns: Robert Meachem (36 yards), Marques Colston (12 yards), Lance Moore (12 yards) and Jeremy Shockey (1 yard).
Against the New England Patriots, he threw for five touchdowns in only 23 attempts, four of them for double digits: Devery Henderson (75 yards), Meachem (38 yards), Colston (20 yards) and Pierre Thomas (18 yards).
In the Giants' game, Brees picked on a certain cornerback. Against New England, he "found a home" finding receivers on seam routes down the middle.
There were times Henderson found himself coming to the sideline after a touchdown, telling Payton, "Hey, Coach, I caught that same pass doing reps after practice."
Said Carmichael: "The more reps, the more it becomes second nature. They call it muscle memory. You watch those receivers play pitch and catch with Drew and can see the smile on their faces. The way he goes about business gives everyone a lift."
Said Henderson: "No matter what route you're running, you know, when you make your cut, and turn, the ball's going to be right there."
In any game, when you're talking about offense vs. defense, you usually win or lose by the way you adjust, then find a way to adjust to the adjustments.
There was no better illustration than last season's playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals. The Packers went in given a legit Super Bowl shot mainly because of their defense, one that had forced 40 takeaways, best in the league, including 30 interceptions. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers had driven quarterbacks crazy with a variety of alignments that included the "Psycho Package" (one down lineman, five linebackers, five defensive backs).
So what happened? The Packers' defense had a monumental guessing-game collapse.
Kurt Warner completed all but four of his 33 passes, five for touchdowns, in a wild 51-45 overtime victory. The Cardinals amassed 531 yards and faced only five third downs in four quarters.
"Our problem was not adjusting to their adjustments," a Green Bay cornerback said.
For Payton and Brees, it's the same ol' challenge Thursday night at the Superdome.
"We'll be making adjustments against one of the best defenses in the league," Payton said.
In that last meeting, winning the turnover battle 5-1, offset losing two others, first downs (31-15) and total yards (475-257).
All that's left to say is let the chess game begin.