Colts QB is unique for his antics behind the line of scrimmage

MIAMI -- He points, he pivots, he barks out more orders than a coffee shop waiter at lunchtime.

When Peyton Manning is running the show for the Indianapolis Colts, it's difficult to decipher if he is performing magic or just blowing smoke.

"That would be impossible to answer without giving away secrets," Manning said with a smile.

When Manning brings his offense to the line against the Chicago Bears in Sunday's Super Bowl, at times he will resemble a maestro conducting a finely tuned orchestra. Other times, he'll look like a disoriented traveler seeking directions.

"To me, our offense, like any offense, is about execution," said the NFL's leading passer. "We do call certain plays at the line of scrimmage, that's no secret there.

"I think you have to be confident in your offense. That's part of playing in the NFL, and the reason you have confidence is because of how hard you worked and how hard you prepared. I've used this quote before, but my dad gave it to me when I was a kid. It was by Chuck Noll, which said, 'Pressure is something that you feel only when you don't know what you are doing.'"

Do his teammates and coaches know exactly what Manning is doing when he gestures toward the defense? Or when Manning backs away from center Jeff Saturday as if he can't remember what he's supposed to do?

"We work together so often, when you come to the line of scrimmage, I have a pretty good feel for what he likes, what he sees and if he is going to check [off] or not," said Saturday, who obviously must be in tune with whatever concerto Manning is leading on each play. "He sees things that I would not see, because of my position.

"When I am down in my stance, he can see things so much better. He does a good job throughout the week of pulling guys aside and saying, 'Hey, I see this, or I am going to get to this, do you like it?' He makes sure that as you prepare for the week, you feel comfortable on Sunday of knowing what checks we are going to go to."

No other quarterback performs all those machinations. Few -- Brett Favre, Tom Brady on occasion -- call or change plays at the line as much as Manning. In offensive coordinator Tom Moore's system, which Manning has played under since he was the No. 1 overall draft choice in 1998, most of the decision-making is left in the quarterback's hands.

But don't watch the hands if you're playing defense against him.

"You can't get caught up in all of that," Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "We're not going to worry about the audibles, we're not going to worry about what he's doing at the line of scrimmage. At the end of the day, he's going to have to call a play and snap the ball."

But before the ball is snapped, Manning has chosen what he believes is the proper play for the defensive alignment he sees. He has all kinds of options, both for passes and runs.

Sometimes, the call he has gotten from the sideline is perfect, and all Manning does is, well, nothing. He's like a third-base coach sending false signals to the batter.

In other instances, he is changing the play, the blocking assignment, the formation -- everything but his uniform, it seems.

"I give him an idea of what we're thinking," Moore said. "We have a set game plan and I give him certain ideas and he goes from there. He makes a lot of great calls. Any of the bad ones are mine."

Hardly. And Manning has not been nearly as prolific in the playoffs as he was during his Pro Bowl season. That hasn't changed his approach or eliminated his gesticulations.

Maybe Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher -- Chicago's Manning, if you will -- might come up with some arm-waving and foot-stomping of his own on Sunday. Perhaps Urlacher can distract the distractor.

"I'm not going to try and change our defenses for what he does because I don't know what they're doing, number one," Urlacher said. "He may not be changing the play at all, so we're just going to line up, read our keys and try and play fast. I'm not going to try and listen to him and get into what he does, because he does do a lot of stuff and he's good at it, and he's won a bunch of games.

"We've been watching him long enough to know that's what he does. That's what he's been doing. It's not frustrating or annoying or anything like that, but it's just what they do on offense. They're successful, so I don't know how you can say it's annoying when all they do is move the ball on pretty much everybody. If we stop them it will be really fun."