For Brees, It's Time to Seize the Moment vs. Mighty Manning

Peyton Manning stands to lose more than he gains.

The other guy? This is his moment. He is coming to tell the world, "Let me show you what Drew Brees is all about."

It won't be easy with No. 18 standing on the other sideline.

When you go fishing and catch a small one, you throw him back and say, "Go get your big brother." Then you catch another little one and say, "Go get your papa."

You catch a slightly bigger one and say, "Go get Grandpa." Drew gets Grandpa on Sunday -- Moby Dick, the kingfish, Peyton Manning.

Fortunately, this is not a Super Bowl where Peyton Manning is going against a marginal quarterback. This is a marquee matchup.

Peyton is a four-time league MVP. He has the smarts, the experience, all the weapons.

Drew is a four-time Pro Bowler voted offensive player of the year in 2008 with mad-scientist play-caller Sean Payton in his ear.

The pressure probably is greater on Peyton, the league's fair-haired quarterback for more than a decade. That is because Manning is like the New York Yankees -- he is supposed to win.

People get upset when expectations aren't met. He's actually exceeded them.

Remember what people used to say about Peyton? Couldn't win the big one.

So we will hear revisionist history in some quarters if the Colts do not seal the deal. Some will say, "Yeah, Manning won one Super Bowl, but look at all the big games he lost."

People who have played the game understand how hard it is to win as much as he does. I mean, think about it: In 12 years, this guy has lost only 61 games -- and 13 came his rookie year!

Don't let any professional athlete tell you he doesn't get motivated by somebody saying something good about the other guy and something negative about him. They all read the papers. If they don't, their family does.

Don't think Drew isn't stoked because San Diego felt Philip Rivers was better ... because the Dolphins believed he'd never be a quarterback of any substance ... because he heard them say, "You're only 5-11 standing on your tiptoes."

This season, Drew has had some of his best performances against the NFL's best quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, one of the league's gold standards. He got the best of Eli Manning, Kurt Warner and Favre, all Super Bowl winners.

If Drew can run the table and snag "Moby Dick" Manning, it might be the greatest 19-game stretch in NFL history for a quarterback.

If not, Gregg Williams didn't help. The defensive coordinator's comments about the Saints giving Manning some hard "remember me" shots were like jabbing a stick at a wolverine.

Why would you want to rile this guy? Payton tried to stuff the genie back in the bottle. Too late.

Because of what happened to Favre against the Saints, the officials are on notice -- they are looking for illegal hits. Besides Williams, who wants to see Manning knocked out of the game?

We want to see the artist do his thing. We don't want to see a Painter named Curtis.

Defensively, I wouldn't give Peyton a steady diet of anything. We saw with the Jets what can happen. First two series, they put Manning on his fanny. Then he says to offensive coordinator Tom Moore, "OK, this is what they're doing."

Bring the check, please.

Peyton's life is 8-by-10: 8 yards wide, 10 yards deep. You better get him out of that box. If you don't, you're dead. And while he might be the least athletic quarterback in the league, he can move one step to buy himself an extra second. Where another quarterback might be sacked, it's a touchdown for the Colts. But whether a guy paper-cuts you to death or you get eaten by a great white shark, isn't the result the same?

Drew can match Peyton's firepower, perhaps, but, if I'm the Saints, do I really want to get into a marksmanship competition with Annie Oakley?

A shootout favors Indy.

The biggest concern about the Colts is the health of defensive end Dwight Freeney. Everything they do defensively is predicated on speed. But not even Indy cars can run on flat tires. If Freeney is even nicked, it's a game of inches. A step sooner, maybe he gets Drew on the ground. A step later, it's a touchdown to Marques Colston.

The game may appear like it's the Colts' to lose, but the more I look at it, it feels like Super Bowl XXXII with my Broncos playing the Green Bay Packers. They had a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and were 11-point favorites. They lost.

Sometimes, funny things happen in the moment. Sometimes, collars and jockstraps shrink.

In a regular-season game, there aren't a billion eyeballs on you, so we really don't know how even the great ones will handle it. When I came out of the tunnel for XXXII, I remember saying to myself, "I'm in the Super Bowl. They're calling my name, all the way from Glennville, Ga."

The greatest of the greats cannot fool themselves into thinking it's just another game. How Peyton and Drew handle it will have much to do with the game's outcome. Expectations are sky-high for Manning. How does he live up to them?

As for Drew, well, this is it. I believe he will play better than he did against Minnesota in the NFC title game, when he looked a bit over-amped.

Who knows? Come Sunday night, Drew Brees might produce a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

He might hook a big one.