Peyton Manning Blasts Halftime Adjustments As "The Biggest Myth In Football" But That Can't Be Entirely True

I know what you're thinking.

"Did he fire six shots or only five?"

An appropriately hardcore American Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry reference to tie into the almost-GOATed quarterback whose moniker was "The Sheriff".

No seriously. I know what you're thinking. 

Who the fuck is some blogger to question the mighty Peyton Manning on anything football-related? To which I'd say, generally speaking, "You're right." Cliches are cliches for a reason, and this one certainly applies: Peyton Manning has forgotten more about football than I'll ever know. Actually played in the NFL. At an all-time great level. Did nothing less than revolutionize the game with his understanding of it.

WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY he is the worst possible source for this information.

Yeah, Peyton. I'm sure coaches were scrambling around trying to tell you what the fuck to do and how the fuck to play football during at the half. LOL. Of course not. Peyton Manning was basically a coach on the field with pinpoint accuracy playing 8D Chess, operating in an alternate dimensional plane possibly beyond space and time to outfox almost any opponent he ever came across.

...In the regular season at least.

I'M KIDDING. Yeah so what that Peyton got dragged to his second Super Bowl win by an elite Broncos defense and played some of his worst playoff football the year the Colts won it all (70.5 passer rating that postseason). He had more than enough phenomenal performances to offset whatever shortcomings were on display when he lifted the Lombardi Trophy. Was also funny to see him on the Manningcast call to witness a rare big-stage egg from his chief rival, Tom Brady.

So OK. Peyton was so many steps ahead of the opposition that he could anticipate any next move they'd make. Halftime adjustments for him? Unnecessary. Frivolous. Superfluous. Overrated. Lacking in utility. Can't relate to the struggle. Sorry.

I love how Eli just sat there and agreed with big bro, too. Like Eli ever had any fucking clue what was going on at any given time. (I'm being facetious. Eli is a national treasure. We all know the kind of "out to lunch" vibes he gave off during his Giants heyday even when things were going swimmingly though, right?)

Here is where I get into a rebuttal of sorts to Peyton's assertion that halftime adjustments are big juicy nothingburger.

Matt Barrows of The Athletic did this fascinating feature on what it was like to be in the 49ers' locker room at halftime when they were up 28-0 on…well…Brady and the Bucs. With the understanding that every team is different and I'm sure coaching personalities play a big part in what the approach is to the brief intermission, Barrows' observations painted a dynamic, lively picture with plenty going on.

Notable excerpts are as follows with the dot dot dots to skip ahead when desired to avoid a TLDR sitch. First we have what San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan goes through, in addition to getting the first-half stats from a PR person so he doesn't lose track of, for instance, whether a certain running back had too many carries in the initial 30 minutes of action:

"The offensive side is more intense. It’s like an advanced-level math seminar condensed to six minutes. Shanahan is on the left side of the whiteboard, scribbling down the eight or so pass plays he likes for the second half. On the right side of the board, run game coordinator Chris Foerster and tight ends coach Brian Fleury do the same for the run plays.

"The players silently look on as the coaches write. There’s not much discussion on that side of the room. Shanahan expects everyone to concentrate on the board. None studies it more closely than quarterback Brock Purdy, who is making his first NFL start that day. […] He scripts the first 24 plays of the game and any leftovers could get called in the second half. He’s also made calls in the first half specifically designed to set up other plays in the second. He considers all of that as he walks off the field.

"[…] With about three minutes remaining before the second half starts, [linebacker Fred] Warner wraps up his rally and the players begin filing back out onto the field. All except one. Purdy has been standing just to the left of the whiteboard the entire time, and he remains there, his left hand gripping the collar of his jersey while he stares at the offensive plays, for a minute after everyone else has left. He looks like Will Hunting transfixed by a math problem in a quiet hallway at MIT.

"Shanahan doesn’t just write down second-half plays the team has practiced that week. He might add something the 49ers installed on July 30 or something they ran in 2018."

Damn how about two phenomenal movie references in one blog! Anyway so uhh…Brock Purdy making his first-ever start in the pros. A seventh-round rookie. Suddenly Shanahan drops in a play that he doesn't even know. Pretty sure that'd qualify as a halftime adjustment that Mr. Irrelevant would need some coaching on.

Barrows also noted that defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans talked with two assistants who'd been watching the game from the booth. Ryans wanted to know the specifics on which types of running plays hurt the 49ers' defense, and which side they were skewing towards/whether one or the other was taking more damage. AND he inquired about Tampa's pass protections to discern how best to attack those.

Mind you, this was a 28-0 score in the Niners' favor and there was still this type of attention to detail and strategic tweaking going on.

NOW I bring it back around to my beloved Cincinnati Bengals. I had the privilege of being on the stream at HQ for Sunday's victory over the Ravens. One of the things I remember highlighting was Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and his knack for halftime adjustments. When I initially heard Peyton say what he said on Monday night, I was a little shaken up!

Then I thought so more, and you've seen what I've written to this point. Figured I'd also dig into some stats to see what I could glean. Aaaaand here are the relevant numbers from the past two seasons, with NFL ranking in parentheses:

• Opponent 1st-half points per game (2021): 12.2 ppg (T-23rd)
  • 2nd half: 9.4 ppg (4th)
• Opponent 1st-half points per game (2022): 11.3 ppg (17th)
  • 2nd half: 8.7 ppg (9th)

Hmmmmmmm…seems like the Bengals are doing a little more than twiddling their thumbs when the brief break hits.

Lou gets hyped POSTGAME I can tell you that much for sure.

"Halftime adjustments" is such a broad couple of words as is. Duh, teams aren't overhauling their game plans unless, maybe in the Bucs' case, they're getting blown the hell out. Yes, a lot of players are just using the time to ground themselves, take a breather and gather their strength. But at least on the coaches' side? I feel like something is happening!

What does the greater Stoolie community think? I've obviously only picked out two examples of what I believe to be clear evidence of effective halftime adjustments. Overrated or underrated? I have a genuine curiosity about where folks fall on this.

PS: The Bengals did let the Tyler Huntley-led Ravens score a second-half TD in the Wild Card Round and were in grave danger of yielding another. Buuuuut that INSANE Logan Wilson-Sam Hubbard play made it all better.

Hehehe. We're on to Buffalo. TONS OF NEW BENGALS MERCH by the way. Including a brand-new, Hubbard-related tee.

Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok