Eagles' Bill Davis girds for Peyton of Denver

The Israelite's chiseled-in-stone transcript from the news conference before the big battle between David of Bethlehem and Goliath from Gath probably had a lot of similarities to the line of questioning Davis the defensive coordinator dealt with Wednesday as he prepared for Sunday's game against Peyton of Denver.

In fact, it would be easy for the ancient Scripture to meld with Bill Davis' question-and-answer session at the NovaCare Complex that focused almost entirely on the Broncos' Peyton Manning.

Question: "David, Goliath is a big, bad man, and you don't seem to match up very well against him, so how do you plan on stopping him?"

David of Bethlehem: "Well, I've got these five stones and this here slingshot, so I plan on hitting him right between the eyes, knocking him out cold, and then slicing his head off."

Question: "Solid plan, David. Why do you think it will work?"

David of Bethlehem: "My good buddy Saul over there told me the Lord is on my side."

Question: "Great. Thanks, David. Now, you Davis. Peyton of Denver is a big, bad quarterback, and you don't seem to match up very well against him, so how do you plan on stopping him?"

Davis: "One of the great things about coaching or playing in the NFL is these challenges. . . . As players and coaches, we have pretty solid egos ourselves. We're not going to back down from any challenge, and our players are very anxious to accept the challenge, and let's go see what we can do against them."

Question: "That's nice to hear, but you don't seem nearly as confident as David of Bethlehem. Any reason?"

Davis: "I think what you're looking at is the second year in a system where Peyton is running it and the players around him are understanding it thoroughly. They're really just hitting on all cylinders. They are very efficient, and they are executing their offense at a very high rate right now."

David of Bethlehem pulled off history's first major upset some 2,500 years ago. He got a great tax break, swiped Goliath of Gath's sword, and later became king of Israel.

Davis the defensive coordinator might have a more monumental task. Peyton of Denver is playing better than any quarterback on the planet right now, and he has more weapons - Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Knowshon Moreno - than Goliath of Gath.

This is a battle that Davis has waged before as an assistant defensive coach and a defensive coordinator in other cities. Davis has opposed Manning eight times since the quarterback entered the league as the Colts' first overall pick in 1998. Manning has won six of the eight meetings, including five in a row. Davis is 0-2 as a defensive coordinator against Manning.

"Really, you go back and look at all the teams that have had success against Peyton," Davis said. "You try to see what they do. They're all running the same coverages. You're not inventing coverages. It's really about putting pressure on him. You have to get around him, not let him get in rhythm. Then the way you play your coverages has to be on point. Be where you're supposed to be, the right technique in order to have success."

Even then, the odds remain heavily in Manning's perpetually play-changing favor. The quarterback is so good he can give you amnesia.

"In Arizona [in 2009], we held him to seven points in the first half," Davis said. "We felt good about what we were doing. He figured us out. It ended up being 31-13 at the end of the game. We lost."

The lost part Davis had right. The final score was 31-10. The Cardinals held the Colts scoreless in the first quarter, then surrendered 21 points in the second quarter. Davis' other matchup against Manning as a defensive coordinator was in 2005 when the Colts beat the San Francisco 49ers, 28-3. The 49ers did hold Manning to one touchdown pass and had a couple of interceptions.

Davis was an outside linebackers coach with Carolina when the Panthers beat Manning as a rookie with the Colts in 1998, and he was a defensive line coach in Green Bay when the Packers beat Manning and the Colts in 2000. That Peyton Manning is not the same as Peyton of Denver. At 37, Manning is off to the best three-game start of his career with 12 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. It is also the best three-game start of any quarterback in league history.

That's why nine of the first 12 questions directed at Davis on Wednesday were about Manning. Even when Davis got a question about Denver's running game, he returned the conversation to Manning.

"Again, Peyton right now at the line of scrimmage is checking in and out of run games and pass games on what you present to him," Davis said. "He runs the ball when you give him the best chance for his run to work."

Davis the defensive coordinator and the Eagles are going to need more than a slingshot and some stones to slay Peyton of Denver.

Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis has faced Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning eight times as a defensive assistant or defensive coordinator. His record is 2-6 in those games. Manning has completed 194 of 295 passes for 2,383 yards and 20 touchdowns in the eight games. He also has thrown eight interceptions and posted a 101.84 passer rating.

Here's a game-by-game look at the matchup:

Year                   Result

1998             Panthers 27, Colts 19

Davis was Carolina outside linebackers coach.

Manning's stats: 17 for 34, 225 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 56.6 passer rating

1999             Colts 29, Browns 28

Davis was Cleveland defensive quality-control coach.

Manning's stats: 27 for 43, 276 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 81.2 passer rating

2000             Packers 26, Colts 24

Davis was Green Bay defensive assistant and line coach.

Manning's stats: 25 for 44, 294 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 90.5 passer rating

2001             Colts 41, Falcons 27

Davis was Atlanta linebackers coach.

Manning's stats: 23 for 35, 325 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 112.2 passer rating

2003             Colts 38, Falcons 7

Davis was Atlanta linebackers coach.

Manning's stats: 25 for 30, 290 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT, 146.5 passer rating

2005             Colts 28, 49ers 3

Davis was San Francisco defensive coordinator.

Manning's stats: 23 for 31, 255 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 82.1 passer rating

2009             Colts 31, Cardinals 10

Davis was Arizona defensive coordinator.

Manning's stats: 24 for 35, 379 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 130.5 passer rating

2012             Broncos 34, Browns 12

Davis was Cleveland linebackers coach.

Manning's stats: 30 for 43, 339 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 106.6 passer rating

- Bob Brookover
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