The Matrix of Manning

Peyton Manning is a cerebral leader who has more authority than any other N.F.L. quarterback to call his own plays. Even casual fans cannot fail to notice how he waves his arms, screams and points before each play to communicate with his teammates and simultaneously try to deceive defenses.

Critics say that Manning's play-calling slows the game and may add little to its outcome. But the results do not lie: Manning set the single-season league records for passing yards and passing touchdowns for the Denver Broncos.

One of the keys to Sunday's Super Bowl will be how Seattle's top-ranked defense reacts to everything Manning does before the ball is snapped. And no doubt, the Seahawks will try to figure out Manning's elaborate and ever-changing list of code words that he uses to disguise each play.

The words are actually part of a matrix, with a series of terms linked to a common word that represents a play. A movie title might be used to describe a play, but that play could also be called by the name of a car; the movie and the car are also linked.

Although the common words that Manning uses are closely guarded, many teams use similar, if simpler, structures. For example, the word 'Indy' may signal an inside zone running play. If the defense figures that out, a quarterback might instead say 'Colts,' 'Hoosiers,' 'Unitas' (for the former star quarterback Johnny Unitas) or even '500' (for the Indianapolis 500).

Such a system gives quarterbacks - especially Manning, who is a master at recognizing opposing defenses and shifting plays at the line - the flexibility to switch to a different group of words to describe a play. Quarterbacks can also use the words against the defense by giving 'Indy' an entirely new meaning.

The challenge for defenses, and Manning's teammates, is that he will change the code words during the week, and even during a game, if he suspects the opposing team has figured out what plays he is calling. This requires extra homework on nongame days and intense focus during games, when it is noisy and hard to think on the field.

'It's a lot of work during the week, a lot of memorizing,' Broncos guard Louis Vasquez said, adding: 'A lot of his words and signals can change meaning from week to week, but it's the same word, so you've got to remember what it means for that week. It's a whirlwind a lot of times.'

The whirlwind also includes a host of decoys. Code words that represent a running play may be called when a pass play is the ultimate result so as not to tip off a defense. And some of what Manning says carries no meaning at all; it is designed to toy with defenders as they wait and wonder what play is coming.

Earl Thomas, a Seahawks safety, spoke for most of his teammates when he said that he would treat the verbiage as noise.

'A lot of that stuff, obviously, is for them,' he said. 'I'm not going to be a genie back there trying to guess what he's doing.'

Even people with the time and ability to study what Manning says do not bother because it is hard to distinguish between what is real and what is not, and what may be used again.

'He has real audibles and dummies,' said John Madden, a longtime television analyst and former coach. 'I never wanted to figure it out because the minute you figure it out, he'll change it.'

The semantic gymnastics, though, has limitations. For instance, younger players sometimes do not recognize Manning's cultural references, said Adam Gase, the Broncos' offensive coordinator, who at 35 is two years younger than Manning.

Being close in age to Manning 'makes it easier when we're trying to come up with code words,' Gase said. 'The only problem is me and him and a couple of other guys are all in the same area, and all the young guys are looking at us like, 'We don't know the quote from 'Stripes.' '

With so many plays, Gase sometimes visits a website devoted to the game Scrabble to come up with new words, he said.

'You got to be able to pay attention with Peyton because he could change the play at any time,' Broncos offensive tackle Orlando Franklin said. 'You have to check into the game and stay into it for 60 minutes. And you have to understand that just because you haven't run anything in three or four weeks that it doesn't mean it won't be called.'

The scrutiny of Manning's play-calling reached new heights when television microphones picked up the sound of Manning yelling 'Omaha' dozens of times during the playoffs' divisional round. The word was part of his snap count, former players said, but it flummoxed the San Diego Chargers, who were called for five neutral-zone penalties in the game, two more than they had received to that point.

Manning, of course, is not revealing much.

'Omaha is a run play,' he told reporters before the A.F.C. championship game. 'But it could be a pass play or a play-action pass depending on a couple things: the wind, which way we're going, the quarter and the jerseys that we're wearing. It varies, really, play to play, so there's your answer to that one.'

Then Manning flashed a playful grin.

If Manning's father, the former N.F.L. quarterback Archie Manning, is in the know, he is not telling either. 'I never talk X's and O's with my sons,' he said, referring to Peyton and Eli, the Giants' quarterback.

Whatever Omaha means, fans are making it sound more complicated than it really is, said Clint Oldenburg, a designer for the video game Madden NFL who was an offensive lineman with six N.F.L. teams over five years.

'Omaha is just a snap count,' he said jokingly. 'It's amazing how smart the general public thinks football players are.'

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