Defensively, I'm not usually a big fan of playing primarily zone but I think that's what they should employ in this game. Normally, I would call a person nuts if they wanted to roll out a gameplan that would force Manning to take shots down the field, but the temperature at kickoff is supposed to be a low of 17 (last I saw), windy, and that doesn't include the windchill factor. Manning's arm strength isn't what it used to be and he's been making a living hitting up underneath and intermediate routes this season. Take that away from him and try to make him send a few wobblers deep with McCourty patrolling the area. I also think that this would be a good game to insert Buchanan. Buchanan is a speed rusher that takes wide angles to the quarterback. Against mobile quarterbacks, that's an achilles heel. Peyton is anything but mobile though and Buchanan could be used to get in his face from the outside. A DL of Ninkovich-Sopoaga/Jones/Vellano-Chandler-Buchanan could provide a nice pass rush while still being capable of defending interior runs.
