Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly spent the week off between the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl 50 not only watching tape of Peyton Manning, but listening to the Broncos quarterback as well.
Kuechly is a noted film junkie who had to be booted out of Bank of America Stadium on Christmas Eve 2014 by Panthers coach Ron Rivera.
But studying Manning and his myriad of pre-snap calls, checks and bluffs was a perplexing, all-sensory experience for Kuechly, who kept the audio on.
Just when Kuechly thought he’d detected a pattern to Manning’s hand gestures or his ubiquitous “Omaha” calls, Manning would mix things up and send Kuechly back to square one.