{"id":1021929,"date":"2026-10-08T11:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1021929\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:39:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:39:19","slug":"matthew-stafford-josh-allen-among-nfls-best-liars-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1021929\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen among NFL&#8217;s best liars. Here&#8217;s why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Both NFL most valuable players. Both bound for Canton. Both surgically precise with their passes.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-05-21\/matthew-stafford-rams-one-year-contract-extension\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew Stafford<\/a> and <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/chargers\/story\/2026-09-27\/chargers-lose-bills\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Allen<\/a> are two of the best liars in football.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/story\/2021-08-05\/stories-behind-ascension-of-hall-of-fame-quarterback-peyton-manning\" data-autoplayable-video=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Peyton Manning<\/a> sat in the studio and cued the video. Stafford looked off a Philadelphia safety last Sunday to hold him in place. He froze a cornerback with a glance. Then he threw an out-and-up to <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-10-01\/rams-puka-nacua-smiling-playing-eagles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Puka Nacua<\/a>, absorbing a big hit as he released the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of looking off,\u201d Manning said.<\/p>\n<p>Hall of Fame linebacker <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/K\/KuecLu00.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Luke Kuechly<\/a>, watching from his own home studio, agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe quarterback will lie to you,\u201d Kuechly said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to look you off. He\u2019s going to pump you. But the one thing that never lies to you is the route.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to \u201cThe Breakdown,\u201d the ESPN2 show in which Manning and Kuechly provide different perspectives from opposite sides of the ball, discussing strategy, preparation and key storylines heading into marquee NFL matchups.<\/p>\n<p>This show airs on Friday at 12:30 p.m. PDT, and this week\u2019s episode focuses on Monday night\u2019s game between the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rams<\/a> and Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. The show is in its second season, and Kuechly replaces Bill Belichick, who played the defensive counterpart to Manning in Season 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had lots of college coaches and pro players and high school coaches that watch this show that love it,\u201d Manning said. \u201cBecause they want the details, but also for the casual fan to be able to understand and follow the game and maybe be entertained at the same time. It\u2019s a delicate balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elements that Manning and Kuechly identified as critical to Monday\u2019s game:<\/p>\n<p>Stafford\u2019s eyes. The Rams quarterback will try to move Buffalo defenders with his looks, a flick of his shoulders, a tiny pump fake. Kuechly advises defenders to watch the route.<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/chargers\/story\/2026-09-27\/chargers-lose-bills\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Greg Rousseau<\/a>. Kuechly identifies Buffalo\u2019s edge rusher as the scariest player on tape, especially with his long arms that almost seem telescopic.Allen\u2019s ability to throw outside the numbers. The Bills quarterback has the arm strength to get the ball to any of his receivers at any time. \u201cI would need a cutoff man to complete some of the throws he makes,\u201d Manning said.Quick snaps. Stafford is a master of catching the defense off guard and before it has set. It\u2019s a look, Manning said, that some teams call \u201ccheetah.\u201d Kuechly said the rule for the defense should be that the play starts when the center touches the ball.The last possession. Manning believes the last team that has the ball will be the team to win, and that the game will be back and forth the whole way.<\/p>\n<p>Manning credits <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/lakers\/story\/2020-01-26\/lakers-kobe-bryant-obit\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kobe Bryant<\/a> as the inspiration for \u201cThe Breakdown.\u201d The late <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/lakers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lakers<\/a> legend created a film-analysis series called \u201cDetail,\u201d which was designed to show the public how a professional basketball player studies game tape. It debuted in 2018 during the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Bryant then called Manning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018Hey, I want you to do \u2018Detail\u2019 for football,\u2019\u201d Manning said. \u201cHe wanted me to take people behind the ropes in football, so that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manning did it alone at first, using only his voice to break down quarterbacks. Eventually, he brought in a defensive specialist for another perspective and they both appeared on camera.<\/p>\n<p>Bryant\u2019s concept of franchising the show  across different sports gave Manning the idea to do the same with \u201cPeyton\u2019s Places,\u201d thereby creating spinoffs with his brother, Eli, John McEnroe, Sue Bird and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both NFL most valuable players. Both bound for Canton. Both surgically precise with their passes. Matthew Stafford and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1021930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[6827,53,2908,133402,133400,7,853,133401,872,6941,1014,58,2444,2611,32,4647,6,8083,1257,424,185],"class_list":["post-1021929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-ball","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-defense","tag-different-perspective","tag-espn2-show","tag-football","tag-game","tag-good-liar","tag-josh-allen","tag-kuechly","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-monday-night","tag-nfl","tag-peyton-manning","tag-quarterback","tag-rams","tag-team"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117405100518343190","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1021929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1021930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1021929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1021929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1021929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}