INDIANAPOLIS -- The calm, benevolent gaze is fixed on Jack Everly's face, but the sweat trickling down from his temple belies a savage effort, both physical and cerebral.

Everly, the Principal Pops Conductor for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, leads an eclectic cast of musicians, dancers and singers -- not to mention a gymnast, a slew of Santas and flying reindeer -- through a dress rehearsal of the ISO's celebrated holiday show on this snowy Wednesday night.

"Every one of these remarkable musicians has his or her own perceptions about the piece you're doing," Everly, a dynamic (and tuxedoed) sprite of a man, had explained earlier. "You need to bring them all into one point of view."

To do this, Everly uses a variety of gestures, eye contact, body language to communicate his vision with his players.

	Manning has thrown 6 TDs and 2 INTs during Indy's four-game winning streak.

Not unlike the city's other leading conductor, one Peyton Manning, who always seems to be in tune with his players. Call him The Maestro.

Richard Wagner, the gifted German composer, believed that a conductor had two chief duties. One, to provide the orchestra with a true tempo and, two, to find the "melos," the underlying thread of line that gives the work its form and shape.

"Peyton practices all the moves, as it were," Everly said. "But in performance, it can go anywhere. In the game, it can go anywhere. And you just get them all to go where you need to go … together."

And when you do?

"It's one of the best feelings in the world."

In other words: Touchdown!

"If I see something, I have the freedom to take it," Manning said. "One of the worst feelings in football is saying, 'I wish I had that play called.' Our system gives you the freedom to get to that play.

"Some people say quarterbacks aren't the same any more, they don't call their own plays. I think it's a little different -- you have so many formations and personnel and defensive packages. If I called my own plays, I think certain receivers would never get into the game. I would forget to substitute.

"I think we're probably the closest thing to (old-school play calling) as far as (offensive coordinator) Tom Moore gives me a lot of freedom at the line of scrimmage to change things."

You've seen the act. Manning comes to the line and then, as the play clock winds down, he goes slightly berserk. He called it "being busy." Manning yells to the wide receivers, he waves to the running backs, he points and gestures in all directions. Sometimes he does a full 360 degrees. Every nuanced gesture has a meaning -- it's just that sometimes that meaning is meant for the opposing defense.

"Oh, yeah," said Colts center Jeff Saturday. "They like to play games with each other. Peyton does a great job with the linebackers like (Miami's) Zach Thomas. They get the tendencies and pick up certain things from your offense. He does a great job off-setting that."

Said Manning, "Now and then you have to do something that means nothing -- just to keep the defense honest."

According to head coach Tony Dungy, here is how the system works:
Manning generally gets three plays in the huddle -- a run to the right, a run to the left and a pass. As Manning approaches the line, he tries to read the defense, especially the middle linebacker. As the play clock winds down, he checks into the play best suited for the defense. Sometimes, he doesn't make the actual call until there are two or three seconds left to make it harder for the defense to react.

"It's kind of like how we practice," Manning said. "We wait until two or three seconds on the play clock before we change the play. You can't always make the perfect call. We're not trying to do that, we're just trying not to waste plays.

"I can't stand when I watch a game on TV and you just see a wasted play. You see a run and 11 guys on the left side and you say, 'They just wasted a play.' You don't get that many plays as it is … you can't afford to waste one."

When the Colts are on the road, Manning said, he is even more active because it's so hard for his teammates to hear him.

	“	If I see something, I have the freedom to take it. One of the worst feelings in football is saying, 'I wish I had that play called.' Our system gives you the freedom to get to that play. ”
		— QB Peyton Manning, on calling plays at the line of scimmage

"You kind of have to walk to each side, to the tight end on the right, to the tight end on the left," Manning said. "You have to say a little bit more."

When the Colts lost three games in a row -- at Pittsburgh (28-10), at Washington (26-21) and to Tennessee (23-15) -- there was criticism that Manning checked off on too many plays at the line of scrimmage. With a 4-4 record, Indianapolis visited Philadelphia for a critical game. In retrospect, it was the turning point of the season for the Colts.

Against one of the league's truly great defenses, Manning completed 18 of 23 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. There were zero interceptions and zero sacks. According to the passer rating system, Manning was technically perfect with the maximum figure of 158.3.

It was performance art of the highest order.

"The guy made the right checks and he made them with confidence," said Colts tight end Marcus Pollard. "There was not one time when we ran something we shouldn't have run. He was Superman … ."

The Colts entire gameplan was to run and pass away from the Eagles' ferocious blitzes.

"We worked on those blitzes all week and we tried to give him the looks, but you can't simulate them," Dungy said. "We just said, 'Hey, you'll be wrong sometimes. They'll get you.' They never got him.

"He saw every single one, went to the right guy, set things up and called the running game the right way. It was an unbelievable performance."

Philadelphia safety Blaine Bishop said Manning always seemed to know exactly what was coming. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said he was happy that more teams didn't give their quarterbacks the freedom to make those last-minute calls.

"The only person that came to mind was Dan Marino," said the Eagles' Hugh Douglas. "When I played for the Jets, Dan Marino came to the line and called every play at the line."

For the record, Manning seems to buy the conductor analogy. On Wednesday, the former Tennessee star described his one brush with conducting.

"I did a little band directing in college after a couple of games," he said. "I was actually kind of humbled as I was directing the band … I looked down and the real conductor was below me the whole time and that kind of brought me back down to earth."

The Colts have now won four straight, including a stout 23-20 win at Denver in overtime in the snow. Sunday's game at Tennessee is monstrous; At 8-4, believe it or not, the Colts have the AFC's best record (over San Diego and Oakland) based on tiebreakers. Considering their remaining games -- at Cleveland, the Giants and Jaguars -- the road to Super Bowl XXXVII could pass through Indianapolis.

And wouldn't that be music to the ears of Colts fans?

Greg Garber is a senior writer at ESPN.com.