Here it is folks, the extra-large-mega-gigantic and any other adjective you can think of Super Bowl Preview.
Super Bowl XLIV (44 for those of you roman numeral illiterate) will feature the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. The 2 top teams in the NFL this season record-wise. (I'm convinced that my team, the Chargers would have beaten the Colts had they not choked in the second round because we had no run game and had a kicker who looked like he had seen a ghost, not that I'm bitter or anything.)
Anyways, lets take a look at the teams and players that make up the Colts and the Saints and who I think will make the differences Sunday.
(This is NOT who I think is the better player. This is who I think will have the better game on this given day due to matchups and other factors.)
QB- Peyton Manning is one of the top 5 QBs of all-time. But just like Brett "The Pickman" Favre, Manning has the tendency to force the ball in there to go for the big play shown by his 16 INT'S this year, the most he's thrown since 2002. And he has to face a secondary who may not be the greatest coverage-wise, but they are a bunch of ball-hawks, 26 INT'S this year. Meanwhile Drew Brees is always as cool as a cucumber back there, and he won't have to worry about Dwight Freeney rushing at him because Freeney is not at 100% and should be contained quite easily. Remember last week when Mark Sanchez looked like Joe Namath in the first half against the Colts secondary? Well Drew Brees is closer to Namath than Sanchez and he's gonna be picking apart this secondary, possibly throwing for 300 yards. I think Brees throws for 2 TDS and 0 Ints, while I think Manning will throw his 2 TDS but mark my words, Peyton will have that one 250 mph throw that he tries to force in, only to have Darren Sharper cut in front of the reciever. Hopefully for the Colts, it doesn't happen in crunch time. So who has the better game? Brees by a hair.
Bold Predcition 1: Peyton Manning will throw an interception.
RB/OL- This may be the determining factor in who wins this game. We have 2 run defences who have been inconsistent all year, but the Colts have stepped it up in the playoffs. Ray Rice of Baltimore, 67 yards. Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene of the Jets, the #1 rush attack in the league... Greene left the game injured, while Jones had only 42 yards. Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush will have a hard time rushing against this underrated rush defence. Meanwhile Joseph Addai and Donald Brown go up against a brutal Saints rush defence and when Manning gets a little nervous about that Saints secondary, he can dump it off to Addai or Brown. Plus, they can follow that veteran Colts O-line right to the endzone.
Bold Prediction 2: Addai rushes for 100 yards and a TD.
WR/TE-
Bold Prediction 3: Shockey shits the bed and a) either fumbles, b) unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, c) couple of dropped passes, d) screw over my fantasy team (wait.. he already did that)
Let's take a halftime break.
The Who
Never have I looked forward to a Super Bowl halftime act this much. We won’t get into how legendary the Who are, but simply put, the 4 original members of the WHO were one of the top 3 lineups to ever hit the rock stage. Maybe I’ll devote a future blog on that, but for now, let’s focus on the present. 2 of these members have passed on since then, and only Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend remain. So what can we expect? Well obviously a kick-ass performance. But how about setlist-wise. The acts usually get between 10-15 minutes to perform. This gives the Who time for 2 or 3 songs. But they're playing two... and here's why.
As I mentioned in last week's blog, CBS is televising the Super Bowl and CSI is on CBS. The 3 Who Songs that act as themes to CSI are Who are You, Bill O'Reilly......sorry, I mean Baba O'Riley... and Won't Get Fooled Again. I can just see the meeting now.
CBS EXEC: So you guys are playing these three songs and that's that.
PETE TOWNSEND: F--- you, you bloody bloke. We'll play whatevah we bloody want to!!
But these 3 songs would add up to 18 minutes and that's way too much time, so I believe that one song will be cut. Who are You. Why? Easy.... there's the famous line in the song," Aaaah, who the f--- are you!" How would that work on national tv. They can't skip the part, it's a staple of the song They can't have Roger singing, "Aaaah, who the heck are you!"
Bold Prediction 4: Baba O' Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again at Halftime
BREAKING NEWS: I Just found out they're playing a mashup of those 3 songs plus Tommy. This is a genius move. You just knew that CBS was gonna have them play those 3 songs together somehow. The only letdown is we won't be able to hear the whole 8-minute epic that is Won't Get Fooled Again, but we'll probably hear the part of that song with the famous scream.
Revised Bold Prediction 4: Roger Daltrey`s voice cracks brutally during the ``Won`t Get Fooled Again`` scream.
That's enough halftime talk... back to the game.
DEF/Special Teams- Yuck, these defenses are messy. The Colts have the better run defense, the Saints with the better pass defense. But as I mentioned earlier, the Saints have that ball-hawking secondary which will definitely make Manning think twice before he throws. I can't pick between these 2 defences, so special teams is crucial here in that, Reggie Bush or Courtney Roby have run back punt returns and kickoffs before for TD's. The Colts really don't have a return threat. Saints get the edge.
Bold Prediction 5: Bush or Roby comes up with a 50+ yard return at one point.
K- We have a veteran for the Colts in Matt Stover who has won a Super Bowl and a youngster in Garrett Hartley for the Saints who was suspended for the first 4 games of the season for using banned substances. Hartley's been consistent all year since the suspension, but do I trust a 23-year old kicker in his first Super Bowl, possibly in the rain, without his banned substances? I'll take Stover and his goofy kicking stance.
Bold Prediction 6: Garrett Hartley shanks a field goal
Commercial Break: Click here My favorite super bowl commercial ever.
The Verdict: Everyone's saying the Colts should win by 7-10 points. Not gonna be that lopsided. People are saying that they just can't see the Saints beating the Colts but, ultimately, it doesn't really matter what you see. Who thought the Cardinals would come so close to beating the Steelers last year? Not too many people. Who thought the Giants would shock the undefeated Patriots? Again, not too many. Basically, I'm saying this game will be close. Ths Super Bowl, for some, is a once-in a lifetime shot . Everyone's bringing their A game. Similar teams, similar offences, they're likely gonna match each other point for point. Peyton will not singlehandedly win this game by himself. Neither will Brees. Neither will Wayne or Colston or Bush or anybody by themselves. It will come down to that all important stat...Time of Possesion. Who can keep the ball long enough to keep the other team off of the field?
As I mentioned above, we're gonna see a lot more of Addai and Brown than we've seen the rest of the playoffs because of the mediocre Saints rush defence. And if the RB's can succeed, that's gonna be a giant chunk of clock eaten up by the Colts. And the other reason...who manages time better than Peyton Manning? As I said before, I think Brees will have the better game. But how can you not picture it.... Saints have just tied it up at 27...Colts get the ball at their own 20 with 1:50 left and 1 timeout...Manning drives them down the field and runs the clock down to 0:01. Cue Stover.
Colts 30, Saints 27
MVP: Manning( just because it's already pre-determined)
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