SUPER BOWL PREVIEW: What will prevail, destiny or greatness?

To me this is the most interesting and intriguing Super Bowl matchup since SB XXXVI, where the high powered offense of the St. Louis Rams took on arguably the most destined team in NFL history, the New England Patriots. Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking; typical Boston fan bringing up a championship of the past during a SB not involving our team. This game does have similarities with one of the best Super Bowls of all time though.

The Patriots were a team of destiny, and many believe a huge reason was the horrible tragedy of 9/11 occurring at the beginning of the season. This can be associated with the fact that their name is the “Patriots.” Although Hurricane Katrina occurred 4 and a half years ago, there are still a huge number of people in New Orleans affected by this disaster. Time and time again we have seen cities and countries rally behind sports when times are tough. A Super Bowl win for the Saints would certainly help the morale for the city of New Orleans. Much like everyone other than Rams fans were rooting for the underdog Patriots, people across the nation will be rooting for these NO Saints. Like the Rams were, the Indianapolis Colts will be going for their second ring ever coming just a few years apart. Both against the hopes of every football fan other than their respective supporters. The Saints may not be as big of underdogs that the Pats were, but they are still up against what many believe to be the best QB of all time. Will the Colts be able to do what the Rams could not and disappoint the country, or are the Saints a team of destiny much like the Patriots?

I have put together a list of what I believe to be the 5 biggest factors that will decide the outcome of this game.

Quarterback play
This may seem obvious, but certainly needs to be mentioned. It is not often we see the 2 best QBs of that particular season facing off in the SB. This year we get to see it. Both Brees and Manning were at the top of the league in touchdown passes. I won’t mention who was also right there with them. It will definitely be interesting to see who plays better. It might come down to who has the ball last if we see the shootout we are all hoping for. The playoffs thus far have certainly been set up for it. When it comes down to it though, how can you not go with Manning? As much as I hate the guy, he has been extremely consistent all year, and unlike 3 years ago, he has played great all postseason and has been by far the biggest reason the Colts are here. That is a scary thought considering he still won a SB throwing just 3 tds and a horrendous 7 picks during that postseason.
Advantage: COLTS

Defense
Since this is one of the best offensive match-ups in SB history, defense (or lack thereof) is obviously going to be the deciding factor, as it usually goes with big games in this league. Both these defenses are pretty shaky, especially being the fact that they both made the SB. It’s actually quite baffling that both these teams were able to get this far with mediocre defenses. Usually you see one high powered offense with an okay defense and one team that got there with a lot of credit to their D. Both defenses were ranked in the lower half of the league giving up yards (NO a dismal 25th). Indy isn’t terrible defending the pass, but their run D is close to non-existent (24th in the league), as well as NO 21st in the league. Indy was pretty solid when it came to giving up points though, giving up about 19 points a game, putting them 8th in the league. Although that is really the only stat that matters, the Colts will not be able to keep the Saints out of the end zone if they give up this kind of yardage. Since I don’t believe that either of these defenses will be able to stop each other at all, the biggest factor defensively in this game is turnovers. Neither team is going to get much pressure on the QB. Manning was sacked a whopping 10 times all season. I mean really, 10 times? The guy goes games without anyone getting a fingertip on him. Must be fucking nice. Anyway, Brees was only sacked 20 times, which is pretty damn good too. I don’t see the Colts defense getting much pressure on Brees, especially with Freeney playing with a 3rd degree ankle sprain. Mathis is going to have to play unbelievable if the Colts want to get to him. The Saints proved they are able to put some pressure on a good O-line, pounding Favre, potentially more than he has ever been pounded in his career (which was absolutely fucking glorious to watch.) That number 10 (sacks) on Manning all season just seems to stand out too much to me though. I don’t see the Saints sacking him more than once all game. This is why they NEED at least one big play from their secondary to win this game. They have lived off of big turnovers all season, and have a big playmaker in Darren Sharper (9 picks and 3 TDs on the season). I think that the Saints could win this game because of a big defensive play. Not so much for the Colts. I am sure they really wish they had Bob Sanders for this game.
Advantage: SAINTS


Experience
This factor is clearly a no brainer, since there are many guys remaining on this Colts team that won the SB just three years ago. The Colts have been keeping their cool all week, refusing to get into shit talking battles with the Saints. Not like the Saints have been in full force trying to start shit, but they have dabbled a bit. Hmm keeping your mouths shut and waiting to do the talking on the field? Sounds like a familiar way of life around these parts. Let’s face it, the Saints and their fans are ecstatic to be in the SB. There have been parties all week in New Orleans, and the players are having a blast. It’s just what happens when your team is in the Bowl for the first time ever. I truly believe it’s a huge reason why it’s so hard for teams to win the SB in their first appearance. Not saying this means the Saints won’t show up to play hard and win, because they definitely will. The Colts just seem extremely focused and all about preparing for the game. You don’t hear about Colts fans going crazy and partying, simply because they have been there and know nothing matters unless they win this game.
Advantage: COLTS


Storybook Factor
The Saints clearly have more of a storybook factor here, as I basically mentioned earlier. However, the Colts do have some storybook factor with them too. A second SB for Manning is huge for his legacy and the Best QB of all time argument. As the most dominant athlete in the four major sports of all time Michael Jordan said to Ray Allen after the Celtics championship, the first ring is lucky. You have to win at least two to be in conversation as the best of all time. This doesn’t trump the city of New Orleans winning a championship though, but it still deserves to be mentioned.
Advantage: SAINTS

Worst Case Scenario for Boston sport fans
This factor is the last mentioned, but I don’t consider it to be the most important, don’t worry. I just really think it needs to be mentioned. Since the Patriots last SB victory, the Steelers have won 2, the Colts have won one, and the other SB played does not need to be mentioned. During our dynasty we dominated Pitt and Indy, to the point where all the Steelers did was make excuses, and people still had the audacity to argue Manning as a better QB than Tom Brady. Those two things alone created the hatred we have for both of them. Of course we have to deal with their fan bases winning Super Bowls. Pitt didn’t have to go through us in the playoffs for theirs, and I still bitch about the horrendous officiating in the AFC Championship game that the Colts stole from us. Not to mention the Giants cheated to win SB XLII. We can even take this to baseball and basketball. The past two champions in each respective sport are the Lakers and Yankees. We can even take it to hockey, where the Pittsburgh Penguins won last years Stanley Cup. If you are a big Bruins fan, you definitely agree that is not a great outcome at all. Even if Ulf Samuelsson isn’t still in the league. To me, I don’t see this terrible streak of worst case scenario champions ending on Sunday. The Colts are simply the better team, and they have the best QB in the league right now. As much as it pains me to say it, Peyton is a winner now. Hell, the football Gods even had the audacity to give us a Jets Colts AFC Championship after the Jets celebrated a week 2 win over our Pats like it was their fucking SB, then proceeded to completely shit the bed the rest of the season, and get extremely lucky and back into the playoffs. I have officially made myself sick writing this column. I must end it before I make myself run into oncoming traffic.
Advantage: COLTS

Super Bowl Prediction: Greatness Prevails
Colts 34 Saints 30

I pray to God that I am wrong.

-TTF