When thinking about Super Bowl XLIV, many questions come to my mind: How drunk will I be before kickoff? Should I get barbeque wings or mild medium from Duffs? Will there finally be any good commercials this year?
But I guess the most important question is, which team is going to win? My first three questions have yet to be answered, but the response to the fourth – who will be crowned champion – seems obvious.
The Indianapolis Colts will win the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Defense wins championships, and after the New Orleans Saints let up 31 first downs to the Minnesota Vikings, gave up 475 total yards, and had 88 yards in penalties, I'm not convinced that NO is Super Bowl-ready. If it weren't for three fumbles and a lucky interception, we may have been subjected to Brett Favre headlines for the past week.
Don't get me wrong: New Orleans is a worthy competitor, but this game is going to come down to experience. That's where the Colts edge the Saints. Peyton Manning has been to the Super Bowl before and understands what it takes to win one. Drew Brees, on the other hand, is playing in his first professional championship and has an entire city's collective expectation weighing him down.
Statistically, Manning and Brees are comparable to one another. They each carried their teams to first place in their respective conferences, they each were MVP candidates and they were both among the leaders in passing.
Brees had the best passer rating (109.6) in the regular season and threw the most touchdowns (34), but Manning threw for more total yards (4500) and was sacked half as many times as Brees (10).
What the stats don't show, however, are the intangibles. Manning is able to read the defense at the line of scrimmage and audible his team into an appropriate play that better suits the opposing defensive scheme.
Manning never seems rattled. In a late game situation when a championship is on the line, I'd take him over any other quarterback in the history of the NFL.
And the game will be on the line.
Looking at the matchup, this is probably the most exciting Super Bowl of the last five years. Each team has a high-octane offense and I'm positive that each side is going to put up big numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if the game comes down to the last possession. With the way Manning manages the clock, expect the blue and white to get the last shot at the end zone.
Prediction:
Colts 41, Saints 38
E-mail: andrew.wiktor@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
