First, let’s get a few things out of the way:
–Adam’s piece on changing your view of Peyton Manning really resonated with me. I’ve always been a Manning hater, but as the Colts have made this Super Bowl run, I’ve found myself less and less bothered by him. Here’s why: In Manning’s last Super Bowl, I was clinging to the small hope that he wouldn’t pass Brett Favre in the record books and unseat him as the greatest quarterback of all time. Well, when Favre went turncoat on us, my view on quarterback legacies was returned to a saner realm, and I realized that Favre cannot compete with Manning, or a handful of other quarterbacks, for the title of greatest ever. He’s probably in the top five, but his playoff follies knock him to the edge of that list, and Manning has a chance to blast all of his records. Manning’s a better quarterback than Favre. That distinction is only going to get clearer. And I’m OK with that now.
–That said, if you’re a Packers fan, you should root for the Saints for several reasons. First, we owe them — really, the entire nation owes them — a debt of gratitude for sparing us two weeks of “the Brett Favre fairytale,” and ending that farce in such hilarious fashion. Well, maybe they were bumming in Bristol, Conn. But if Manning burnished his legacy two Sundays ago, Favre shot another hole in his. Second, I’m a firm believer in rooting for the NFC team, unless there’s a legitimate reason not to (like if the Vikings, Bears, Cowboys or Lio…OK, maybe only the first two scenarios are possible). Third, the city of New Orleans deserves it.
–Side note: If you’re the Saints, and you win, do you say, “Screw it, we’re not going to visit Obama. We’re taking this thing to Crawford, Texas, and celebrating on W’s front lawn. And then when he comes out, we say to him, ‘You left our city for dead, but look at us now!’” Just a thought…
–And one more thing: I know it’s the Colts, and I know it’s Miami again, but this Super Bowl halftime show has NO CHANCE of being as cool as the last Colts-in-Miami halftime show. Prince, in the rain, playing “Purple Rain?” Come on. I love “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” but nothing The Who does tomorrow will measure up to that. Although, there is a little humor in the fact that Prince wrote that God-awful song for the Vikings (I’m not linking to it, because I like Prince too much to acknowledge its existence), and now his adopted team fell short of making it to the stadium where Prince put on the second-greatest Super Bowl halftime show of my life (just behind U2, just ahead of Michael Jackson).
OK, enough of my Bill Simmons impersonation. On to the game:
The key to beating the Colts, obviously, is controlling Peyton Manning, and as Chris said, the teams that have done that usually have done it by disguising coverages and confusing Manning at the line. The Patriots have done it in the past, and the Packers did it last season. But it’s going to mean a Saints secondary with depth issues playing above their heads for four quarters. This is where Darren Sharper comes in; he’s best when he’s unpredictable, and him being unpredictable is going to be a big part of the Saints’ game plan. If they can create a couple turnovers, it’s conceivable the Saints might have enough leeway to keep up with the Colts.
And I’ll agree with Chris again as it relates to the Saints’ offense. I don’t know why a team that prides itself on aggressiveness became so conservative in the NFC Championship Game (maybe too much time with Brad Childress polluted Sean Peyton’s brain?). But that can’t happen again in the Super Bowl. They need to stay aggressive against the Colts and keep the pressure on Manning to answer. They don’t have the luxury of playing a quarterback as mistake-prone as Favre, and they won’t be able to afford the long lulls in production they had against the Vikings.
It’s going to be an entertaining game, but in the end, I don’t think the Saints have enough defensively to stop Manning.
Final score: Colts 31, Saints 27.
–Gene Bosling
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