The Who Dat? Nation has finally reached the top of the mountain.

They did so as the New Orleans Saints pulled off a dramatic 31-17 upset of the Indianapolis [...]]]> (Before we begin: I wasn’t going to write a recap of this game at first. Then I realized that we’re roughly nine months away from the next meaningful NFL game. That changed my mind.)

The Who Dat? Nation has finally reached the top of the mountain.

They did so as the New Orleans Saints pulled off a dramatic 31-17 upset of the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night in Miami.

Since plenty of other commentators have weighed in on what this means, not just to the Saints but to the city of New Orleans as a whole, I’m going to focus strictly on the game itself. There’s plenty of enough to talk about there, anyways.

The Saints’ turnaround from “Aints” to champions was keyed by two people – head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees – and it’s really no surprise those two were the reasons the Saints were victorious Sunday.

(Just a quick, completely uncalled for reminder: Vikings’ fans STILL have no idea what this feels like)

Payton rebounded from his conservative approach in the NFC title game two weeks ago on Sunday with a masterfully aggressive gameplan. It wasn’t always smart and it didn’t always work – the decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal late in the second quarter was baffling, to say the least – but by being aggressive, he showed his team he had confidence in them at every single turn. In sports, that stuff matters.

It certainly mattered on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Payton and Co. shocked the nation by going for an onside kick. After a lengthy pile-up (which had to have been the craziest pile ever), the Saints came away with not only the ball, but the momentum. And when Brees led the offense down for a score – giving the Saints a 13-10 lead – it was official that, no matter what Indianapolis did to counter that, the Colts would be behind the cliched eight-ball the rest of the way.

In the biggest games of your life, you turn it loose. Payton did just that.

Of course, it’s easy to turn it loose when you have a signal-caller like Brees.

As Adam said in giving his prediction, New Orleans’ hopes would rest on Brees’ shoulders. By going 32-of-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions), Brees showed he was more than up to the task, turning in the closest thing a quarterback can to a perfect game. Playing behind a dominant offensive line (seriously, was he pressured more than a handful of times?), the game’s MVP found every single open patch in Indianapolis’ Cover 2 defense. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers and showed that, if anyone doubts he should be considered the game’s best quarterback, they should doubt no more.

Payton and Brees have become the league’s elite coach-quarterback combo. When you have that, more often that not, you’re going to be the best.

The Saints were Sunday. And it’s absolutely deserved.

Other random thoughts on the Super Bowl

• Peyton Manning had his chance to become the best quarterback ever in this one and he blew it. Sure, he completed over 66 percent of his passes for 333 yards, but it was a very non-discript 333 yards. And with the game hanging the balance, Manning made a terrible throw to Reggie Wayne that Tracy Porter (officially my favorite non-Packer) picked and took to the house for the game-clinching score. Manning is still top 10, but he’s nowhere close to where he could have been (plus, Brees has surpassed him as the best in the game today). Somewhere, Joe Montana is smiling. His status as the best ever is safe.
• I tried to tell you The Who should be stopped. If you doubted me then, you can’t now after watching their abysmal halftime performance. They just can’t get it done anymore. Can we officially declare the 1960s are over, for God’s sake? Can the NFL get a band that actually, you know, appeals to its target demograpic (me, for example)? How about Pearl Jam? Or Kings of Leon, maybe? Why does the halftime show always have to be classic rock radio?
• Sort of a down year for the commercials. That said, I had two favorites (for different reasons). The funniest was the David Letterman/Oprah/Jay Leno promo for Letterman’s show. Hilarious. The best was the Megan Fox ad for…well, I don’t even know what it was for. Megan Fox in a tub? Yikes. Here’s how you know it made an impact. Adam and I were having a conversation. We stopped when the commercial came on. When it was over, I said, “What were we talking about?” He stared blankly at me before responding, “I can’t remember.” That’s the effect Fox has on men. I doubt we were the only guys experiencing this.
• I love, love, love that Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino were the two former quarterbacks-turned analysts for CBS’ halftime show. Two guys who know a little something about Super Bowl-winning quarterbacking right there. They know as much as you and I do about that.
• Esiason had another gem, too, when talking about Brees holding his recently-born son on the field after the game was over. Esiason: “It’s really a great moment between a father and son.” He said it as though every father and son experiences that. Yeah, I remember when my dad and I did that after he won it back in ‘81. We talk about it all the time. And, again, what would YOU know about that anyways, Boomer?
• Next year, the Super Bowl is in Dallas. How ’bout the Pack goes down there and wins it, shoving it right in Jerry Jones’ cosmetically-altered face? How fun would that be? Just saying…

-Chris Lempesis

And the final score will be 34-24.

And the Super Bowl MVP will be not Peyton Manning, but Dallas Clark.

And he will have 9 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s to no one’s surprise that I picked the Colt’s after I admitted to the world my man crush on Peyton Manning.  I am [...]]]> The Indianapolis Colts.

And the final score will be 34-24.

And the Super Bowl MVP will be not Peyton Manning, but Dallas Clark.

And he will have 9 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s to no one’s surprise that I picked the Colt’s after I admitted to the world my man crush on Peyton Manning.  I am actually a little surprised that Chris didn’t try to make up his Nostradamus-like pick of his Tennessee Titans by going with the Saints and hoping for the best.  To have the record show, prior to the year in a small circle amongst friends, including Chris, I picked the Colts to win the Super Bowl and the Titans to miss the playoffs entirely.  Being the unified voice that OBOD is, we went the Titans and I am still shaking my head to this moment.

After reading the Super Bowl previews from both Chris and Gene, there really isn’t anything left for me to say that they didn’t cover.  Both did bang-up jobs of breaking down the game (eat your heart out Peter King), so I am going to try to pick up a couple table scraps and explain why I think the Colts win by two scores that doesn’t involve Manning.

First, who is going to cover Dallas Clark?  If Visanthe Shiancoe gave the Saints problems last week, Clark could be an absolute nightmare tonight.  Reggie Wayne steals a lot of the attention, but it is basically Clark, not Wayne, who has replaced Marvin Harrison.  Check out these identical stats.

Wayne: 100 rec, 1264 yards, 12.6 avg, 10 TD

Clark:  100 rec, 1106 yards, 11.1 avg, 10 TD

Jabari Greer can probably hold his own against Wayne, but it is Clark who will present a tremendous matchup problem for Gregg Williams.  The X-factor is Darren Sharper.  He may be the best Clark-kryptonite the Saints have, but he will then be forced to leave his ball-hawking centerfield position in game where turnovers will be critical for a Saints upset.

My second point why the Colts will win is the running game.  A lot of Manning’s success comes from playaction.  I expect the Colts to coming out running, not passing early.  Looking beyond his fumbles, Adrian “All Thumbs” Peterson ripped up the Saints run defense pretty good a couple weeks ago.  Joseph Addai is not Peterson, but Manning is not Brett Favre.  The Colts don’t need a 140 yards from Addai, but more like 75 yards, enough to get the playaction going.  If they are successful with that the Saints secondary will be on their heels the whole game.

On the flip side, Pierre Thomas could be the key for a Saints upset.  The Colts defense is predicated on speed, which in my opinion will make Reggie Bush a non-factor.  But what if the Saints come out and pound the ball with Thomas right at Dwight Freeney and Raheem Brock?  The Colts are not great against the run (24th in the NFL), but have righted the ship some in the playoffs.  However, the Colts have to respect Drew Brees, unlike Joe Flacco or Mark Sanchez.  The Saints cannot go conservative like they did against the Vikings, but if they success running the ball, it could give Brees enough time to exploit any mismatches down field.

I do believe the Saints can win and as it should, the game will rest of the shoulders of their best player, Brees.  However, actually winning is a different story.  Brees will play well, but I think Manning plays better.  Either an early turnover or the Saints inability to get Manning off the field will lead to an early hole for the Saints, which will feel like the abyss against Manning.  Chris is right saying that if the Saints force a shootout they have a chance because they are best-equipped team in the league in playing from behind.  However, on the other side ol’ corral is Manning, who will have just one more round in the chamber than Brees.

-Adam Somers

Soon, there will be no more hype. No more injury reports. No more analysis. No more rumors of some band claiming to call themselves The Who playing the halftime show.

Seriously, fellas, you need to stop. You’re killing all of us.

Soon, Super Bowl XLIV will be upon us, with the Indianapolis Colts [...]]]> At last, it’s almost here.

Soon, there will be no more hype. No more injury reports. No more analysis. No more rumors of some band claiming to call themselves The Who playing the halftime show.

Seriously, fellas, you need to stop. You’re killing all of us.

Soon, Super Bowl XLIV will be upon us, with the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints battling it out to determine the world champions. But, since it’s not quite time yet, I figured I’d weigh in with my thoughts on the game. There’s a good chance Adam and Gene will give their respective thoughts and predictions rather shortly, so make sure to check back for those.

(Quick aside: You might have noticed that I stopped doing the weekly “Breaking down…” posts right after the week of the Cowboys game, way back in mid-November. The reason for that was simple: The Packers were on a winning streak. And you don’t you-know-what with a winning streak. Like I’ve said before, I’m superstitious to an astounding degree.)

Since pretty much everyone on the planet is picking the Colts – currently a five-point favorite the last time I checked – I’m going to use this post to try and answer a simple question: How do the Saints go about winning Sunday?

When I really looked at it, I came up with the following five things (my prediction for the game will follow):

1. Blitz Peyton Manning sparingly, if at all. Yes, yes – I know this goes against the standard football logic that says you have to pressure a great quarterback if you want to throw him off his game. But with the way Manning’s playing, you have to throw that logic out the window. Instead, the Saints need to take a page out of – brace yourselves – Bob Sanders’ playbook. Shocking, I know, but remember what Sanders did against Manning last season while he was still defensive coordinator of the Packers? He did what he always did: Swept four and dropped seven into coverage (with very little blitzing). It worked perfectly as Manning was never quite comfortable with all those defenders roaming in the secondary. Manning finished just 21-of-42 for 229 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions as Green Bay romped to a 34-14 win. With his lightening-fast delivery and knowledge of every blitz possible, Manning leaves you almost no chance to sack him, anyways. So you have to play the odds and throw as many bodies into coverage as you can and just hope someone makes a play. With players like Darren Sharper in their secondary, the Saints could do it.
2. Get physical with the receivers – very physical. Obviously, the Colts have a very good offense. But theirs is a finesse offense (as is the case with almost every dome team). This is especially true with regards to their receivers. Again, they’re very good, but I don’t see much physicality in that group. So you jam them, you press them – hell, you flat-out grab them off-the-snap if you have to. You might draw a penalty, yes, but you will also begin to frustrate them. That, in tune, will frustrate Manning (believe it or not, I still think that’s possible). The Colts are not necessarily a vertical offense; they rely heavily on short-and-intermediate stuff. Being physical with the pass-catchers cuts down on the timing you need to run those routes.
3. Do not let the Colts run the ball early on. This one’s simple: If the Colts can run early, Manning can playaction frequently. If that happens, game over.
4. Sean Payton: Don’t forget what got you here. Like everyone else, I was stunned at how conservative Payton became during the course of the NFC Championship Game. He took the ball out of Drew Brees’ hands and decided the Saints were going to become a ball-control offense. That’s not how the Saints won 13 games in the regular season and it almost caused them to lose to the Vikings. Get back to what you to best. Put Brees in the shotgun and let him wing it all over the yard. You’re going to need at least 35 points to win this one, Sean, and running on first-and-second down won’t do that for you.
5. Make Reggie Bush the focal point of your offense, especially early. With just nine total offensive touches for 41 yards (and a score), Bush was a glaring non-factor in the Vikings’ game. That can’t happen again Sunday. We can talk all we want about how Bush just hasn’t been the pro we all thought he’d be, but the fact remains: When he makes plays, the whole team is lifted (and opponents get the wind kicked out of them). He can break the game open Sunday, but he’ll need the ball way more than nine times for that to happen. The Saints should be aiming more for the 15-20 touch range and if that happens, you can almost guarantee Bush will break something.

Prediction

Unlike a lot of people, I really believe the Saints have a shot to win this one. After all, their offense is no shrinking violet and their defense, while certainly not great, can produce turnovers at key moments (see: the end of regulation in the Vikings’ game). With the way the Colts are playing, that might just be the only formula you can beat them with: Score, score, score and just hope for a turnover at some point. The Jets tried a gameplan based around running and defense and it worked – for less than a half. The Saints have to be thinking shootout. The only problem there is…

You’re getting into a shootout with, arguably, the greatest quarterback ever – which I think Manning becomes with a win Sunday – playing the best ball of his career. Everytime I look at this game, that’s all I keep coming back to: He’s one win away from possibly being the best ever. How does he let that moment pass him by? Sure, he’s had some playoff stinkers in the past, but he’s just so close now. And when the great ones are that close, they usually don’t slip up.

And Manning won’t slip Sunday.

Prediction: Indianapolis Colts 38, New Orleans Saints 31

-Chris Lempesis

Clay Matthews, the Packers’ revelatory rookie linebacker who’s posted 10 sacks, recovered three fumbles, forced another and made 50 tackles this season, finished third in the voting for the NFL’s defensive rookie [...]]]> Get ready for a long line of postseason awards where Packers players don’t get the credit they should. The first such snub came tonight.

Clay Matthews, the Packers’ revelatory rookie linebacker who’s posted 10 sacks, recovered three fumbles, forced another and made 50 tackles this season, finished third in the voting for the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year. Houston linebacker Brian Cushing, Matthews’ college teammate at USC, won in a landslide, and Buffalo’s Jairus Byrd was second.

The Cushing pick is legitimate–he posted 134 tackles, registered five sacks and picked off four passes, all-around numbers Matthews doesn’t have. The thing that bugs me  a little about the result, though, is how few votes Matthews got. It’s a strong defensive rookie of the year field, but with 10 sacks and the transformational effect he’s had on the Packers’ defense, don’t you think he deserves more than three votes?

This won’t be the last time you see a Packers player come up short of an award in the next two weeks, I don’t think. I’ve got a hunch Charles Woodson won’t win defensive player of the year (possibly losing to New Orleans’ Darren Sharper, the Jets’ Darrelle Revis or — in the ultimate injustice — the Vikings’ Jared Allen). And Aaron Rodgers isn’t likely to factor much into the MVP vote. Not with media darlings like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Judas in the running.

That isn’t to say those three quarterbacks aren’t deserving (though we at OBOD have serious reservations about the MVP candidacy of a quarterback who signed with a team and helped them improve by two games). Nor is it to say Revis wouldn’t be a good choice for defensive POY. But in a year where the Packers had a handful of standout individual performances, yet only got three Pro Bowlers, it seems like they’re flying too far under the radar. If Woodson doesn’t win, that would be the biggest injustice tossed the Packers’ way.

–Gene Bosling

Hey everybody–Gene here, back [...]]]> UPDATE: I’ve been graciously informed by reader Holly that “who dey” refers to the Bengals, while “who dat” is the Saints. Whoops. Thanks for the catch, Holly. Can’t keep my Southern team cheers straight. And if you don’t think Cincinnati is in the South, spend some time there. Right over the border from Kentucky. Anyway…

Hey everybody–Gene here, back from a couple weeks of vacation. Nothing too out of the ordinary went down, despite what you might read here. You shouldn’t believe all the legendary Gene Bosling stories you here. You should, however, believe some of them.

Anyway, just wanted to post my quick thoughts on the Saints/Pats game tonight. I only watched part of it, so I’ll keep it brief.

First, it was perversely flattering to watch the Saints construct their secondary out of the 2003 Packers (Mike McKenzie and Darren Sharper so far) and shut down the Patriots and Randy Moss. Makes you wonder why those guys could never do it, at least to that degree, with the Packers. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because Gregg Williams is a notch or two above Ed Donatell?

But that’s not the point of this post. It’s this: Perhaps some of you see the 10-1 Vikings and think Judas is going to get his way, lyin’ and grinnin’ and gunslingin’ and riverboat gamblin’ and actin’ like a little kid out there and doing all sorts of other things with the ‘g’ dropped from them because it’s part of his folksy charm, all the way to the Super Bowl. After seeing the Saints dismantle the Pats, I’ve come to this conclusion: It ain’t happenin’.

First, that offense. We all saw what Brees did to the Packers last season and how it changed everything the Packers would have done in response. And it’s well-documented, despite what the Judas acolytes were saying after the game, that the Vikings have trouble defending the pass. With those weapons, in the Superdome, can you imagine what Brees would do to that secondary? Now, some of it depends on how much time he can get. But he hit them for 330 in a Monday night game last year, and his weapons are even more diverse this year, with or without Reggie Bush. The Saints have given up just 13 sacks, and they’ll probably wind up with home-field advantage, which helps the pass protection.

The other reason this Saints team is so good, of course, is the defense. They led the league in offense last year, but went 8-8 because they couldn’t stop anybody. So they got Williams, who has rejuvenated Sharper’s career and made him a Pro Bowl safety again by letting him do what he does best — roam the secondary and pounce when he sees fit. Malcolm Jenkins is playing well, and the Saints have a solid 26 sacks. They’ve also notched 36 takeaways and scored seven defensive touchdowns. That’s a huge bonus with this offense.

And here’s the other thing, the reason I still don’t see this twisted fairytale working out for Judas. He’ll likely have to go to New Orleans and trade TDs with Brees. The Vikings aren’t built to do that, because it makes Adrian Peterson and their pass rush less effective, and we know what happens when Judas  is forced to play that game. The Vikings aren’t built to come from behind, and Judas certainly isn’t wired to keep up with that kind of offense in the playoffs (St. Louis in 2001, anyone?). Maybe he truly is different. Maybe Brad Childress will somehow fail to make his usual allotment of egregious coaching boners lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl. I just can’t see it. I still believe Judas is sitting on at least one stinker of a game, and he’s plenty capable of cooking one up in January.

It’s well-documented among us at OBOD that we want to play Judas one more time — why not? We’d have nothing to lose, all the pressure would be on them and Aaron Rodgers is finally starting to establish a sense of timing with a short passing game. But even if the Packers don’t get another shot at him, I wouldn’t worry too much after seeing that tonight.

If it comes to it, the Saints should have enough to take him down.

–Gene Bosling