Super Bowl 44 : Close, with plenty of cigars…
In the same way that it’s possible to differentiate between good players or teams and truly special ones, there are important championships and then there are the elite competitions in global sport, that resonate with a magical cachet and possess an X-factor that is rarely matched. No doubt that the Super Bowl is on that very short list. And no, Dancing on Ice : The Final, isn’t.
Many people feel that Super Bowl 44 (Sunday) is a match up between the 2 best teams in the NFL – which of course, due to quirky results and divisional or conference separation, doesn’t always happen.
We’ll certainly see 2 of the best QB’s around going head to head. The remarkable Peyton Manning, once again league MVP, takes the term “cool under pressure” to a whole new level, and almost single handedly took down the Jets in the AFC Championship game, whilst Drew Brees, making his first Super Bowl appearance of his 9 year career, started the season throwing 6 TD’s and pretty much carried on at that breakneck pace, throwing for 4388 yards and his passer rating of 109.6 ranked him number one in the NFL.
As we saw against the Jets, Manning can read Defenses better than anyone and quickly, so going against the Saints secondary, which includes the excellent tandem of Darren Sharper and Jabari Greer, will be a fascinating matchup. In turn, the Colts Defense will be using the dynamic tandem of Def Ends Dwight Freeney (if he plays) and Robert Mathis to get in the face of Brees and disrupt the fluency of his passing game.
Brees likes to mix up his targets – including receiver Marques Colston, Tight End Jeremy Shockey and RB Reggie Bush – and the complex play calling of Sean Payton is hard to protect against. The Colts are OK defending against the past, but were ranked outside the top 12 during the regular season, so it’s a potential chink in their armour.
Bush’s ability to punch in a game breaking play – often on special teams - may be the deciding factor in such a closely knit match up.
So who do you go for? Well its the experienced, no frills, calm and steady balance of the Colts is run one of the all time great QB’s against the explosive, pass happy, fast moving, big play potential of the Saints. Not quite polar opposites but close enough. Your call.
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