It’s Game Time for Superbowl 44 Saints vs Colts

In the end, it wasn’t the Giants. It wasn’t the Patriots. And it wasn’t the Cowboys either. Instead, the Saints and the Colts will be squaring off against each other in Superbowl 44. It wasn’t always this clear, but for the first time in a while, it’s the two top seed teams for this year’s Superbowl. That’s only happened eight times since 1975 and and not once since 1993 when the Cowboys and the Bills clashed in Georgia.

So can we expect to see an incredible Superbowl Sunday? You better believe it! While it may not be quite the same as the last classic, when the Patriots were taken down by the Giants in the closest Superbowl in history, it should be a really great game. Think Yankees vs. Red Sox, Ohio vs. Michigan and you’ll understand what we can expect in a few weeks.

The question is of course what this will mean. Are these really the top two teams in the NFL or did they just get lucky? Don’t forget that the two teams were the top seeds within their divisions, not necessarily the tops in the NFL.

I’m not going to make predictions about who is going to win in a few weeks, but I will say this: The Saints currently hold the number one scoring position and the highest point differential in professional football. That’s gotta count for something.

Then again, let’s take another look at the Vikings. I have two words for you my friend: Brett Favre. The most career touchdown passes, the most passing yards, the most career pass completions. The list goes on and on. This guy is a superstar of the superstars.

But will one superstar be enough to overcome the dominance of the Saints? Let’s take a look at the other all-American sport, baseball and we may find our answer. A-Rod spent years with the Yanks before he finally played a World Series. He blew it against the Sox, letting them have their first victory in 86 years (in all fairness, it wasn’t just his fault, but his poor production sure didn’t help). So if history is any guide, just having a superstar may not be enough for the win in Superbowl 44. However, it does mean it’s gonna be a really cool game to watch. Grab some beer and get some nachos ready. February 7, 2010 is coming soon. It’s football time!

Colts Will Do Everything to Win

While The New Orleans Saints makes you feel that it is very easy, the Indianapolis Colts makes it look so hard and complicated to win.  They are using unlike roads but are going into the same place which is, 11-0.  But the fact is that the Colts are stressed to get it done on a day to day basis.  The Colts have proud achievements than what is recorded.  They would strive to consistently give the performances that the Saints gave in defeating the New England Patriots, 38-17 last Monday. 

Still it is a fact that they are exactly opposite does not mean the Colts are not prepared to be a force in the postseason as the other team in perfection.  What really matters now is that they are doing what is needed to give themselves the best chance to succeed in the playoffs.  They already got the AFC South and with only five weeks to go in the regular season, they only have a little problem to be the No. 1 seed.

Colts’ Defense Preserves 14-12 Win Over Jaguars

Indianapolis used up all offseason trying to repair the defense. Task accomplished—maybe. On a day Peyton Manning tied the franchise record for wins and Jim Caldwell won his NFL debut as a head coach, the game came down to two 4th-quarter defensive stops. The Colts made both of them to protect Indy’s 14-12 victory over Jacksonville. Now the defense must prove it can keep on playing this way. Caldwell has instilled a tougher approach and new defensive coordinator Larry Coyer has implemented a more forceful scheme to take advantage of the Colts’ speed. The changes paid dividends, especially late when difficulty forced David Garrard into poor throws, bad decisions, and finally a four-and-out to end it.

The bulkier defensive line also held up better against an old opponent, Maurice Jones-Drew, who rushed 21 times for 97 yards and scored Jacksonville’s lone touchdown Sunday. He had an averaged of 6.3 yards per carry in six preceding games against the Colts. And it gave Manning victory No. 118 as a Colt, tying John Unitas’ franchise record.

Indianapolis (-3.5) vs. TENNESSEE

Tennessee applies to a brilliant 52-14-1 ATS scheduling situation, a 25-4-2 ATS week 5 situation, and a 94-45-4 ATS statistical profile indicator while Indianapolis applies to a negative 29-74-6 ATS situation that is based on their recent high scoring victories. That’s some pretty strong technical analysis favoring the Titans in this game, but the math strongly favors the Colts. Indianapolis is playing at an incredible level with Peyton Manning having perhaps his best season ever (9.5 yards per pass play) for an offense that is averaging 7.3 ypp. The Colts are also playing consistently well defensively, allowing 4.9 yppl or less in every game they’ve played and just 4.5 yppl for the season despite facing some pretty good offensive teams.

Tennessee, meanwhile, is 0-4 despite out-gaining their opponents 5.6 yppl to 5.5 yppl, as their -5 turnover ratio has hurt them in close losses. Tennessee is still a better than average team but the Colts are playing on another level and I’m not going to resist them as long as they’re playing this fine. The math model, using this year’s games only, favors the Colts by 16 1/2 points and my ratings favor Indy by 7 1/2 points. Favor the Colts to cover regardless of the strong situational analysis favoring the Titans.

Tight Ends On Pace For Record Production In 2009

NFL coaches are using agile tight ends to benefit from mismatches more than ever. A record 15 tight ends are estimated to catch at least 50 passes this season. It’s a developing trend as the tight end has become a leader, instead of a complementary player, in the passing offense. In the past four seasons, a standard of 10.5 tight ends logged no less than 50 catches. That’s nearly double the number from a decade ago. Wide open offenses and zone defenses have created opportunities for skilled tight ends in the middle of the field. Young quarterbacks seek them out. Whatever the quandary an offensive coordinator faces, the tight end has increasingly become the response.

Dallas Clark of the Indianapolis Colts has been the top tight end this season with already 26 catches for 364 yards with 2 touchdowns. Well, you can probably incorporate that with having Peyton Manning as your QB. But there’s no doubt, it’s the Tight Ends time to shine.

Colts D Makes Big Turnaround in Last 2 Weeks

Colts defensive end Robert Mathis is enjoying again. He’s smiling, joking, taking pride in his big game against Seattle and the recent improvement he and his teammates have made. It’s a stark contrast to two weeks ago when an exhausted Mathis had to answer questions about Indianapolis’ defensive debacle at Miami—and that was a win for the Colts. Mathis didn’t hide then, and he’s not hiding now.

Over the past two weeks, the Colts have put quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Seneca Wallace under tremendous duress. They limited Arizona and Seattle to a combined 73 yards rushing and only 27 points—14 coming in the last three minutes of Sunday’s 34-17 victory over the Seahawks. The brand new Indy defense is using blitz packages to help Mathis and Dwight Freeney draw more one-on-one blocking matchups, a jam for opponents that appears as one-sided on tape as it does in the stat books. Freeney and Mathis already have five sacks between them, nearly half of their combined total from last season when Mathis finished with 11 1/2, Freeney had 10 1/2 and both went to the Pro Bowl. They’ve enforced four fumbles and when they’re not catching quarterbacks they’re still forcing them into pitiable decisions, hurried throws or inaccurate passes.

Magnificent Manning Leads Colts Past Seahawks

On Sunday, Peyton Manning was magnificent once again as he drove the Colts to touchdowns in four of their five drives. He tied league records established by Fran Tarkenton and Dan Marino and extended Indianapolis’ regular-season winning streak to 13 with a 34-17 win over Seattle. For Manning, whose resume already includes three MVP awards and a Super Bowl ring, it’s possible that this is his most impressive start in 12 NFL seasons. He was 31 of 41 for 353 yards, marking the first time Manning has topped 300 yards in four consecutive games – also a franchise record.

Manning had already achieved two other milestones by that time. His first TD pass went to Reggie Wayne for 5 yards, making Peyton Manning and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw 55 TD passes to two different receivers. Marvin Harrison caught 112 of Peyton Manning’s TD passes. Mark Clayton and Mark Duper were Dan Marino’s 2 receivers. Manning’s second TD pass, 21 yards to rookie Austin Collie after a dazzling audible, put him along with Tarkenton for 3rd place on the NFL’s career list. Peyton and Tarkenton have 342, trailing only Dan Marino with 420 and Brett Favre with 469.

2 Reasons Why the Seahawks Will Upset the Colts in Week 4

Colts have been having problems stopping the run. The Indianapolis Colts may be riding high at a perfect 3-0, but there are some problems that lie underneath this perfection. They may have held Arizona, which has little to no run game at all, to less than 50 yards rushing, but containing the Seahawks will be a different story. Seattle has a much better run game than the Cardinals, led by Julius Jones who is averaging 4.9 per carry for 226 yards YTD. If the Seahawks can pound it on the ground consistently, they may be able to exploit Indy’s biggest weakness and rush their way to a victory.

Indy is so banged up on defense. While it is debatable whether Seattle has more offensive weapons than Arizona, the team might have enough to dominate an not a hundred percent Colts defense. After spending most of the first three quarters in the Arizona backfield, Dwight Freeney spent the left over 15 minutes in the Indianapolis locker room watching the Colts roll to an easy 31-10 win over the Cardinals. Freeney hurt his right quadriceps this past Sunday and told team doctors that he “felt something pop” in his leg. Team officials are still in the course of finding out the brutality of the damage and how much time he will miss. Sadly, the Colts have much more to worry about than the health status of their top pass rusher. Indy is missing a few key players on the defensive side of the ball, including safety Bob Sanders, who was a previous Defensive Player of the Year. Although cornerback Kelvin Hayden and defensive captain Gary Brackett might return Sunday night, Dwight Freeney’s injury could create a huge void that simply cannot be filled.

Colts Vs. Seahawks

Peyton Manning has been in his top form so far this season, averaging an incredible 9.9 yards for every pass play while the offense is on a 7.4 yards per play pace. Manning is not going to keep continuing an average of 14.9 yards per completion (his lifetime average is 11.9 ypc and his single season high is 13.1 ypc) so his numbers which are moving onward won’t be as impressive. But he might be on his way to his best season ever, with the presence of a new blood at the receiver position now that over the hill, Marvin Harrison is gone. The Colts are also playing a very good defense (allowing 4.6 yppl to each team that would combine to average 5.3 ypl against an average team) and they’ll be too much for a mediocre Seahawks team that is worse than average offensively with backup Seneca Wallace at quarterback and also a bit worse than average on defense.

The ratings favor the Colts by 15 points even after docking them 2 points for injuries to star DE Dwight Freeney, starting CB Kelvin Hayden, and LB Garry Brackett. Hayden and Brackett both missed last week’s game and the Colts were able to hold Arizona’s good offense to just 4.6 yppl, but losing Freeney (4 sacks already) is worth about 1 1/2 points. Even so, the Colts should have no problem beating Seattle and I’ll consider Indianapolis a Strong Opinion if the line goes down to -10 points or less.

Colts Power Past Cardinals

In his first game in Arizona, Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, three in the second quarter, as he powered the Indianapolis Colts past Kurt Warner and the turnover-prone Arizona Cardinals 31-10. Manning and Warner are two of the most prolific NFL quarterbacks in NFL history. The only difference was that the Colts’ offensive line gave Manning all the time he needed to carve up the Cardinals while Warner was under extreme pressure all night long.

For the 18th time, Manning had four touchdowns in a game, moving him past Johnny Unitas into third on the NFL career list, only trailing Dan Marino’s 21 and Brett Favre’s 20. Manning also reached 300 yards passing for the third time in three games this season, giving him 50 for his illustrious career. Manning started slowly but ate the Cardinals for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a show of precision in the second quarter. He threw 20 yards to Reggie Wayne for the first TD, 10 yards to Dallas Clark for the second and a clever 53 yards to Pierre Garcon as the Colts took a 21-3 halftime lead and they were well under way in powering past the Cardinals.

Hayden Deal Opens Doors for Others

The new $43 million deal signed by Kelvin Hayden with the Indianapolis Colts may clear the way for many of his teammates. The free agent market is about to open next week and the deal signed may have a ripple effect on others. The next person that may benefit from the Hayden deal is Jeff Saturday, the Colts’ three time Pro Bowl center, who is exploring options. The next one on the list would be Dominic Rhodes who has been key for them especially during their championship run. And the list goes on for the Colts as time is key for them to sign these tried and tested veterans for next season and see if they can make another championship run.
The players were asked about their contract status and Saturday declined to comment on contract negotiations. And they have gotten a glimpse of life without Saturday, who has been the security blanket of Peyton Manning the past few seasons as Manning scrambled and was pressured throughout the game. The Colts have indicated that they are anticipating the return of Saturday and the other players to make the run for the playoffs bright and clear.

Colts’ Head Coach Tony Dungy Leans on Retiring

Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy will announce his retirement from the game of football, announced by WR Coach Clyde Christensen to the staff. Dungy will be replaced by one of his assitant coaches Jim Cladwell who was with Dungy since 2001 in Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he was the QB Coach for the Colts and was moved as associte head coach a year ago.

They said they were expecting it every year as Dungy have expressed his interest to retire every off-season. The 53-year old coach was the first black coach to win the Super Bowl in 2006. He have coached for 13 years (1996-2008) In which he coached Tampa Bay from 1996-2001 and Indinanpolis from 2002-2008. He is also the first coach to have 10 consecutive playoff appearance since 1970. He has 11 total playoff appearance through out his career. He is also the only coach to produce 6 straight 12 win seasons during his tenure as a Head Coach.

It has been known that Dungy intended to retire when he is 50-years old but his peers pushed him to have a few years more which he had agreed on but lately he is really pushing to retire and spend time with his family. Dungy did have an illustrous careeer overall and will be remembered as one of the greats when all is said and done.