Super Bowl XLIV Pregame Thoughts

Just hours before the kickoff of Super Bowl 44, I wanted to get in a couple thoughts I've had about this Super Bowl matchup and the NFL season as a whole. There have been a couple trends in the NFL that are definitely worth noting.

You wanna win? Better have a great QB. The two best QBs in the league this year, Manning and Brees, appropriately meet in the biggest game of the year. There's no Trent Dilfers, Mark Rypiens or Jeff Hostetlers in this game (just to name 3 of the most forgettable to actually win it). The league is all about high flying offenses and quarterbacks are running the show. The running backs are just not as important as they once were. The two best QBs in the league are in the Super Bowl. The best RB in the league, Chris Johnson, not even in the playoffs. I think the whole notion of a guy being a great quarterback but never being able to win a Super Bowl, like Dan Marino or Archie Manning, is a thing of the past. Meanwhile, it used to be that a team could rely on their running game and defense all the way to the top. Take the 1991 NY Giants for example. Franchise QB and future Hall of Famer, Phil Simms went down at the very beginning of the year with a season ending injury. In came Jeff Hostetler, a relatively unknown back-up at the time. The Giants relied on their running game and defense (plus a Scott Nor-wide missed FG) to win Super Bowl XXV. It's almost impossible to imagine this happening in today's game. Last year, after an 18-1 season (you thought a Giants fan was gonna miss a chance to bring that up?), Patriot QB Tom Brady went down for the year in week 1. They brought in Matt Cassel who played pretty well, at least well enough to land him a starting job in KC. What happened? They missed the playoffs. If you want to win in this league, you need to have a great quarterback. We'll get to see two of the best in action tonight.

What happened to all the great coaches? Tonight's coaching matchup: Sean Payton vs Jim Caldwell. I think I may be a little harsh on Payton because he's still a fairly young guy (though he has won coach of the year before), but neither of these guys seem like elite coaches to me. Where are the Bill Parcells and Belichicks now? The guys that you fear game-planning against. To the average fan, it seems like Manning is running the show in Indy with Caldwell just standing on the sidelines to make sure nothing goes wrong. Plus, I absolutely hate his decision to bench Manning against the Jets in week 16. The entire postseason this year didn't feature too many great coaches. Wade Phillips, Norv Turner, Brad Childress...stop me when I name a guy who you would want coaching your team in the postseason. The one coach who really broke on to the scene this postseason was Rex Ryan. We'll see what the future has in store for him. As for tonight, it should be interesting to hear how many times the CBS announcers even mention Caldwell and Payton. Manning and Brees are the real headliners of this game.

Saints are the party boys, Colts are the nerds. (apologies to Colin Cowherd, I am stealing a couple of his ideas from The Herd) The New Orleans Saints are like a big party. They are very tough, high flying, all over the place. The point is, they're fun to watch. I like to discuss "hero franchises" and "villain franchises." I think the Saints have emerged as a hero franchise, especially since Hurricane Katrina. America does feel for New Orleans since 2004. They're a likeable team that's really fun to watch.
Rooting for the Colts is like rooting for your class valedictorian. The guy studies hard, has the natural ability, and does well on tests. You're probably not going to find this guy at a party throwin' em back on a Saturday night, but the guy prides himself on what he does, and that's being the smartest kid in your class. The Colts, like the valedictorian, never find themselves unprepared for any kind of test or challenge that they face. They're not exactly fun to be around, but they get the job done when it counts.

The Saints' dirty defensive play has rubbed me the wrong way. With all of that said, I thought I'd find myself pulling hardcore for the Saints. But their defensive play throughout the playoffs has left me pretty angry. Their defensive gameplan has been so obviously dirty. The hit that ended Kurt Warner's year, and arguably his career, was so obviously malitious (watch it). I don't care what Moose Johnston is saying there, did they really think Kurt Warner was going to make that tackle? That hit was made with the intention of taking him out of the game. The Saints were even dirtier against Brett Favre. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Favre suffer a career-ending broken neck. But the way the Saints handled him was really unprofessional. He got rocked after throwing the ball on almost every play in the NFC championship game. They were clearly going after his knees, which is really dirty for a QB, especially a guy his age. I went into the game looking forward to seeing Favre get rocked, but the way the Saints did it, clearly with the intent to injure, was not cool in my book. The way they've treated the two QBs they've faced this postseason reminded me of Darcy Tucker against the Islanders in the 2002 playoffs (hard to believe that Islanders have even been to the postseason that recently).

Again, don't listen to the Canadian announcers. That was a dirty hit. That his was no where near the play. Tucker went out there with the intent of injuring the Islanders captain and unfortunately he did not suffer any reprocussions.

Who am I rooting for? I'm not particularly invested either way in this game, but I'm still pulling for the Saints. Their dirty defensive gameplan is unadmirable, but I'm still pulling for them over the Colts. What Indy did to their fans in week 16 was a disgrace. It was a middle finger to the face of all the Colts fans who came out to see them play or were watching on tv. As the great Herm Edwards said, "you play to win the game...unless you're the Colts." Pulling Manning from that game, despite saying that he would stay in if it was a competitive game, said "we don't want to win." It was almost as if they said this to their fans. They had a shot at football immortality and decided it was not important to them. Why? Because of the threat of injuries? Injuries can happen in non-contact practices, too. Should teams not practice? How about they just sit around a table and talk about how they're gonna play? Surely no one will get hurt like that! As a fan of the NFL (and a guy who lost his fantasy football championship because of it), the decision to bench the starters disgusts me. So with that said, let's go Saints.

Hopefully, we'll get some great ads, maybe Danica Patrick will continue to take off her clothes for GoDaddy.com again (yeah she'll be a "great success" in NASCAR). I'm not making any predictions for the game itself, but I think it will be pretty exciting. It's going to be a close game. Get your bean dip ready, it should be a good one.