Manning, Brees Lead Potent Attacks

We have turned the corner and are now heading down the home stretch toward kickoff of the biggest event in the American sporting landscape. The NCAA tournament might be the most exciting, the World Series draped in history and Americana, the Stanley Cup doused with tradition, but nothing compares to the Super Bowl in terms of extravagance and exorbitance. Former coaches and players come out of the woodwork to conduct interviews and promote whatever endeavors they have embarked upon since they last stepped foot on a field and celebrities descend on the host city attending the multitude of lavish parties being thrown throughout the week and gallivanting around town trying to be seen by anyone and everyone with a camera and a credential. But all of the pomp and circumstance simply draws the focus away from what really matters and that’s the game itself. So unlike Barrett Robbins I will not get caught up in all of the hoopla and instead I will focus on the game at hand and size up each team position by position, starting with the offenses with subsequent posts breaking down the defenses and another about the coaches and special teams and any other intangibles relating to the game. Got it? Good, now let’s do it.

Quarterback. Drew Brees threw one more TD, five less picks, had a higher rating and set a record for completion percentage in the regular season than Peyton Manning. So this should be a no-brainer then, right? Yup, but not in favor of Brees. Manning won his record fourth league MVP award for a reason. No one instills fear into opposing defensive coordinators like Manning and he may be the best to throw a football ever. Brees is good, but he’s not Manning. Edge: Colts.

Bush could be a matchup nightmare for the Colts.

Running backs. Neither team had a thousand yard back this year and both teams’ running games are mere footnotes to their explosive passing games. The Saints though ran for 50 yards a game more than the Colts during the regular season and were sixth in the league while the Colts were dead last. But the Saints stats were a bit inflated because teams were so worried about their plethora of weapons in the passing game and because they were able to run the ball late in games because they were usually ahead by a comfortable margin whereas the Colts posted seven come-from-behind wins in the fourth quarter. But I’m not going to take anything away from the Saints; their backs are legit and they have quite a few capable guys with the versatile Pierre Thomas, game-breaker Reggie Bush, hard-nosed Mike Bell and their short-yardage specialist Lynell Hamilton. While Joseph Addai was tremendous in his first appearance in the Super Bowl three years ago (and probably should have won the MVP), he and Donald Brown simply don’t stack up with the Saints backfield. Edge: Saints.

Receivers. This is a tough one. Both of these teams have an embarrassment of riches at receiver and neither quarterback is discriminatory with his throws so every one of them will get a chance to contribute in this game. But there is no doubt that the best receiver on the field is Reggie Wayne and I’m sorry Saints fans, it’s not even close. Marques Colston is very good, but he can be rendered ineffective much easier than Wayne can. While neither Austin Collie or Pierre Garcon are as talented as Robert Meachem or as fast as Devery Henderson, they complement Wayne extremely well and do whatever Manning asks of them. They are also much more sure-handed than the greasy-fingered Henderson and smarter than the slow-learning Meachem. It is a very close call between these units so the tie comes down to the tight ends and in that case the advantage goes to the Colts. Jeremy Shockey has loads of talents but his best days are clearly behind him while Dallas Clark is one of the few elite tight ends in the league and is a matchup nightmare for any defense. Look for Clark to play a huge role in this game. Edge: Colts.

The Saints amy be loaded at receiver, but none of them are as good as the prolific Wayne.

Offensive line. This is another tight race between two very even units. The Colts gave up the fewest sacks in the league and ranked second in the league in passing yards. The Saints gave up seven more sacks but were much more effective in the running game, helping pave the way for the league’s sixth best attack while also proving more than capable of protecting Drew Brees and the league’s fourth-ranked passing game. Even more impressive about the Saints is that they did all of this while missing their best player in left tackle Jammal Brown, who missed the entire season with a sports hernia and a hip ailment. But even without the former Pro Bowler, they still have the best player on either line in stud guard Jahri Evans, who is an absolute mauler on the inside and is almost impossible to beat. While Evans is the most talented, Colts center Jeff Saturday has to be the smartest and in fact he has no choice. Forced to deal with getting the line situated after Manning’s charades at the line, Saturday is the ideal offensive leader and never has the Colts out of position when the ball is snapped. But the Colts are not the greatest run blocking unit an often look confused when a running play is called and are not as stout at the point of attack as they could be. So not only do the Saints have the bet player on either line, they are more effective in both phases of the game while the Colts only excel in one. And because of that-Edge: Saints.