Seeing as I'll be tied up all weekend due to shoveling snow (in all likelihood) as well as watching a lot of college basketball tomorrow as well as UFC 109 and being busy watching some pre-game shows on Sunday, I figured now is the perfect time to preview the game two days from now. To me, this game is one of the best matchups the NFL could have hoped for. I have seen this coming for months and to any of these moron analysts who think there is no story here, they are blind. First off, these two offenses are scary and both teams are loaded with receivers and anyone of these guys can come out of nowhere and have a great day. The offenses alone make this game a story because everyone likes a shootout and I definitely could see this game turning into one. Second of all, this Super Bowl could be the one that boosts Peyton into immortality. There's a lot of mediocre quarterbacks that have won one Super Bowl. Usually the guys who have two or more are/were phenomonal players and are considered the best players to ever play quarterback in the NFL. If Peyton were to win this, I think he would potentially pass Brady in the eyes of many fans because you look at what Peyton had to work with and then look at Brady's past teams along with the coaching staff and the other players in general and I think more people would take Peyton. Even now I would take Peyton over Brady but to the fans that would take Brady over Manning right now, a win this year could shift their perspective. And lastly, will the Saints cap off their historic season and bring the city of New Orleans a Super Bowl. That in itself is a great story and I think something that many people want to see. I'm going to say who has the edge in each facet of the game.
Quarterback
Colts, Overall I would say Peyton is much better than Brees in terms of history. But in this particular season, I find it very close. Brees had yet another great season. I don't think their schedule was as tough as the Colts and Peyton basically does everything for them. He gives the team its identity and is by far the best player that is going to be on the field Sunday.
Running Backs
Saints, again, it's very close, but I'd take the combination of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush to Joseph Addai and Donald Brown.
Wide Receivers
Saints, also very close. Reggie Wayne is the best receiver in the group, but I'd say that the Saints have the second and third, maybe even fourth in that set with Robert Meachem. Colston is #2, Henderson is #3 and then Garcon and Collie are somewhere in the bottom half but I think the Saints have 2 of the top 3 receivers playing in the game.
Tight End
Colts, not even close. Jeremy Shockey is in the twilight of his career while Dallas Clark has proven time and time again to be Peyton's go-to-guy. He could be one of the difference makers in this one.
Kicker
Colts, might be the biggest mismatch in all areas. Matt Stover and Adam Vinatieri are way better than Garrett Hartley. By the way, I totally think his kick to send them to the Super Bowl was a fluke. Don't be surprised if the script's reversed and he misses a big kick. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
Rush Defense
Colts
Pass Defense
Saints
Coaching
Saints, I also think this category is pretty close, but I think in this spot, Sean Payton is the more experienced coach. He has also developed pretty good game plans in the past and is a great motivator. He also does a great job varying his offense and switching up the playcalling a lot.
As if you couldn't tell, I think both these teams are pretty evenly matched. Peyton is the best player on the field by far on Sunday but the Saints have more than enough to keep it close. I like the Saints to win this game 31-28. The Saints have done a good job forcing turnovers all season long and think they will be able to pressure Peyton here. Another reason I like the Saints is because of how lucky they were to get past the Vikings who totally outplayed them. I think they will get their heads on straight and give the Colts a great game and win. I always say that no matter how good of a individual player you may have, if you're not a true team, which I believe the Saints are over the Colts, you are going to have a harder time winning. Peyton can only do so much which is why I like the Saints here. As much success as Peyton has had as of late, it's foolish to think of all the bad games he had too, the 41-0 loss to the Jets or the Pittsburgh game a few years ago, just off the top of my head. Don't forget too, that a lot of these Saints players were in the NFC Championship loss to the Bears a couple years ago and I think will have some experience from that and play a lot better than they did there. So I like the Saints +5 and OVER 56.5. Hope everyone enjoys the game and if it follows the recent trend, it should be a great one.
EXTRA THOUGHTS
http://www.nj.com/hssports/blog/boysbasketball/index.ssf/2010/02/st_patrick_boys_basketball_team_could_be_banned_from_state_tournament_for_holding_illegal_practices.html
In the article above, it is mentioned that the St. Patrick's Boys Basketball Team may be expelled from the state tournament because of holding illegal practices prior to the season. To me, I can't say I'm surprised. I think most of these "powerhouse" schools are shady. Most of them get away with a lot because it makes their respective athletic associations tons of money. A school to me that has done everything right is St. Anthony's. Unlike St. Pat's, which it seems like they get recruits on a monthly basis, St. Anthony's has a system where kids spend all four years in the program, spending their earlier years on the JV level before heading up to play for Coach Bob Hurley. Another thing with St. Pat's is that they just got these two transfers from Duncanville High School in Texas. I guarantee that those two kids will play if St. Pat's is allowed in the state tournament when it clearly says that transfers who are not enrolled by January 20th in their current schools are not eligible to play for the state tournament. They were not and I'm sure because Pat's is the cash cow no one would've said anything. The same thing happened last year when I was looking at St. Pat's schedule. In order to make the New Jersey State Tournament you have to play 70% of your games in state. They did not. They played somewhere in the mid-60's. A rule's a rule. I guarantee if it was some middle of the road public school, they would've been caught and not allowed in the tournament. So I'm glad that Pat's could potentially get screwed over because they shouldn't have been allowed in last year. Karma's a bitch. Also seriously a school like that belongs in a prep league. I can't stand schools like that and don't even get me started about Don Bosco. Don Bosco is nationally ranked in basically everything and have dorms on their campus now. Don't tell me that you're a regular school with dorms on the campus. That's not a regular school. It's more like a prep school or a college, not to mention they have guys coming from four states to play football. My rule would be you can only go to parochial schools to play ball if you're from that state. I don't want any Corey Fisher's from the Bronx or any of these guys from out of the country to be playing ball at NJSIAA schools. If they want to play at a Blair, Peddie, Lawrencville, Benedict's that's fine, but you're ruining the state association with blatant mismatches as this one. I don't know if St. Pat's will get banned from this tournament and I'm not even sure if it's a worthy enough cause of being banned, I'm just glad they were finally called on something.
As much good as there's been in the sports world and to me, this is one of my favorite months of the year. There's the finish of the Australian Open, the Super Bowl, this year the winter Olympics, as well as the finish to the college basketball regular season, but when I read that a 13 year old committed to USC to play football, I don't know whether to laugh or to shake my head in disbelief that a kid in 7th grade already knows where he wants to go to college. One of the first questions I always ask upon hearing that is does he know where he wants to go to high school yet? People change. From interests to personalities. A person at 13 is much different than a person at 19 or 20. Sometimes, a person is so highly touted at such a young age that they grow tired of it at a really young age and quit, like John Elway's son did last year. Ron Jaworksi on Pardon the Interruption said before at 13, he wanted to be a baseball star and several years later was when he had a professional football career in his near future. Another thing that surprises me about this signing is that he is a quarterback, which is the hardest position to play in football. What if this kid doesn't pan out in even high school. There's always a chance. Chances are he'll be good enough to play on the college level but there's always times when a person isn't as good as advertised. The sad thing is this is just a publicity stunt and a way to make waves days before the Super Bowl. I can't tell you how much of a slimeball Lane Kiffin is. He leaves after one season in Knoxville and of all people, even Al Davis called him a liar as the Oakland Raiders head coach. He is one selfish son of a bitch and totally disingenuous. He talks out of his ass and for whatever reason, these dumbass 18 and 19 year olds still believe in him. Then you have that asshole mediocre former head coach in Ed Orgeron apparently texting kids in the locker room while both of them are saying their goodbyes to the Tennessee players to come to USC. How bullshit is that? And then what, because they are still technically Tennesee coaches, the UT program is gonna get screwed with sanctions years from now when these two assclowns are gone! It makes me sick and makes me really glad that I like college basketball over college football where there is some loyalty and guys don't leave at the drop of a hat. Kiffin is an embarrassment to college football, plain and simple. I respect guys like the current coach at Tennessee now in Derrek Dooley, because he paid his dues and built up his resume at a place such as Louisiana Tech that Tennessee finally is giving him a chance to succeed and I don't think they're that far away. That's how college football and life in general should be. You start low and shoot for the stars and eventually, with good work, you'll get to where you want to go. With Kiffin though, Tennessee bailed him out after the Oakland Raiders debacle by giving him a head coaching job and that's how he repays them. 8 months or so. See ya. A disgrace. I'm sorry as of right now how the hell can USC be considered a "dream job"? They are going to get hammered big time by the eventual sanctions. I would take Tennessee any day of the week in its current state over USC. I think the days of USC dominating the PAC 10 are over and hopefully Kiffin's days will be numbered too when this supposed #1 recruiting class doesn't pan out. How can it when you are recruiting kids still in middle school?
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peyton all the way juice!!!!!!!!!!!
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