Super Bowl XLIV Preview: Indianapolis Colts v. New Orleans Saints

February 7, 2010

Peyton Manning made the top ranked New York Jets defense look like silly 2 weeks ago in the AFC Championship game. His ability to read blitzes and audible on the fly, make it nearly impossible for any defense to stop him. The New Orleans Saints have been phenomenal offensively this year, averaging a league leading 31.8 points per game. The most surprising stat regarding the Saints is that their 25th ranked defense has only allowed 34 more points than the Colts during the regular season.

The focal point of the NFC Championship game wasn’t that the Saints won in overtime, it was that the Minnesota Vikings gave away the game with costly turnovers. This may very well be true, but not enough credit has been given to the Saints defense for forcing those turnovers. The New Orleans defense has forced 15 fumbles, and intercepted 26 balls during the 2009 season. They were third in the entire NFL in interceptions thanks to a very sneaky secondary, and the pressure that they provide on opposing quarterbacks up front. Manning is tremendous as reading blitzes, and taking advantage of lapses in coverage, but the Saints have the ability to get pressure without sacrificing their secondary.

The key for the Saints will be their rushing attack. If they can establish their run game early, and force the Colts to load up the box, it will give Drew Brees the time he needs to pick apart their over-rated defensive backs. Reggie Bush is a wild-card that not many teams have. His ability to catch balls out of the backfield is what makes him so hard to cover. If he gets a few catches early, it may be a sign that New Orleans has the upper hand in their battle up front, because it means that Brees was able to check down his first few options prior to getting the ball to Bush.

Indianapolis has looked strong throughout the playoffs with impressive defensive efforts against the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets. However, neither of those squads are known to be offensive power-houses. The Ravens were 13th in the NFL in total offense, and most of that was due to Ray Rice. The Jets ranked 20th, and that was because they had the #1 rushing attack in the NFL. Indy’s secondary has not been tested this post-season. They will be Sunday!

The Colts have plenty of fire-power of their own offensively. Austin Collie has proven to be a solid third option at receiver behind Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. This receiving trio has combined for over 3100 yards and 24 touchdowns during the regular season. Pierre Garcon has made his presence known this year as he has become a sure handed wide out, that Manning relies on in key situations. His 765 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns have more than made up for the losses that the Colts have had in their receiving corps over the last 2 years.

Indy doesn’t thrive on running the ball, but Joseph Addai does more than enough to keep opposing defenses honest. He ran for only 828 yards, but his 10 touchdown carries make him a serious threat in the red-zone. Like always, we should expect to see Addai used early in the game, and down inside the 20 yard line.

This is the match-up that most of the country was hoping to see as both of the #1 seeds made it through to the Super Bowl. It’s no coincidence that the 2 best quarterbacks in the league will fight for the title. Both Manning and Brees have been shredding defenses for several years, and now that they have complimentary defenses, they have made it to the big game. Regardless of the incredibly high over/ under total, you have to anticipate that this will be a high scoring affair that is decided in the final minutes. If it lives up to the hype, it will be one of the best Super Bowls of all-time. Tune in Sunday at 6:35 ET as the Saints and Colts battle for the Lombardi Trophy.

Written by Cover The Number · Filed Under NFL

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