NFL Superbowl XLIV

-Gotta love the story of these Saints. Four and half years have past since Hurricane Katrina struck the Louisiana coast and the Superdome became a safe haven for the storm's refugees, but you got the feeling that most of America was embracing the New Orleans story and pulling for the Saints on Sunday.

The Saints had to do it the hard way, coming back from 10-0 down to beat the Colts. They relied on some patient and scrappy D, some explosive offense at times, and an incredibly timely turnover.

Credit Drew Brees who snapped back from a slow start to play a mistake free game (He completed 29 of 32 passes after the Saints first two possessions), and the New Orleans D which didn't stop blitzing Peyton Manning all night, never allowing him to settle into a rhythm.

Oh, and don't forget Tracy Porter, the cornerback who was born in Louisiana, who has been a Saints fan his whole life, and who gave himself a ridiculous hairdo just because he was so excited to be playing in the Superbowl with his favorite team.

Porter read exactly what Manning and receiver Reggie Wayne were trying to do as the Colts drove to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. He jumped the route, got in front of Wayne, picked off Manning's pass and took it back 74 yards to the house. Game over. Go wild Bourbon Street.

-The game might not have been the most entertaining or explosive (only 5 offensive plays over 20 yards all night), but it was a victory for gutsy coaching. Sean Payton and Jim Caldwell's coaching philosophy could not be more different, and Payton's risky style was the clear winner on the day. He may have failed on 4^th-and-goal from the one yard line in the first half, but his decision to go for the onside kick at the start of the second half was inspired and a real turning point in the game.

On the other side of the ball, whereas the Saints kept coming with the blitz until the very end, no matter how many passes Manning completed, the Colts backed off and played soft D for most of the game. This meant Brees got in a rhythm completing short passes and didn't have to deal with much pressure.

The Superbowl is not the time to play it safe with your game calling, Mr. Caldwell. A valuable lesson for the rookie coach.

-You just wonder what impact this loss might have on Peyton Manning's legacy. In the week leading up to the game, people were beginning to talk about him as the greatest quarterback of all time, what with his four MVPs and potential two Superbowl rings. But now he's 1-1 on the biggest stage of all, and he made a huge mistake with the game on the line.

Bad news for Peyton (who is by far the best player in the league and has been for a while) but people will remember that Porter pick for a long time. Legends are made and destroyed on Superbowl Sunday, my friend...just ask Joe Montana

-In a postseason that's been awful for kickers (see Graham, Shayne and Kaeding, Nate), give Garrett Hartley some props. First kicker in Superbowl history to hit three field goals of 40+ yards. He kept the Saints in it when they couldn't score touchdowns. 9 crucial points.

-Dwight Freeney may not have had a huge impact on the game, but that was one monstrous sack of Drew Brees in the first half. On the play, Freeney bull-rushed Jarrod Bushrod and pushed him back into Brees. He reached out, latched onto the Saints quarterback's jersey somewhere around the shoulder, and with literally only one arm pulled Brees down, slamming him into the ground. Violently.

Turned out to be the only sack of the game. Not bad for the man working with only one peg for most of the past two weeks.

That being said, the Colts hardly got any pressure on Brees the rest of the way.

-Superbowl Halftime Show: The Who, 6/10. I'm sure I'm going to offend some people with my comments here, so if you're a diehard Daltrey and Townshend fan, look away now.

The band looked washed up. Their voices weren't great, their outfits were horrible, and can someone please tell Pete Townshend that kids these days aren't impressed by the windmill anymore?? (I know it's your signature move, dude, but try something else. Or at least tone it down a little.)

“Teenage Wastelands” is an epic song, and the stage lighting looked pretty cool, but I was bored as soon as “Who are you” came to an end.

-Superbowl Top Five Commercials:

1. Google: Call me a sentimental fool, but that was a cute ad. Creative too, telling a entire story through Internet searches.

2. Snickers: Love watching Bette White getting tackled. In any context. And hearing her say: “That's not what your girlfriend said last night,”of course.

3. Emerald Nuts and Pop Secret Popcorn: Something very funny about people flapping around like dolphins and jumping out of a show pool to get some salty Emerald treats.

4. Bud Light: Can't pick one out of the package of ads in particular, but they ranged from solid to very funny.

5. Dodge: Just one of the multitude of downtrodden men ads we saw on Sunday, but this one was the best.

Side Note (Just because I'm too lazy to make a worst five): Does anybody get those GoDaddy.com commercials? Like at all? They're both not funny and lame. The idea that their commercial has gotten me so hot that I'll have to instantly rush over to my computer just to see if Danica Patrick gets naked (she doesn't) is just laughable.

-Final Postseason Record: 4-7

Did not see this one coming, I have to say. I didn't think the Colts offense could be slowed down the way the Saints managed to. Shout out to my fellow Eugene apartment dweller Madison B. who bounced back from an 0-4 wild-card weekend to best me today by picking the Saints.

Picking Superbowl XLIV

-How I did last weekend (or two weeks ago if you're counting): 2-0

Finally a good playoff week, though Favre and the Vikings almost ruined it for me

-Records in the playoffs: 4-6

One Superbowl pick away from slightly-below-average postseason.

Saints vs. Colts: Almost five months after the season's first regular season game we finally get to the big one, the Superbowl, and honestly we could not have hoped for a better match-up. Throughout the 2009 season, the Colts and Saints have been consistently been the best teams in their respective conferences.

The Saints came out of the gates faster, blowing away the Eagles, the Jets, the Giants and the Patriots before we even got to December. In their final five games, they cooled off, going 2-3 and barely beating the Bucs and Falcons. In truth, they looked like a vulnerable number one seed heading into the playoffs. The Cowboys, the Packers, and the Vikings all looked like they had more momentum. However, the Saints outlasted all of them in the postseason, and though Brett Favre back in the Superbowl would have been a great story, New Orleans finally making it is an even better one.

The Colts did not have the explosive or emphatic wins early in their season but got our attention just because they consistently kept winning. Despite a number of tough match-ups including games against the Ravens, Patriots, Texans (twice) and Broncos, they were 14-0 with two weeks left and most likely would have gone undefeated had Jim Caldwell not decided to rest his starters with the number 1 seed locked up. Two comfortable postseason wins later, here they are in the Superbowl once again.

Everyone is expecting a offensive shoot-out on Sunday and though I think we shouldn't expect either team to score less than 20 points, talk of breaking the highest-scoring Superbowl record is maybe taking things too far. Neither team is known for its defense but in games like these, defenses can usually come up with at least a few stops and maybe a turnover or two.

A lot of focus this week has centered around the Colts elite pass-rusher Dwight Freeney's damaged ankle, and how much of a factor he can be in Sunday's game. Without Freeney, some analysts are saying, the Colts are going to struggle to get to Drew Brees. No pressure will mean Brees and his stable of receivers will have their way with the Colts secondary.

My gut tells me that the two weeks off will have allowed Freeney to heal up enough to at least partake in some obvious passing situations. How explosive his ankle allows him to be is what everyone will be watching for the first time he takes the field.

The Saints pass-rush, on the other hand, was fearsome against the Vikings in the NFC championship game, hitting Favre repeatedly and leaving him battered and bruised (even though they didn't sack him). Then again, Peyton Manning is the best in the league when it comes to avoiding contact and not taking sacks. We saw against the Jets how, through completions, he can take the sting out of a pass-rush. Wouldn't be surprised if it happened again against New Orleans.

Ultimately, I think the game is going to come down which offense executes better (cliché alert, but doesn't mean it's not true) and gets into a better rhythm. And that's why I'm going with the Colts here. Having watched both teams all season, I have to say that while the Colts occasionally get cold and Manning isn't immune to throwing picks, they are far more consistent in moving the ball on offense. The Saints do have the capacity to light up a game with big plays and look completely unstoppable, but they also can get into ruts. Just look at their game against the Vikings, they gained only 65 yards of offense in the entire second half and converted 3 out of 12 third downs.

With or without Dwight Freeney, I think the Colts defense will be able to generate more stops than the Saints defense and barring turnovers completely altering the face of the game, that should be enough for Peyton Manning to win his second Superbowl.

Colts: 31 Saints: 24