Looks like Super Bowl will be night of offensive fireworks
With two weeks to hype it, there aren't many story lines that will go unexplored in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 at Dolphin Stadium.
Both New Orleans and Indianapolis are known for their offense, especially their passing offense, and neither plays especially good defense.
That's about where the similarities end.
The Colts (16-2) return to South Florida, the scene of their last Super Bowl appearance - Feb. 4, 2007, when they whipped the Bears 29-17. The Saints (15-3) have never been to a Super Bowl, although New Orleans has hosted nine of them.
BoDog Sportsbook has installed the Colts as 4-point favorites.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who has been the league MVP a record four times, also was the MVP three years ago against the Bears, completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards, including a 53-yard TD pass to Reggie Wayne. Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark each caught exactly 100 passes and scored 10 touchdowns in the 2009 regular season. Wayne produced 1,264 yards, Clark 1,106.
But Manning doesn't necessarily have to collaborate with those two to keep the chains moving and the scoreboard flashing, as he proved by throwing for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 30-17 victory over the New York Jets in Sunday's AFC championship game.
Wayne and Clark were limited to 7 combined catches for 90 yards, but starting wide receiver Pierre Garcon caught 11 passes for 151 yards, No. 3 wideout Austin Collie had 7 catches for 123 yards, and each had a TD. It was Manning's seventh 300-yard game in the postseason, the most in league history.
That could be a problem for a Saints defense that was 26th in passing yards allowed this season.
But Saints quarterback Drew Brees had the highest passer rating in the NFL (109.6), even though his receivers aren't as well known as the Colts'. Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson all averaged better than 15.0 yards per catch during the season.
But none of them had more than 40 yards in the 31-28 overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, and the Saints were whipped in almost every statistical category except turnovers, where they forced 5 and allowed just 1 but still barely managed to win.
The Saints had the league's No. 7 run game during the season, but it sputtered badly against the Vikings.
Colts coach Jim Caldwell has been vindicated after being vilified for his decision to tank the last two games of the regular season rather than going for a perfect 16-0 record.
The Saints went the Colts one better, becoming the only team in history to make the Super Bowl after losing their final three regular-season games.
New Orleans has had an explosive passing offense since Sean Payton took over and was named NFL coach of the year in his rookie season of 2006. But Payton, a Naperville Central High School and Eastern Illinois graduate, didn't have a powerhouse until this season, when he made running the ball and playing defense more of a priority.
The Saints still are a ways away from playing great defense, though.
The Colts' defense was only 24th in rushing yards allowed, but it held the Jets' powerful run game to just 86 yards after it rolled up 340 yards in their first two playoff games. Impressive, even though rookie running back Shonn Greene missed much of the game.
The Colts have made a mockery of the old adage that teams need to be able to run the ball and stop the run to enjoy postseason success.
They were last in rushing yards during the season, and they had just 101 yards Sunday and only 42 yards (on 25 carries) in their divisional-round victory over Baltimore a week earlier.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=353618">Saints beat Vikings in OT, head to first Super Bowl <span class="date">[01/24/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=353572">Manning, Colts rally past Jets, reach Super Bowl <span class="date">[01/24/10]</span></a></li>
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