There was little argument this season about who were the two best teams in football and on Sunday (Feb. 7) at Super Bowl XLIV that list will be shortened to just one.
Led by Peyton Manning, the NFL's first four-time winner of the award for Most Valuable Player, the Indianapolis Colts (-5.5) will take on the New Orleans Saints from Miami, Florida in a game that has already broken a record before the first snap of the ball.
Betting on the most popular sporting event of the year is a given for a lot of football fans and when oddsmakers in Las Vegas released a line on the number of points that will be scored (56.5), it was the highest total ever posted for a Super Bowl.
When two offenses like this hook-up it's easy to expect a high scoring affair. New Orleans led the NFL in scoring this season with 510 points and in two playoff victories the final score hit 59 points each time. The Colts, meanwhile, were on the verge of a perfect season before Coach Jim Caldwell sat his starters in Week 16 and even the best defensive units have had no answer for Manning's attack.
We've broken down the matchups for this game to see if either side holds the upper hand.
When the Colts have the ball
Look for Manning to go after his top two targets, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, before checking down to Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie. New Orleans' pass rush was weakened when Charles Grant went down but big Will Smith will still serve as a major distraction. The ball-hawking Saints secondary was second in turnovers and is always a threat to make plays in the backfield.
Passing is the centrepiece for Indy but the New York Jets learned all too well what happens if team's neglect the run. Joseph Addai will get his share of touches and still has the ability to break the game open.
When the Saints have the ball
Drew Brees heads a deep scoring threat matched by a running game that combines speed, quickness and power. Running backs Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush carried the ball 21 times for 69 yards vs. a massive Viking D-line wall and will no doubt find success against the average Colts front seven.
Indy was stable against a vanilla Jets passing game but are going to be challenged keeping pace with the speedy trio of Marques Colston, Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem. Pass rush also took a serious blow this week on news of a severe ankle sprain to veteran Colt linemen Dwight Freeney that could limit his ability - if not keep him out of the game completely.
Intangibles
This marks the first Super Bowl since 1994 (Dallas vs. Buffalo) where the two No. 1 seeds from their respective Conferences met in the final. Indianapolis was nearly perfect all year but in the second half of the season has not seen the calibre of competition that this Saints offense consistently brings to the table. With the additional edge New Orleans holds in special teams and the generous points being offered by the sportsbooks, look for the underdog Saints to cover the spread and possibly even win this game straight-up.
