The Greatest Show on Turf … Super Bowl XLIV

Posted on February 3rd, 2010 | by Rohan |

[show_avatar email=rohan@hetoreahamstring.me.uk align=left] There’s much to look forward to this weekend! There’s ‘payday’, the end of what has been a torrid week thus far, and most importantly, a potentially fine weekend of sport.

Focussing on the latter, three of my favourite dates in the calendar all fall into this glorious February weekend, a weekend of sporting paradise from Friday Evening through to the early hours of Monday Morning:

The Merseyside Derby
The Super Bowl
The beginning of the Six Nations Championship

Tonight’s post focuses on ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’, Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLIV threatens to be a really exciting event. Throughout the much of the 1980s and 1990s, Super Bowl was often a non-contest, such was the lack of parity between the NFC and its AFC counterpart. Such was the NFC’s dominance at this point, that they won 15 of 16 Championship Games between 1981-1996, as the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins won 10 Super Bowls between them. The names of Montana, Rice and Taylor are synonymous with success and Super Bowl.

At that time, the adage went that “Defense Wins Championships”. The opening decade of the 21st Century has threatened to derail this statement as powerful offenses led by the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have accounted for 4 Championships. However, it should not be forgotten that Steve Spagnuolo‘s defensive master-plan is widely seen as being responsible for the Giants’ shock 2008 victory against Brady’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, and that the defensively powerful Pittsburgh Steelers have won 2 of the last 4 Championships.

It is however far too easy to polarise between offense and defense. The truth is that you need a balance of both, not to mention Special Teams, in order to challenge for a Super Bowl Championship. The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, who contest the big game on Sunday, are both built around offense and star Quarterbacks. The Colts’ Peyton Manning is already assured of his place in the Hall of Fame, whilst the Saints’ Drew Brees is one of only 2 men to throw for 5,000 yards in a season (the other being the great Dan Marino), and has been voted to 4 of the last 6 Pro Bowls.

For this reason, this could be a Super Bowl decided by defense. At some point, one of these defenses will need to step up and make the big plays that could win the game. Whilst the Colts finished the NFL Regular Season ranked 18th in Defensive Yards per game, as opposed to the Saints 25th, the Saints created 39 Turnovers in comparison to the Colts 25.

The hope and expectation is for an offensive shootout, but both defenses will want to play their part. Whilst New Orleans shifted more yards in the regular season, their defense scored 8 touchdowns, whilst Indianapolis had 2. Remember that the Saints forced 5 turnovers in the NFC Championship Game, including the key interception by Tracy Porter which turned a game they looked like losing. Additionally, the Colts are still unsure of the fitness of the defensive leader Dwight Freeney.

Most of the pundits, not to mention the Bookies have the Colts as slight favourites to win on Sunday. For the Saints to win, these are my keys to the game:

Must establish the run, to keep the Colts defensively off balance – run at Robert Mathis and wear him down with Freeney struggling
Use Will Smith to try and get any remote pressure on Manning
Must create turnover chances
Big Plays and focus on Special Teams – Reggie Bush can break it wide open
Do enough to give Drew Brees a chance in the 4th Quarter – he’s the emotional leader of this team and they will follow him
Bring the crowd into the game, Miami should provide ‘home’ support for the Saints

My heart would love to see the Saints prevail, in their first Super Bowl and only 4 years on from Hurricane Katrina. However, my head just … and only just … agrees with popular opinion. The Colts simply have too much in their offensive artillery, but if the Saints can stand up defensively, we may just witness a thriller!

For British Fans, coverage of Super Bowl XLIV from Miami is available on Sky Sports 1, BBC 1 and Radio 5 Live. I’m stocked up with Coors and Chilli, and can’t wait!