Super Bowl XLIV Wrap Up

Since the game has been analyzed to death already, this post won't be too big on analysis. I'll mostly include some personal thoughts on the game.

• This was one of the most briskly played Super Bowls in recent memory. There were very few penalties and the total elapsed time was just over three hours in spite of the innumerable commercial breaks and lengthened half time show. The flow of the game was a little weird for me though. Lots of movement up and down the field with nary a big play on offense.
• The Pierre Garcon drop on the Colts third possession was an enormous play. Of course there's go guarantee that the Colts would have scored on that drive. But if there's such a thing as a make or break play in the first quarter of a game, that was one.
• Congratulations to two former Redskins (my team), Gregg Williams and Mark Brunell. I was really disappointed when Williams was not named head coach of the Redskins two years ago. I like Mark Brunell also. He lead Washington to the playoffs a few years back. Plus he's a guy that has been on the brink of a championship a couple of times with the Jags.
• Waaaay too much has been made of Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne leaving the field immediately after the game and not shaking hands with anyone. In a perfect world they would seek out their opponents and congratulate them. But the field after the Super Bowl in nightmarish sea of media, players, a mobile stage, security, and league potentates. Besides, they just lost the Super Bowl. They're trying to process what just happened. They may not have the presence of mind at that moment to make hand shaking a priority.
• Question: Will New Orleans have to be rebuilt again after the crazy-ass party that will go on for the next week?

Pro Football Hall of Fame 2010

It's a very interesting class this season. It's the first class I can remember in which almost every player played in his prime during my football watching life.

Not too many comments really for Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice. It's kind of cool that the NFL's all-time leading rusher and receiver get to be enshrined at the same time. Statistically, no one is even close to those guys, especially Rice. You have to play 20 years, first of all, to even be in his neighborhood and oh yeah, be the best receiver in the game for 15 of those years.

The two defensive selections are very interesting to me. I think both John Randle and Rickey Jackson are deserving, but they're not exactly on the tip of the casual fan's tongue. I like comparing both to one of their contemporary pass rushers, Lawrence Taylor. Randle had 137.5 sacks in 14 years. Taylor had 132.5 in 13 years. But Randle did it as an interior lineman not rushing off the edge. Rickey Jackson, an outside linebacker like Taylor, had very similar stats also (128.5 career sacks), but was doing it under the radar in New Orleans. If he did it in New York or LA, he would have been a super star.

Congrats to Russ Grimm, one of the original Hogs for Washington and a selection I'm very pleased with.

Two HOF omissions of note: Shannon Sharpe and Cris Carter. They both definitely deserve to be in. Sharpe helped revolutionize the TE position. Without him, 'tweeners like Antonio Gates and Dallas Clark would be without a position. Carter was simply one of the best receivers of his time, uncoverable inside the 20 yard line with Velcro like hands

A Case for the Saints

From the people I read, listen, and talk to everyone seems to think the Colts have already won the Super Bowl. There is some compelling evidence supporting a Colts victory, but I think with a little luck the Saints could pull off an upset. Here is what needs to happen:

1) Win the third phase of the game (i.e. special teams). They can't afford to give the Colts good field position or miss easy field goals. Reggie Bush needs to step up and take one to the house, if for nothing else so we can have 30 shots of Kim Kardashian in the luxury box. (Bill Simmons said during a podcast what if Reggie Bush and Lamar Odom win championships this year, wouldn't that inspire the other Kardashian to start dating an athlete of a tortured franchise to win a championship. I would say a Cubs player maybe Jeff Samardzija)

2) Excel in red zone efficiency on both sides of the ball. Brees cannot cap 83 yard drives with 20 yard field goals. They need to get 7 every time. Conversely, they need to hold Manning to 3 on a few trips. (I know it is easier said then done)

3) Cover Pierre Garcon. Jabari Greer can handle one guy one on one. Whether that is Wayne, who tweaked a knee in practice Friday, or Garcon the rest on the secondary needs to take care of the other weapons in Manning's arsenal. The Saints can't allow Garcon to run wild like the Jets did.

4) Win the Peyton vs. Payton Battle. I know Jim Caldwell is the head coach, but I think we can all agree Peyton Manning runs the show. With two weeks to prepare I think Sean Payton could come up with something to annoy Manning. The question is can he do it for 60 minutes?

If Brees plays above his skis, the Saints protect the ball, and contain Manning they could win. If nothing else, I hope we have a close game going into the 4th quarter. Just to be contrarian I am going with the Saints with the caveat that the Saints have to end the game with the ball. You just can't give Peyton Manning that opportunity to beat you.

Saints 35

Colts 31

Enjoy the Game.

Super Bowl XLIV Preview

Before the sports pundits give their bottom line predictions you can get your Super Bowl winner here first at brosatarms.

This is so hard because this is really the match up I've wanted since mid-season. There are compelling reasons to pick either team as well as compelling reasons to cheer for either team.

Both teams are tenacious. They have obvious shortcomings that have somehow been able to prevent from being exposed. The most obvious of these shortcomings is defense. Both are opportunistic and though they are mediocre statistically, they make timely plays and are able to stiffen up inside the 20 yard line. Because of these defensive tendencies, I envision a high scoring game with one or two big defensive plays making the difference.

Both quarterbacks have avoided the big mistake although Manning has looked more sharp. Brees all of a sudden has some accuracy problems. Against the Colts' cover 2, accuracy will be crucial because there's always someone closing on the ball. The Saints will try to bludgeon Manning into submission, but good luck getting to him. Unlike Favre, he will not hold the ball. I think the Saints will get burned once or twice while blitzing.

All that being said in my gut I feel the Colts are just more polished. We could be looking at another incredibly close game with lots of scoring with Indianapolis coming out on top.

Colts 33, Saints 30

Congrats Colts. Superlative Saints.

Wasn't just a month ago that I was killing these two teams for how they played out the last few games of the season? Though I was wrong about them, I did get the Super Bowl I really, really wanted.

As soon as Manning and the Colts drove 80 yards at the end of the first half to cut the Jets lead to 17-13, I said to myself, this game is over. The Colts took about 28 minutes to figure out the Jets and made a couple of bad mistakes on defense early. But after that, the Colts dominated. You could see it in Manning's eyes, I gotcha.

The other game just kind of got me aggravated. But after several careless fumbles, many inexplicable penalties, and one last boneheaded int. by Brett Favre, the Saints came out with the win. Favre's play has already been analyzed to death over the past 18 hours, so the only thing I have to say is... the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result.

Super Bowl preview coming soon.

NFL Conference Championships

Since my Super Bowl picks (Packers and Chargers) are both out after a mere one playoff game each, let's press the reset button now that we're a week away from the big game.

Jets vs. Colts: Yes, the Jets have an awesome defense. Yes, they like to pound the rock, and the Colts are vulnerable to that sort of thing. No, the Colts can't run themselves. But this is a different Colts team. It's a team that wills itself to win. Some will say that a tight game favors the Jets because of their defense. I say it favors Indy because they have #18. I think Manning will pick apart whatever blitzes and coverages the Jets have. Even if they don't get any huge plays Manning will be happy to kill New York 6 or 7 yards at a time. Manning's stats on the day... 35-50, 285 yards, 1 TD 0 int. Colts 20, Jets 10. (On a side note, Jets' opponents have missed five straight field goals this post season. Absolutely uncanny and absolutely lucky. That's the kind of bull crap that a win-ugly team like the Jets needs to get a championship.)

Vikings vs. Saints: Both teams have come off dominating wins and seem to have their swagger back after struggling the last month of the regular year. The Vikings looked especially impressive to me after they dismantled the Cowboys, a team that is far more balanced than the Cardinals, who the Saints beat. But the Vikes can't win. They mustn't. I can't watch FarveTV for two weeks. Right... It's not possible... OH GOD!! Saints 34, Vikings 28.

Mariners Lock Up the King

It seems that small market fans need not fret over at least one young ultra-talented player schedule to hit the free agent market in the next few years. The Mariners have come to an agreement with Felix Hernandez that looks to be around five years and roughly $80 million, just about what A.J. Burnett and John Lackey received in the past two seasons.

All I have to say is thank God. I like the fact that if the Yankees need a player they can usually find one on the free agent market and that price is never really an object. What I don't like is that smaller market teams refuse to spend money on once in a generation talent. Over the past decade mid and small market teams have given up a lot of talent to make sure their profit margins don't take a hit: the Royals and Carlos Beltran, the Twins and Johan Santana and the Marlins and Miguel Cabrera.

Now if only the Twins would man up and spend the dough necessary to keep Joe Mauer beyond next season.