Championship Judgements: Brees returns to town that might have been
1. Congratulations, Miami, you finally get Drew Brees. It was the Dolphins who passed on Brees in the 2001 draft, taking cornerback Jamar Fletcher with the 26th pick, and it was the Dolphins who passed on him again when he was a free agent in 2006 -- refusing to make an offer because of a severe shoulder injury that shelved him in the season finale. Instead, they acquired Daunte Culpepper, and the less said there the better. Anyway, good things ... or good players ... come to those who wait, Miami, and pass the word to the Dolphins.
2. If you consider the Colts an indoor team -- and they played both playoff games inside -- we have a Super Bowl turned inside out, with two dome clubs playing for the Lombardi Trophy outdoors. A big deal? Not really. Both played in Miami this season, and both won -- the Colts rallying twice in the fourth quarter for a 27-23 win and New Orleans overcoming a 21-point deficit to score a 46-34 victory.
3. And the weekend winner is ... the city of New Orleans. And it's about time. Not only does it have the Saints in their first Super Bowl, it has native son Peyton Manning in his second. The way I see it, New Orleans can't lose.
4. Let's see, is Super Bowl XLIV Peyton Place or Payton Place? I'll leave that one to the headline writers in Indianapolis and New Orleans to figure out.
5. The last time Indianapolis was in Miami the Colts had three scoring drives of one minute or less, and that could happen in Super Bowl XLIV mainly because the Saints will find Manning more elusive ... and I mean a lot more elusive ... than Brett Favre. Manning was sacked 10 times all season, and while he was dumped twice on the Colts' first two series against the Jets he wasn't sacked again. Furthermore, the Colts put up 30 on a Jets club that led the league in defense, pass defense and scoring. So what do you think happens against a Saints team that will have trouble squeezing Manning and doesn't have Darrelle Revis? That, folks, is why the Colts opened as a 4½-point favorite.
6. And that, people, is why they should move the kickoff in overtime up five to 10 yards.
7. So much for running the football. For the second straight season the league's 32nd-ranked rushing attack makes it to the Super Bowl, only there's a difference between this year's Colts and last year's Arizona Cardinals: The Colts aren't underdogs.
8. Don’t tell me defenses win championships and offenses sell tickets, either. Not this time they don’t. The lowest-ranked defense among AFC playoff teams was Indianapolis (18th overall); the lowest-ranked defense among the NFC clubs was New Orleans (25th). But it gets better. The Colts were last among AFC playoff teams against the run, too, (24th overall), and the Saints last in the same category (21st) among the NFC’s six playoff contenders. So why are they here? The Colts were second in the league in passing and the Saints fourth, and, yes, now you know why Manning and Brees were the top two finishers in the league MVP voting.
9. Let me get this straight: Favre reportedly knows what he's doing next year but won't say what it is? Pardon me, but I've heard this before. The last time Favre bowed out of the playoffs with an interception he returned. So why should this be any different? But here's a better question: Why, oh, why, would anyone believe what he says now after what we've been through the past two years? Me? I'm waiting until late July for his decision.
10. Tom Brady gets hit below the knee, and the NFL makes a rules change to try to prevent it from happening again. Only it does happen again, with Brett Favre clobbered from behind by the Saints' Bobby McCray. Brutal, right? Yep, but there was no flag. You heard me. No penalty. You've got to be kidding. Somebody please explain.
11. Forget about Favre's egregious interception for a moment. The question that should be asked is why coach Brad Childress went so conservative when he was this close to a Super Bowl? He's first-and-10 at the New Orleans 33 with just over a minute left and calls two runs for no gain. Huh? In the blink of an eye he went from Don Coryell to Marty Schottenheimer, playing for a field goal when the field goal was going to be 50 yards. Just my opinion, but 50-yard field goals are no slam dunks, and I'll call Neil Rackers as my first witness.
12. I'm sorry, but I can't agree with the Jets' decision to kick a 52-yard field goal early in the third quarter -- and, yeah, I know Jay Feely hit his last four kicks over 50. It's just that when you have the league's top defense I'd rather rely on it stuffing my opponent inside the 10 than take a chance on a 52-yard field goal. The Jets got greedy and paid for it.
13. Too bad Minnesota didn't make it to the Super Bowl. I was looking forward to hearing what Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier had to say about the Rooney Rule and how it was shredded by Washington and Seattle this month.
14. Relax, Broadway Joe. You can put your phone back on the hook.
15. For the life of me I don't know why Buffalo didn't interview Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman. He knows offense, he's a great teacher and he would've been a big hit in Toronto.
Five guys I wouldn't want to be
1. Minnesota QB Brett Favre -- He's this close to returning to the Super Bowl and makes that throw? All I could think of was the last time he was in a conference championship game and tried throwing to Donald Driver but hit the Giants' Corey Webster instead. Or was that the 2003 playoffs when his overtime toss to Javon Walker was intercepted by Brian Dawkins? Anyway, I feel for the guy.
2. N.Y. Jets CB Dwight Lowery -- The Colts said they weren't going after him, but you can't convince me. "When a guy is making his first start in the AFC Championship Game," said Manning, "you kind of have to take a look at him."
3. Minnesota coach Brad Childress -- Bad enough he went straight-jacket conservative after driving to the New Orleans 33 with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. But then how did a 12th man get on the field? Favre saw him in the huddle. How come nobody noticed on the sidelines? We need answers, Brad.
4. The official who didn't see the shot the Colts' Melvin Bullitt laid on quarterback Mark Sanchez in the second half. Jets coach Rex Ryan saw it and blew a gasket. And he should have. "It was a cheap shot," Ryan said. "I don't think it was intentional by any stretch of the imagination, but clearly the ball was gone. It was something I really wasn't pleased with." I can see why.
5. New Orleans DE Bobby McCray -- Nice cheap shots on Favre, Bobby. Not once, but twice. Maybe the refs didn't see it, but we did.
Five things I like
1. The flyover at Lucas Oil Stadium. I'm not talking about fast planes. I'm talking about a bald eagle that soared over the crowd during the National Anthem. The scene was so impressive a normally staid press box erupted in applause.
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| Jonathan Vilma is a force to be reckoned with during the win. (US Presswire) |
3. The Mannings in Super Bowls and the Colts in Miami. This is the third time in the past four years either Peyton or Eli has made it to the NFL's championship game. Better yet, the family hasn't lost. This is the Colts' fourth trip to the Super Bowl -- all four have been in Miami.
4. The Saints' Jonathan Vilma. All he did was produce five tackles, one interception, two pass deflections one forced fumble and one fumble recovery ... yet he still wasn't good enough for the New York Jets.
5. The Colts' Matt Stover. He not only became the first kicker to nail a field goal vs. the Jets in the playoffs; he became the first kicker, period, to hit one vs. the Jets since ... well, since the last time the Jets were in Indianapolis, which was Dec. 27. In the meantime, opposing kickers were 0 for 5.
Five things I don't
1. Referee Tony Corrente's pregame call on the coin toss for the Jets-Colts game. He referred to the Jets as the "New York Giants," and tell me that went over well in Florham Park.
2. The rampant speculation and misinformation regarding Tom Cable's future. Yeah, I know, the Raiders have left him swinging in the breeze, but look what happened in the meantime: There were stories galore that had him fired and the club interviewing candidates to replace him ... when, in fact, it didn't happen. Let's all admit the obvious: Only Al Davis knows what's going on there, and the only person who knows what Al Davis is going to do is Al Davis.
3. Adrian Peterson's hands. Correction, anyone's hands on the Minnesota Vikings. Six fumbles? Are you kidding me? Somebody should have introduced these guys to glue, tape, Velcro ... something, anything, to hold on to the football.
4. The Colts' Jim Caldwell settling for a field goal on fourth-and-goal at the Jets' 1. Please. You're the Indianapolis Colts, and you're playing at home, for crying out loud! OK, let's say you don't get the first. Then what? Well, then the Jets don't dig themselves out, and you get the ball back at the 50. The Colts didn't take the chance, settled for a field goal and Rex Ryan should have been grateful.
5. The pass-interference call that led to the Saints' winning score. Sorry, but David Thomas couldn't have caught that ball with a ladder. And where was the contact? It looked as if Thomas slipped as much as anything.
Just asking but ...
• How much trouble will Brett Favre have getting out of bed Monday?
• Is there something wrong with Drew Brees? If not, how do you explain some of those passes?
• Why only one play from the Tigercat, Brian Schottenheimer?
• Think Archie Manning might do some talking the next two weeks?
• How long before there's a Kardashian sighting at the Super Bowl?
Significant numbers
• 0 -- Braylon Edwards second-half catches
• 1 -- Horrendous Brett Favre decisions
• 3 -- Average yards per carry by the New York Jets, the league's top-ranked rushing team
• 3 -- Replay challenges on New Orleans' game-winning drive, all of which favored the Saints
• 6 -- Minnesota fumbles
• 13 -- Longest Jets run
• 31 -- Minnesota first downs
• 173 -- Combined rushing yards by Baltimore and the Jets vs. Indianapolis in the playoffs
• 274 -- Yards receiving by Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie
