Laisez les bons temps rouler!

IT'S HERE!!!!! Can you feel it? That's right baby...it's time for the SUPER BOWL! This game has the potential to be one of the greatest Super Bowl's of all time. The players, the stories, this is going to be a classic match-up that people will talking about for years! I can't even begin to describe my excitement level right now! But who is going to come out victorious? Well that's the million dollar question...

EVERYONE is talking about the Saints, the Saints, the Saints... Don't get me wrong, I like the Saints. I think they are a fantastic team and Drew Brees is a fantastic guy. They have brought the city of New Orleans a much needed spark that they have been lacking since Katrina. If there was any team that I would be OK with beating my Colts, it would be the Saints... but I just don't think that is going to happen. I think the Colts (and not just because I want them to...) are going to win tomorrow and here's why.

First, New Orleans lost their last three games of the regular season. Not only that but they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (?!?!?!), and the Carolina Panthers. Had the Colts played their starters in the last two games of the regular season then they would have been 16-0.

Second, the Saints won the game against the Vikings (obviously or they wouldn't be in the game tomorrow), but that wasn't the same Saints team that showed up to thoroughly humiliate the Patriots. They just barely scraped by Minnesota on what very may well have been luck. If Minnesota had been able to hold on to the ball they would have won the game. The Saints offense in that NFC Champ. game had none of the fireworks of the earlier games that season.

Next, Peyton Manning... maybe you've heard of him. In the game against the Jets for the AFC championship it took him about 20 minutes to adjust to the best defense in the NFL and then just deconstruct them. He is probably the smartest player in football. It is hard to beat the smartest player in football on a regular day... but in his second Super Bowl appearance during the best year of his career? Fuggedaboutit.

Finally.... like I said earlier, it been nothing but "Saints, Saints, Saints". There has got to be an immense amount of pressure on New Orleans despite the fact that they are considered the underdog. The Colts perform at their best when they fly a little under the radar.


But it isn't going to be a walk in the park for Indianapolis. They need to remember a few key things if they want the be the next Super Bowl Champions.

First, YOU HAVE GOT TO PROTECT PEYTON MANNING! Did you catch that? Just in case you missed it let me say it again... YOU HAVE GOT TO PROTECT PEYTON MANNING!!! New Orleans has got a nasty defense (I should know, they were my fantasy DST)... Did you see the NFC Championship?! They put might as well have hung Brett Favre off a balcony on Bourbon St. and made him a human pinata. The N.O. defense put some serious hurt on him without ever actually sacking him. The Indy O-line has got to step up and protect their man in the pocket. End of story.

Next, the defense has to find a way to stop Drew Brees. The Saints were the highest scoring team in the NFL this season and Brees has a smorgasbord of receivers and backs in his offensive arsenal. He likes to spread the love around so the Indy defense has got to be on their toes...

Also, we have to be able to run the ball. Everyone knows that Peyton Manning can throw down the field with deadly accuracy, but with a defense like the Saints' there is going to be a lot of pressure on him so we have got to be able to step up the run game. If we can run the ball we can win the game. But young jedi's (aka running backs), with great power comes great responsibility. If you are going to run the ball against the New Orleans Saints you HAVE TO HOLD ON TO THE BALL!!! They will rip it from your hands and embarrass you if you let them (see:Minnesota Vikings). You're hands better be stuck to the football like a gas pedal to a Prius floorboard (too soon?).

So there you have it. I expect a lot from this game, and for good reason. You have two of the best Quarterbacks in the game today playing on teams that had spectacular seasons. Maybe I will be wrong and the Saints will win, and if they do I can't say that I will be sad (because with a story like theirs, rooting against them kinda makes me feel like a bad person... ), but I am a true blue Indy fan and I love my Colts. So either way... I will be happy.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!


Love,
Belle of the footBall