Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints - Super Bowl - Betting Preview
Opening Line: Saints +4.5 / Colts -4.5 O/U 56.5
Time: 6:20 PM Sunday February 7, 2010 on CBS
The Big game is finally here and in a great, dare I say dream, match up for the Super Bowl the Indianapolis Colts face the New Orleans Saints. The Colts will be going for their 2nd Super Bowl title in 4 years while the Saints, who is the team Peyton Manning's dad Archie played for, will be looking for their 1st in their 1st trip to THE big game.
There is a good chance that this may be the highest scoring Super Bowl ever since both teams have such a good offense. The Saints are led by Drew Brees, who led the NFL with a 109.8 passer rating, threw for 4,388 yards, and led the league with 34 TD's. The Colts are led by Peyton Manning (4,500 yds 33 TD), who was the league's MVP for the 2nd year in a row. This season the Saints had the highest scoring team in the league (31.9 ppg) and the Colts ranked 7th (26 ppg). Manning led the Colts to 2 wins in the playoffs over Baltimore and the New York Jets, who were 2 of the best defenses in the league and neither game was a close one.
The big question in this game is can either team play any defense? The Colts ranked 8th in the league in scoring defense (19.2 ppg) and they played well in the playoffs, especially in the game against the Ravens where they only gave up 3 points. However, defensive leader Dwight Freeney, who led the Colts in sacks this season, has a torn ankle ligament and even though he will probably play it will be in a limited role. The Saints ranked 20th in scoring defense this season (21.3 ppg) and they gave up 42 points in 2 playoff games.
Peyton Manning and the Colts have to hold onto the ball in this game, as the Saints have forced 7 turnovers this post-season.
The Saints have to put pressure on Manning in this game, but that will not be easy since he was only sacked 10 times this season playing behind one of the best offensive lines in the league.
RB Joeseph Addai can take some pressure off Manning by running the ball, but he only has 103 rushing yards in the 2 playoff wins. However, the Saints' defense will really key on Manning so there will be room to run and the Colts will be hard to beat if they can run the ball in this game.
To keep Manning on the sidelines the Saints may try to control the clock by running the ball. New Orleans has a solid rushing attack, as this season they averaged 131.6 yards per game on the ground. Pierre Thomas was the featured back this season, but in the post-season Reggie Bush has played stellar both as a rusher and a receiver. The Colts have to contain the rushing attack and not only focus on stopping Brees.
Even with the dynamic offenses that both teams have this game may come down to turnovers and which team can make some key defensive stops.