All Saints - The Clock and the Rock

It’s finally time to choose. With about 29 hours left to Super Bowl whatever (I can’t make out all those L’s and X’s and I’s…always thought it was stupid), it’s high time to choose a winner. And after due consideration, I just have to go with the Saints.

I’ve been leaning towards them all year really. They justified my faith too for much of the year, before all kinds of injuries crippled their defense and then some of their offense too. They went from good to bad to worse…and then to good again just at the right time, for the games that counted.

And my reasons haven’t changed from my last column, the one that talked about how much Dwight Freeney meant to that Colts defense, and how the Colts beat two one-dimensional offenses in the playoffs, Baltimore and the Jets, while New Orleans had to kick butt against Arizona and especially the Vikings. I also intimated then that there was some kind of magic surrounding the Saints, who just seem luckier than everybody else.

Well, nothing that’s happened in this past week has changed my mind. If anything, my feeling for the Saints just got stronger. If I thought Freeney would play at even 75% of his best, or if I thought that his backup was strong, or if I thought those last-minute hurts and ow-ies were going the way of the Colts, I might have changed my mind.

For those of you who never played football, or for those of you who never played hurt, you can play through some injuries, as “PrimeTime” has pointed out to us all week. For a guy who never made a tackle in his lifetime, he surely says all that with certainty. My guess is, like many other idiots on television, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

A defensive end can’t play with a badly sprained ankle. Sorry, folks. Hamstrings hurt…fine. Shoulders hurt…fine. Even if your knee is a little out of whack…fine. Ankle?....forget about it.

Okay, say Colts fans….but the Colts have won without Freeney before and they haven’t missed a beat. Yeah? And who were they playing? Now, mind you, I’m not saying the Colts aren’t a great team. And I’m not saying that Manning and Company won’t put points on the board. And I’m not even saying the Saints will put up 30 or more versus that Colts defense without Freeney.

I’m just saying the Saints will put up more.
A look at this week’s last-minute injuries showed me a Colts wide-out who couldn’t finish practice. But no worries…it was only Reggie Wayne. The Colts have a nickel back ailing too. The Saints are doing fine, thank you, unless you count that kick-returner. Nothing’s really changed that much. The Saints still have a versatile offense with an opportunistic defense. The Colts still have Manning and a few force-fed young receivers, and a defense that never could stop a running team that also could pass the ball. (Please note that last phrase…it’s the big one).

I think we’ll be seeing a lot of Reggie Bush Sunday night. I just wish he hadn’t told the whole world that Sean Payton pretty much told him so. Nice poker face, Reggie, what an idiot! But no harm done really, the Colts had to figure the Saints would try to run. Besides, I think it’s a feint…they’ll be running Pierre Thomas straight ahead at that light but quick Colts defense. Reggie will probably be running to Freeney’s side…um, I mean the Freeney-less side of things.

Getting back to these young Colts wide-outs, how will they react to all that poking and swiping at the ball these Saints defenders like to do? If there is a wildcard in the deck, it’s that, fumbles. As these teams stand against each other now, this game is even. If there are turnovers, they should go the Saints way. They always seem to.

Against the Vikings, the Saints made Adrian Peterson a mess, even as he scored three touchdowns. As good as he was that day, he couldn’t knock the Saints out. He had to constantly worry about that thing he was carrying with the points on the end. They knocked Favre to the ground quite a few times too. And that defense was going for the ball the whole long afternoon. How often does Favre mess up a handoff to a running back?

The weather won’t be a factor. The report says it’ll be sunny with temps between 47 and 69 degrees. If the weather turns bad for some reason, and there doesn’t always have to be a reason for showers in Miami, that should also favor the team that can run the ball, the team that’s trying to strip that ball as a runner tries to regain his balance. (But I don’t expect bad weather).

The Vikings were a running and passing team. The Saints beat them. The Colts are a passing team only. They could try running Addai and Brown and whoever else they have in their stable of running backs but they’ll go nowhere. If the Colts should take a lead, they’ll have trouble running the clock. If the Saints should go ahead, it’ll be Thomas and Bush and a tick-tick-tock.

Then there are the intangibles. I have no idea which team has the advantage there. There was the Saints defensive coordinator saying they were going to go after Manning, there was Reggie Bush bragging about how often he’d be getting the ball, there was Dwight Freeney showing everybody his bare ankles, there were the rest of the Colts saying nothing.

I’m a big believer in pressure though. Put enough pressure on anything and it will eventually break. The veteran Saints are treating this as only a big game. The younger Colts remember their chances for an unbeaten season going down the hole in the name of keeping players healthy.

But their players got hurt anyway. The Saints got well. (Tick tock).

Saints win…..27-23.