As part of our ongoing coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, here are five potential MVP candidates outside of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

1. Reggie Wayne, WR, Colts
Wayne only caught three passes for 55 yards in the AFC title game, but that was because he was locked up with stout corner Darrelle Revis, who has a habit of limiting a receiver’s impact. But Wayne caught eight passes for 63 yards and a touchdown against the Ravens in the Divisional Round and Revis won’t be anywhere near the field come Sunday. Wayne has five 100-plus yard receiving efforts this season and one more could earn him the Super Bowl’s highest achievement (outside of a ring of course). He only caught two passes against the Bears the last time he played in the NFL title game, but they went for 61 yards and a touchdown. If his quarterback doesn’t yank the award away from him, then Wayne could be taking home the MVP hardware come Sunday night.

2. Marques Colston, WR, Saints
In an era dominated by diva receivers, Colston is one wideout that is easy to root for. He’s quiet, unselfish and brimming with talent. He’s also reliable and if he gets enough opportunities, he might explode on Sunday and earn the MVP award in his first ever trip to the Super Bowl. In the Divisional Round, Colston hauled in six passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, and seems to save his best performances for top competition. In Week 6 of the regular season against the Giants, he caught eight passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, and in Week 12 against the Patriots he hauled in four passes for 121 yards and a score. Even in a losing effort against Dallas in Week 15, he caught five passes for 86 yards, including a 35-yard strike that led to a Saints’ field goal early in the second quarter. Outside of Brees, the only reason Colston might not have a fair opportunity to win the MVP award is because he’s on a team that is loaded with other receiving weapons. This is where the aforementioned unselfishness comes in, because there’s no doubt that Colston would rather catch one pass for 10 yards and win, than catch 10 passes for 150 yards and lose.

Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the ongoing coverage leading up to Super Bowl XLIV, here are five factors the Colts must overcome to beat the Saints.

1. The potential loss of Freeney.
Come kickoff on Sunday, there will be no bigger hurdle for the Colts to overcome than if defensive end Dwight Freeney can’t play, or is limited due to an ankle injury. He’s undoubtedly Indy’s best defender and is a game-changer in every sense of the word. If he can’t play, the Saints don’t have to worry about keeping extra blockers in to protect Drew Brees and can focus most of their attention on slowing down Robert Mathis. Pressure is the key to disrupting any offense and the same can be said for the Saints’ high-powered attack. As it stands now, Freeney wants to play and should dress. But considering he’s a speed rusher and has a tear in his ankle, how effective does anyone think he’ll actually be? Barring the ankle being completely healed, the Colts have a serious problem on their hand.

2. Slowing down Brees.
For all that is said about Drew Brees, he still doesn’t get enough credit for being able to read a defense and deliver timely, accurate passes. What makes him unique is that he has accuracy on all three levels, in that he can complete the short to intermediate route with as much ease as he can the deep pass. Another thing Brees does well is scanning the field and throwing away from the coverage. Over the last half of the season, nine quarterbacks threw for two or more touchdowns against the Colts, who gave up big plays in the AFC Championship Game to the usually offensively challenged Jets. Brees has a plethora of weapons to use at his disposal and Indy doesn’t have the personnel to go toe-to-toe with all the Saints’ receivers. The best way to slow down Brees is to pressure him, but as was noted above, that could be a problem for the Colts if Freeney is limited.

Read the rest of this entry »

As part of our ongoing coverage leading up to Super Bowl XLIV, here are five factors the Saints must overcome to beat the Colts.

1. First time jitters.
Since the berth of the Super Bowl in 1966, only seven teams have won in their first appearance: the Packers, Jets, Steelers, 49ers, Bears, Giants and Buccaneers. The remaining 18 teams appearing in their first Super Bowl all lost, meaning 30% of first-timers fall in the NFL title game. Trends like these mean nothing when it comes to the actual game, but it’s worth noting that this will be Drew Brees’ first Super Bowl, compared to Peyton Manning, who will be appearing in his second in four years. The fact that the Colts have already played once in Miami is an advantage for them as well.

2. Peyton Manning’s quick-release.
Perhaps no team has done a better job this postseason at battering the quarterback than the Saints. But Manning doesn’t make it easy for teams to get to him because he excels at reading the defense at the line of scrimmage, diagnosing the coverage and getting the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. He also makes adjustments better than any QB in the game, as evidence of how quickly the tide turned in the AFC Championship Game towards the end of the first half. Gregg Williams can boast all he wants about getting to Manning, but his players still have to execute. And that’s easier said than done when it comes to pressuring Peyton.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s an understatement to say that the Saints have battered opposing quarterbacks this postseason. In fact, ESPN.com reports that in two games, New Orleans put 11 hits on Kurt Warner and Brett Favre in its wins over the Cardinals and Vikings over the past two weeks.

Per the report, six of the hits came through the middle of the line, with the other five coming around the ends. Five of the hits were from unblocked defenders, three were from defenders beating blocks and three were coverage sacks where the quarterback held the ball for over five seconds.

What’s interesting is that seven of the 11 hits came when the Saints had five or more defensive backs on the field, meaning Gregg Williams isn’t necessarily putting his cornerbacks on islands when he sends pressure. Also, five of the 11 hits came in the first quarter, but just two hits came in the fourth, which obviously suggests that Williams is willing to take more gambles earlier in the game but not in crunch time when scores are vital.

In last weekend’s AFC Championship, the Jets pressured Peyton Manning with some success early in the game, but the Colts neutralized New York’s aggressiveness towards the end of the first half when they switched to the no-huddle. Manning is highly skilled at getting the ball out of his hand early and putting the ball in the air before his receivers are out of their breaks. That’s part of what makes him so effective and how he burns opponents with the passing game.

By looking at the stats, it appears that Williams is aggressive but isn’t reckless with his pressure. He’ll send multiple defenders at the opposing quarterback, but will blanket coverage over the top so that his defensive backs won’t get beat deep. No quarterback likes defenders in his face, so if the Saints can drum up pressure up the middle they might have success against Manning early on. But the key is whether or not they can produce stops in the second half when Williams isn’t as aggressive. The Jets couldn’t and that’s why they’ll be at home next Sunday instead of in Miami.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Over the next two weeks, Saints’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has the unenviable task of trying to do something that not even Rex Ryan could accomplish: Stop Peyton Manning.

Actually, “stop” isn’t the best term to use here, seeing as how nobody can actually stop Peyton Manning. “Contain” would be a better word, although that doesn’t make Williams’ job any easier as the Saints prepare to take on the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

Thanks to Ryan’s guidance, the Jets had the No. 1 defense in the league this year and if there were any team that could contain Manning, many thought it would be New York. Instead, the Colts racked up 30 points and 461 yards of total offense on the NFL’s best defense, as Indy beat New York 30-17 in the AFC Championship Game last Sunday. The Colts also finished with 19 first downs and even rushed for 101 yards despite having the league’s worst ground attack.

Ryan’s game plan was simple: Shut down Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark and force Manning to use his other weapons. And, much as they’ve done all season, the Jets executed Ryan’s plan by holding Wayne to only three catches for 55 yards and Clark to four receptions for 35 yards.

The problem was that Manning did use his other weapons, which then went on to torch the Jets’ secondary. Pierre Garcon hauled in 11 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown, while rookie Austin Collie caught seven passes for 123 yards and a score. Ryan forced Manning to beat him with Garcon and Collie and that’s exactly what he did. That also freed up Clark to reach the end zone in the fourth quarter and pretty much put the game out of reach.

Read the rest of this entry »

In safeties Antonie Bethea and Melvin Bullitt, the Colts have two players in their defensive backfield that are steady, underrated and are strong against the run.

But the takeaway from the above sentence is “strong against the run.” That doesn’t mean that Bethea and Bullitt are key factors in pass coverage and in fact, they’re not. They’re adequate against the pass at best, which is why some teams have had success attacking the seams of the Colts’ defense with their tight ends.

The Saints have a playmaker at tight end in Jeremy Shockey, a player that, when healthy, is a mismatch in coverage because of his size, speed and pass-catching ability. He would definitely be a mismatch in coverage against Bethea and Bullitt, especially considering that the two safeties also have to defend the run and the rest of the weapons that New Orleans has in its arsenal.

But the problem is that Shockey can never stay healthy and at least for the moment, he isn’t healthy now. Over the past month, he’s battled toe and knee injuries and hasn’t been 100%. In fact, head coach Sean Payton said that Shockey was on a limited snap count in last Sunday’s NFC Championship Game and that’s why the tight end caught just one pass for nine yards.

If Shockey can get healthy over the next two weeks, he could be the kind of X-factor that the Saints will need to beat the Colts. David Thomas is a fine replacement at tight end of Shockey is limited again, but he’s not the type of game-changer that Shockey is when he’s playing at full strength. If he’s at 100%, Drew Brees might have success attacking the middle of Indy’s defense with Shockey being the main weapon in the Saints’ passing game.

But if he resembles the one-legged man again like he did last week, then the Colts will catch a break and will likely turn their attention to stopping Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and the rest of New Orleans’ outside pass threats.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Colts’ defensive end Dwight Freeney has a torn ligament in his injured right ankle, which means he could wind up missing Super Bowl XLIV.

This is the biggest game of the year and the Colts could be without their top pass rusher. This is devastating news for Indy to say the least and even if he does tough it out and play, he probably won’t be at 100%.

Freeney led the Colts with 13.5 sacks and along with Robert Mathis, gave the team a fierce pass rush – one that is supposed to keep Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees on edge. The best way to disrupt an opposing team’s offensive game plan is to get in the quarterback’s face and make him throw the ball sooner than he intends. That same notion can be applied to Brees and the Saints, who looked like a completely different offense in a Week 14 loss to the Cowboys, thanks to DeMarcus Ware and Dallas’ explosive pass rush.

If Freeney is limited on Sunday or misses the game entirely, then Brees should be more comfortable in the pocket, which is a scary thought for the Colts. In Marques Colston, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson and Jeremy Shockey, the Saints have a plethora of weapons for Brees to use to attack Indy’s secondary. And if he has all day to throw, then Brees should be able to strike for big plays and keep the Colts on their heels the entire game.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if Freeney can’t play, then the Saints won’t have to keep extra blockers in to keep protect Brees. With Freeney and Mathis both on the field, teams usually have to keep an extra blocker in (usually a running back) to help keep their quarterback upright. But with just Mathis to worry about, the Saints can roll their backs into the flats or over the middle, and we all know what Reggie Bush can do in open space. Obviously the Saints are at an advantage when Bush is on the field, compared to a blocking back like Pierre Thomas or Mike Bell.

Granted, it’s a ridiculous notion to suggest that one player (outside of the quarterback) can change the course of an entire game, but it would be a mistake to dismiss how vital Freeney is to the Colts’ defense. He’s a game-changer who relies on his speed to disrupt the flow of an opponent’s offense and if he can’t play, Indy will be limited in what it can do in its game plan come Sunday. Obviously this injury has no affect on Peyton Manning and the Colts’ offense, but given how explosive the Saints are, Freeney is the one player Indy can’t afford to lose.

The best-case scenario for the Colts would be if Freeney doesn’t practice all week and his ankle feels better by Sunday. But if he does have a tear, then it’s going to take longer than six days for the injury to heel. He has already admitted that the injury hasn’t improved over the last week and he has yet to practice.

With that in mind, I’m sure the Colts are already preparing for the inevitable: That they might be without their best defensive player for Super Bowl Sunday.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Jim Caldwell told the media on Monday that he expects defensive end Dwight Freeney to play in Super Bowl XLIV.

From NFL.com:

Colts coach Jim Caldwell appeared on SIRIUS NFL Radio with Adam Schein and Rich Gannon on Monday and confirmed what a team spokesman said about Dwight Freeney the previous day. The All-Pro defensive end is in Miami, receiving treatment for a third-degree ankle sprain, and is considered questionable for Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Saints.

Caldwell also echoed the refrain that Freeney is a quick healer and has been in this situation before, when it looked as if he wouldn’t play.
The Colts are willing to wait until the very last second to make a decision on Freeney’s status.

“If he’s able to go and capable of going,” Caldwell said, “I mean, we’ll wait until the last hour if need be, and I think he’ll be able to do his job and do it well.”

I’m going to sound like a broken record all week, but so be it: Even if Freeney does play, he won’t be at 100% and that’s all that should matter here. He’s a speed rusher with a bad ankle – how effective does anyone actually think he’ll be?

As a football fan with no alliance to either team, I hope Freeney is able to play and play well. But the reality of the situation is that he has a tear in his ankle and I don’t six days of treatment are going to mend the injury. Again, I hope I’m wrong but this isn’t a good situation for the Colts, no matter how much Caldwell spins it.

Photo from fOTOGLIF