Will Saints bring the Party back to New Orleans?

Two high powered offences; two great leaders – an inevitable clash of the titans. One of the greatest players in the game will be looking to cement his place in history. On Sunday February 7th, in a match with more compelling story lines than the latest Hollywood blockbuster (your views on 3d effects and blue aliens depending) all these story lines come crashing to a head on one of the greatest stages in American sports – SuperBowl XLIV. To understand and appreciate the crown jewel of America’s $8 billion-per-year sport (revenues of the premier league in contrast are around $3.5 billion), you should know the journey undertaken when the Indianapolis Colts play the New Orleans Saints this Sunday.

Both of these teams marched through the regular season finishing both of their 16 game seasons with 13 straight wins, locking up the number 1 seeding in their respective conferences before resting their starters prior to the beginning of the playoffs. While some teams have come close to stopping these two locomotives, there has been a growing sense of inevitability throughout the season that these two teams would eventually meet in the Super Bowl and it is a matchup fans have yearning to arrive.

On the face of it, this year’s Super Bowl is the triumph of a great change that has been occurring in recent years in the NFL. Traditionally it has been thought that great defences win championships; a team which can stop its opposition and grind out points slowly running up the field is what will ultimately triumph over high powered offences which throw the ball like crazy. The emergence of great quarterbacks who can throw the ball against any opposition and pick apart even the best defences has meant that passing teams have risen to prominence and started to dominate in the NFL. In the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints we have two teams with high powered offences (7th and 1st overall out of 32 teams in scoring offence during the regular season respectively) primarily led by their passing attacks, but both with sub-par defences. This means come Sunday we could be looking at a shootout with both teams marching up and down the field, throwing the ball and scoring points. For this reason bookies are expecting one of the highest scoring super bowls in history.

From a football perspective the key to this game lies in whichever team can take down the oppositions quarterback. In 2007 Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots, smashed all previous passing records on the way to leading his team on an undefeated run to the Super Bowl. There however, they ran out of steam as the pass rush of the New York Giants continually hit Brady before he had a chance to pass the ball. Peyton Manning (Colts) and Drew Brees (Saints) are two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but if one team does a better job at hurrying them and taking them down before they can pass the ball, then they are half way to victory. The position principally responsible for rushing and getting to the quarterback are the defensive ends and in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis the Colts have two of the best in the league, both having been voted to this year’s Pro Bowl. This is one of the reasons why the Colts are favoured to win on Sunday. The other is Peyton Manning.

One thing which all sports fans can respect and appreciate is greatness. Whether it’s Roger Federer dominating the Australian Open or Tiger Woods in golf (among other things), one of the greatest things to watch in any sport is a master of the craft. In Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts have a quarterback and leader who is one of the greatest to have ever played the game. A record holding four-time MVP of the NFL, watching Manning play has been one of the highlights of this season. He has the ability to make average players look like superstars – this year his number one receiver has been sidelined with an injury and in his place Manning has made a rookie and another second year receiver look like they have been playing for years at the highest level with connections being made in the most difficult of circumstances. Every defence that comes up against the Colts knows that they are going to throw the ball, has years of video footage on Manning and yet cannot slow him down. This was highlighted last week where in the Conference championship game Manning picked apart the New York Jets who had this year’s best rated defence. For all this praise though which we can heap upon Manning, he has one major flaw for which he will always be criticised and left out of the conversation for greatest quarterbacks of all time until he can overcome it. In his Career, Manning has one only one Super Bowl ring, compared to his greatest contemporary, Tom Brady, who has won four. And as we all know in sport, ultimately you are judged on whether you win or lose. So come Super Bowl XLIV Manning will try to will his team with all his ability in an attempt to cement his rightful place in history.

As interesting as the Manning story is to Sunday’s game, in our opinion it is not the most appealing. Come Sunday the majority of America will be backing the New Orleans Saints as a testament to their perseverance through the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. In its wake, the Saints stadium was damaged and they were unable to play home games there, instead having to play in the neighbouring state of Texas. Due to the crippling economic damage done to New Orleans by Katrina, it was questioned whether the city could support the franchise any longer and attempts were made by some individuals to lure the team away from New Orleans. This caused a massive outcry not only in New Orleans but also in the rest of America. Sports teams are unifying forces for cities which will, with the exception of New York and L.A., have at most one franchise per major sport in the States, and as such most cities are united behind their one representative team. Taking away the Saints was seen to be taking away the heart of the city. Steps were taken by politicians to ensure that the Saints remained in New Orleans and since that time the Saints have been seen as a symbol of hope, as well as a medium for the recovery of the city. Their return to the Superdome (where refugees stayed during the initial aftermath of Katrina) was at the time the highest ever rated show on ESPN. Now their journey is almost complete, having faced one of the lowest points a team can face, they have brought their fans and their city to its first ever SuperBowl and they have just one final step to take to bring the party back to The Big Easy.

The stage is set then for potentially one of the most thrilling and high scoring Super Bowls in recent history, with one man trying to secure his place in history against a team representing one of sports greatest feel good stories.

For football fans, and sports fans in general this Sunday means to be a great day. The Warwick Wolves (our own American Football team) face Worcester at 1pm on their field behind Westwood Astros. All spectators are welcome to come down to watch and cheer them to victory, and then to join the team later that evening in the Atrium where the SU are kind enough to have set-up screens to show the game, along with generous servings of American style food, all night long.