Cincy Sporting News » New Orleans

Brees lands cover

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:25:31 +0000

Associated Press

Drew Brees has another prize to put next to his Super Bowl MVP trophy: He’s the cover model for this year’s edition of the “Madden NFL” video game.

Drew Brees lands cover of `Madden’ video game

EA Sports announced Thursday that the New Orleans Saints quarterback would be featured on the front of “Madden NFL 11,” the latest installment of the best-selling football franchise.

Brees, who led his team to a 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in this year’s Super Bowl, said landing the cover of “Madden” was “a great way to cap off an amazing year.”

The “Madden” gig is one of the most coveted honors in sports—even though it has been connected to a much-discussed curse. Such superstars as Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Shaun Alexander suffered serious injuries during the season each appeared on the cover.

Brees isn’t worried. “I believe in fate, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” he said. “But destiny is stronger than any curse, and this team is destined for great things.”

Brees joined the Saints in 2006, less than a year after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. He has become a highly visible spokesman for the city’s reconstruction, while the resurgent Saints gave its beleaguered residents something to rally around.

Brees said he hopes the presence of the Saints’ fleur-de-lis logo on the “Madden” cover “keeps people focused on what happened to New Orleans, and what the people of this city have overcome.”

The Saints quarterback was chosen by fans who voted online to determine the game’s cover athlete. The other choices were Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne and Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.

“Madden NFL 11” will be released by EA Sports on Aug. 10.

Payton, Brees bask in glory of New Orleans’ title

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:15:27 +0000

Associated Press

Payton, Brees bask in glory of New Orleans' title

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Wearing Mardi Gras beads and clearly exhausted from a late night of post-Super Bowl celebrations, Sean Payton leaned on a podium, clutching the Vince Lombardi trophy in his right hand.

“You can’t get enough of this,” the Saints’ head coach said at a news conference at the Fort Lauderdale convention center Monday morning. “This thing lay in my bed next to me last night, rolled over it a couple times. I probably drooled on it. But man, there’s nothing like it.”

Certainly, the New Orleans Saints never experienced anything like it.

Before this one, the Saints had only eight winning seasons – and two playoff victories – in their previous 42 years combined. New Orleans had to win three postseason games over three great quarterbacks – Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning – to win the title this season.

The last quarterback standing was Drew Brees, who joined Payton in 2006 with the idea of transforming the Saints into champions for a region needing widespread rebuilding after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

That was easier said than done, but in their fourth season together, they did it. Brees was chosen the Super Bowl MVP after Sunday night’s 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. After that, his only remaining challenge was believing he’d actually pulled it off.

“I had to wake up this morning and turn to my wife and say, ‘Did yesterday really happen?’” Brees said.

“Our victory last night was the culmination of four years of hard work, fighting through a lot of adversity, ups and downs and more importantly than that, representing a city that has been through so much,” Brees said.

“Along the way, people have asked me so many times, ‘Do you look at it as a burden or extra pressure? Do you feel like you’re carrying the weight of the city on your teams’ shoulders.’ I said, ‘No, not at all. We look at it as a responsibility.’ Our city, our fans, gave us strength and we owe this to them. … There’s no people that you would want to win for more than the city of New Orleans.”

As Brees spoke, Payton sat off to the side, elbows on knees, face buried in his hands. When it was his turn to speak, he recounted Vince Lombardi’s grandson, Saints assistant Joe Lombardi, posing for a photo with the sterling silver hardware bearing his last name.

“Joe Lombardi, his father, Vince Jr., and his two brothers sat and posed with this trophy, the four of them, while pictures were taken. And I just thought to myself, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Payton said. “If you believe in heaven, and you believe Vince Lombardi is there looking down on his grandson, it doesn’t get any better.”

Payton said when all was quiet in the team hotel around 3 a.m., he offered a prayer of thanks for his team and his experience in New Orleans, where he became a head coach for the first time in 2006. The city was still largely in ruin then.

“When we got into coaching or playing, we got into it for certain reasons and yet the reasons in New Orleans far exceeded what we ever expected,” Payton said.

The theme for the Saints in 2009 became: A season of firsts. They opened with their first 13-game winning streak, which earned them a first No. 1 seeding in the NFC playoffs. That led to a first home NFC title game, then a first Super Bowl.

Their run to the Super Bowl captured the attention of football fans everywhere. The game was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H” to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history, the Nielsen Co. said Monday.

Commissioner Roger Goodell called this Super Bowl “clearly more than a game.

“I keep thinking of the word ‘magical,’” he said. “When you think about the relationship between the Saints and the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans, it was more than just a football game and more than just a football team. The hopes, the dreams and the struggles of that community were all reflected in that football team. It was a great night for the people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.”

Throughout the past week, Brees used the Super Bowl as a platform to promote New Orleans’ recovery and express his adoration for the distinctive and historic city. After the Saints’ Super Bowl triumph, Brees agreed to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday night.

“We’re going to enjoy this for a while. I think New Orleans is enjoying it right this second, still,” Brees said. “We don’t expect anybody to go to work today in New Orleans, or maybe for the next two weeks considering Mardi Gras is next week.

“We know what it’s like to build something from the ground up and just to feel like this is our time. … I think what’s going to be fun is using the term ‘repeat’ all next year.”

Colts hope loss fuels another Super Bowl run

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:36:04 +0000

Associated Press

Reggie Wayne and the Colts hope loss fuels another Super Bowl run

MIAMI (AP) — Reggie Wayne stared right through all those reporters.

He wasn’t bothered by the questions Sunday night. He just couldn’t believe he and the Colts lost to his hometown New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl.

Moments after Indianapolis came up one win short of a championship, the Pro Bowl receiver downplayed the disappointment by focusing on next season.

“I’d rather win than lose, but I think once we get this feeling out of the way, we’ll be determined to come back and get another shot at it,” Wayne said.

Who could blame him for being upset? He’ll hear about this loss for years.

It won’t be any easier for other Colts, who will constantly be reminded of blowing a 10-point lead in the Super Bowl and failing to live up to expectations following a near-perfect regular season.

“I felt like we played well this postseason,” Peyton Manning said. “We played well in our first playoff game, played well two weeks ago and, at times, made some plays against the Saints. We just didn’t play well enough to win.”

The Colts compiled several impressive accomplishments this season:

- They broke the NFL record for consecutive regular-season wins (23).

- They set the league mark for wins in a decade (115).

- They extended their own NFL mark of consecutive 12-win seasons to seven.

- They completed seven fourth-quarter comebacks, also a league record.

- Manning won his fourth MVP award, breaking a tie with Brett Favre for the most ever.

But they could have done so much more.

Late in December, the Colts were 14-0 and had a shot to join the 2007 New England Patriots as the only teams to go 16-0 in a regular season. But Indianapolis traded that chance for an opportunity to rest its starters down the stretch, figuring that was the best way to chase a second Super Bowl title in four years.

The Colts finished 14-2 in the regular season and 16-3 overall. Their 31-17 loss on Sunday to underdog New Orleans left both quests unfulfilled.

“I lost my last college game, too, and you never want to dwell on it,” receiver Pierre Garcon said. “But it happens. You take it and use it as motivation to come back again next year.”

Indy should look awfully familiar.

The likelihood of an uncapped season means players with less than six years’ experience cannot become unrestricted free agents. The new rule will undoubtedly help the Colts, who started the season as the fifth-youngest team in average NFL experience (3.89 years).

The new rules also will prevent the Colts from making any splashy moves in free agency unless they lose a player. No big deal for a team that prefers to build through the draft anyway.

Jim Caldwell will enter his second season as head coach and he already has successors in place for retiring offensive line coach Howard Mudd, and offensive coordinator Tom Moore and team president Bill Polian if they decide to leave.

Indianapolis does have one big move to make – re-signing Manning, whose contract expires after next season.

But he’s not going anywhere. Team owner Jim Irsay is prepared to make Manning the highest-paid quarterback in league history again.

“We’d like to get something done, sooner than later,” Irsay said. “So once the season ends, we’re going to be talking about that and hopefully getting something done before next season begins. It’s something that’s going to get done, so honestly, those aren’t the ones you worry about.”

The lack of movement and return of several injured players should make the Colts even stronger in 2010.

Former first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez was expected to have his breakout season after wide receiver Marvin Harrison was released in February. Gonzalez never got the chance, sustaining a knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener. That opened the door for Garcon, in his second season, and rookie Austin Collie, who both had big seasons.

With all three expected back next season, along with Pro Bowlers Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, Manning could have his deepest and most experienced group of receivers since arriving in Indy in 1998.

Also expected back is 2007 NFL defensive player of the year Bob Sanders, who missed 17 of Indy’s 19 games this season with a knee injury and torn biceps. Polian has repeatedly said Sanders will be healthy for training camp.

And the Colts think cornerback Marlin Jackson, their 2005 first-round pick, will return after tearing an ACL for the second straight season. In 2008, it was the right knee. This season, it was his left.

Even without those three players, the Colts still managed to reach the Super Bowl and come within 15 minutes of winning it. So they’ll spend the offseason figuring out what it will take to get back to football’s biggest game – and close it out.

“We’re going to take our disappointment and let it fuel us a bit,” Caldwell said. “We’ll see what 2010 brings us.”

Super Bowl is most watched TV show ever

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:15:49 +0000

Associated Press

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates with his son Baylen and wife Brittany after winning the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. The Saints won 31-17. after winning the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. The Saints won 31-17.

NEW YORK (AP) — The New Orleans Saints’ victory over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H” to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history, the Nielsen Co. said Monday.

Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the attempt at a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership. Football ratings have been strong all season.

“It was one of those magical moments that you don’t often see in sports,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.

Nielsen estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched Sunday’s Super Bowl. The “M-A-S-H” record was 105.97 million.

The viewership estimate obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl – last year’s game between Arizona and Pittsburgh. That game was seen by 98.7 million people, Nielsen said.

The “M-A-S-H” record has proven as durable and meaningful in television as Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs was in baseball until topped by Hank Aaron. Ultimately, it may be hard to tell which program was really watched by more people. There’s a margin for error in such numbers, and Nielsen’s Monday estimate was preliminary, and could change with a more thorough look at data due Tuesday.

“It’s significant for all of the members of the broadcasting community,” said Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. CEO. “For anyone who wants to write that broadcasting is dead, 106 million people watched this program. You can’t find that anywhere else.”

Moonves predicted CBS will earn more in advertising revenue than in any other Super Bowl. The good ratings for the game and football in general also set CBS and other football broadcasters up well when selling advertising for next season, he said.

The Nielsen estimate also drew some congratulations from Alan Alda, the star of “M-A-S-H,” and the slugger whose record was beaten.

“If the `M-A-S-H’ audience was eclipsed, it was probably due in large part to the fact that the whole country is rooting for New Orleans to triumph in every way possible,” Alda said. “I am, too, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I love that city.”

There are more American homes with television sets now (114.9 million) than there were in 1983 (83.3 million). An estimated 77 percent of homes with TVs on were watching “M-A-S-H” in 1983, compared with the audience share of 68 for the Super Bowl.

Nielsen also measures only the United States, and it’s possible some World Cup soccer games were seen more worldwide. Accurate measurement of television audiences outside the United States is spotty at best.

Alda also wondered whether the numbers were too close to declare a new champion. He thinks Nielsen didn’t take into account large numbers of people watching “M-A-S-H” communally, which is often the case for football games, too.

“Not to say I’m competitive, but in part we are talking about sports,” he said. “And I actually AM competitive.”

McManus didn’t want to jinx it, but the abnormally strong viewership for football this year left him hoping for a record. The NFC and AFC championship games both had their biggest audiences since the 1980s. The growth of high-definition television and its appeal to sports fans has also helped.

A competitive game until the final minutes sealed it. McManus acknowledged some nervousness when Indianapolis jumped out to a 10-0 lead – a Super Bowl rout often makes people turn away from the game – but New Orleans roared back.

The Mid-Atlantic blizzard also helped CBS. After New Orleans, the highest-rated market was snowbound Washington, Nielsen said. More people watched the game from their homes in that area instead of going to parties or bars, and Nielsen does a much better job counting viewers in homes than outside of them.

“Bad weather in the Northeast and good weather in Florida was a good combination for us,” McManus said.

The Super Bowl also proved a strong launching pad for the new CBS series “Undercover Boss” that premiered after the game. An estimated 38.6 million people watched the first edition of a series about corporate honchos working secretly as low-level employees in their own companies, Nielsen said. That’s third only to a 1996 “Friends” and 2001 “Survivor” as the most-watched program after the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, Dorito’s was a big winner in a measurement of interest in the commercials played during the Super Bowl. TiVo Inc. said the snack company’s ad featuring a boy telling a man to keep his hands off his chips and his mom was stopped and played back in 15 percent of homes with the digital video recorder.

The secretly filmed CBS promo with David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey came in second, followed by the Snicker’s ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda flattened in a football game.

In general, however, TiVo found less interest in the commercials than it has in previous years, judged by how many people paused live action to see them, said Todd Juenger, general manager of TiVo’s research department.

New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:01:07 +0000

Associated Press

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees holds the Vince Lombardi trophy after the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. The Saints won 31-17.

MIAMI, Fla. (AP) — The ultimate underdogs, they ain’t. Not anymore. The Saints are Super Bowl champions now. Who Dat? Try Drew Brees, Sean Payton and a team that has reversed its embarrassing past, carrying an entire city to the top with it. Put away those paper bags forever.

Brees and the Saints rallied to upset Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 Sunday night in one of pro football’s most thrilling title games.

“We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us,” said Brees, the game’s MVP. “What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time, and it’s better than expected.”

But not something many expected from these descendants of the hapless Aints, who were 5-point underdogs.

“Four years ago who ever thought this would be happening when 85 percent of the city was under water from (Hurricane) Katrina,” Brees said. “Most people not knowing if New Orleans would ever come back or if the organization and the team would come back. … This is the culmination of that belief and that faith.”

Brees tied a Super Bowl record with 32 completions, the last a 2-yard slant to Jeremy Shockey for the winning points with 5:42 remaining. He was 32 for 39 for 288 yards.

A surprise onside kick sparked the Saints’ second-half comeback. Their 25th-ranked defense made several key stops, and Tracy Porter’s 74-yard interception return on a pass from Manning clinched it.

Manning tried to give chase, but was blocked by a New Orleans defender and fell awkwardly as the cornerback raced by. The four-time NFL MVP forlornly walked to the sideline as the Big Easy celebrations began.

“It’s time for the Saints to celebrate,” he said. “It’s their field and it’s their championship.”

An NFL also-ran for much of their 43 years, the Saints’ football renaissance, led by Brees and Payton, climaxed with Shockey’s touchdown and Lance Moore’s 2-point conversion catch, originally ruled incomplete but overturned on Payton’s challenge.

Porter’s pick, just as dramatic as his interception of Brett Favre’s pass to force overtime in the NFC title game, was the game’s only turnover. It’s one Manning will forever regret.

The Saints (16-3) won three postseason games this winter after winning only two in the previous 42 years. They beat Arizona, Minnesota and Indianapolis (16-3) – all division winners – for their first title, scoring 107 points and allowing only 59.

“We weren’t the Aints,” Porter said. “We were a team of destiny, a team that can make big plays.”

The championship came 4 1/2 years after Katrina ravaged New Orleans, making the Saints nomads for the 2005 season. There even was some doubt they would return, but the NFL refused to abandon the city. The Superdome was repaired and the Saints won the NFC South in ’06, their first season with Brees and Payton.

That was the season Manning won his only Super Bowl. He got the Colts off a quick start and had them in front for much of this one, but New Orleans’ league-leading offense, which scored 510 points this season, outscored Indy 31-7 after falling behind 10-0. That matched the biggest comeback in a Super Bowl.

Payton held the Vince Lombardi Trophy high over his head and ran into the end zone toward several hundred fans chanting the Saints’ rally cry: “Who dat, who dat, who dat say gonna beat dem Saints?”

Nobody can say it now.

“Everybody back in New Orleans gets a piece of this trophy,” he said.

“I think I could kiss him,” owner Tom Benson said.

Before many of the 74,059 fans got settled following the Who’s halftime show, the Saints worked a little football voodoo. Garrett Hartley’s onside kick was touched by the Colts’ Hank Baskett, then recovered by Chris Reis at the New Orleans 42.

“I just told our guys you’ve got to make me look good on this,” Payton said. “That really becomes like a turnover.”

Looking like the NFL’s most potent offense, the Saints seized the opportunity to take their first lead. It came on Pierre Thomas’ brilliant 16-yard run with a screen pass, capped by a dive into the end zone.

Manning simply shrugged, found Dallas Clark for 45 yards on a 76-yard drive, and Joseph Addai used a spin move a figure skater would envy to score from the 4.

But that was it for Indy.

“I certainly know how it was three years ago when we won,” Manning said. “I know the people of New Orleans and the Saints have that same feeling right now.”

Hartley, the hero of the NFC title game with his 40-yard field goal in OT, made a 47-yarder later in the third period. After Matt Stover was wide left on a 51-yarder early in the final quarter, Brees led the biggest drive in Saints history.

“We really felt as underdogs we had the better team,” Payton said. “To be in that position where maybe a lot of people were picking against us, we liked the spot we were in.”

Manning looked sharp on the Colts’ first two series, taking them 53 yards to a 38-yard field goal by Stover, at 42 the oldest player in Super Bowl history.

Then Manning led a 96-yard, 11-play drive that appeared almost routine, even though it tied the longest march in a Super Bowl. Addai rushed for 53 yards on the series, and Manning found Pierre Garcon behind backup cornerback Osama Young for the 19-yard score on third down.

New Orleans couldn’t match that, but did get a 46-yard field goal by Hartley to make it 10-3. Brees was sacked on third down by All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney, who sure looked frisky despite ligament damage in his right ankle that made his availability uncertain for two weeks.

Then Indy’s defense, ranked 18th during the season but staunch in the playoffs, really showed some power. After the Saints marched 71 yards, including 40 yards on two receptions by Marques Colston, New Orleans had third-and-goal at the 1. Mike Bell slipped trying to run right behind All-Pro guard Jahri Evans, and Thomas was stacked up at the line by Gary Brackett and Clint Sessions on fourth down.

But the Colts went against type and ran three times, leaving 35 seconds for the league’s most prolific offense to get in position for Hartley’s 44-yard field goal and a more manageable 10-6 halftime deficit.

Shootout? More like a slowdown. Indy had two three-and-outs and New Orleans had one.

But the points came quickly after halftime – mostly for the Saints.

“Look around the stadium,” linebacker Scott Fujita said. “It was like 6- or 7-to-1 (Saints fans). The black and gold just poured into Miami.

“The whole world was behind us. This was bigger than just a game for the Saints. We are the world’s team.”

Saints-Colts Preview

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:01:27 +0000

STATS LLC

There may be more than a few people who are having a tough time hashing out their loyalties for Super Bowl XLIV. They’ll be watching a pair of quarterbacks, though, who are about as decisive as it gets.

Peyton Manning faces his hometown team, once quarterbacked by his father, as the Indianapolis Colts try for their second title in four years Sunday at Miami in a matchup with Drew Brees and a New Orleans Saints team making its Super Bowl debut.

Three years ago, Manning won his first championship, leading Indianapolis to a 29-17 win over Chicago in South Florida. He’s returning to the same site, this time to face a team that has deep roots in his family.

New Orleans is the city where his father, Archie, played and still lives. Manning played at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans, as did his brothers, Eli — who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants two years ago — and Cooper.

If Manning can outduel Brees in what has the potential to be one of the highest-scoring Super Bowls, many fans in New Orleans will certainly be celebrating their hometown hero’s accomplishment.

“New Orleans is a huge part of my life, as well as Eli’s life,” said Manning, who became the only four-time league MVP this season. “My dad’s been a part of the Saints organization for 39 years in some ways. We definitely have strong ties.”

Manning’s top receiver, Reggie Wayne, also grew up in New Orleans and Colts running back Joseph Addai was still playing for LSU when Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005.

Despite those ties, the Saints (15-3) have the undying loyalty of New Orleans natives, perhaps as much for their role in helping rebuild the city following Katrina as their success on the field.

New Orleans, still in recovery mode, has gotten a boost from the Saints’ rise to prominence. The 43-year-old franchise has never appeared in the Super Bowl.

“It’s a moment I’ve been waiting for a long time,” Brees said. “The job is not done yet but obviously we’re going to enjoy this. Now we’ve got to finish it in Miami.”

If the Saints win, parts of northwest Indiana will be cheering.

Near the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, 65 miles from Indianapolis, loyalties are split. Brees remains an icon in the area after leading the Boilermakers’ revival a decade ago.

Brees led the NFL with a 109.8 passer rating, throwing for 4,388 yards and a league-best 34 touchdown passes. He threw for three TDs as New Orleans won the NFC championship game 31-28 in overtime against Minnesota on Jan. 24.

With plenty of options offensively, New Orleans led the NFL with 31.9 points per game. The Colts were seventh, averaging 26.0 points.

“You understand just how explosive their offense can be,” Manning said. “I think you have to be careful trying to get out of your rhythm in order to keep up with them. You still have to go play offense the way we have played all year, trying to be efficient. We have been excellent on third down, been good in the red zone. Those things will be important this year.”

Manning once was criticized for his failure to win big games, but he’s won six if his last eight playoff contests. He’s led the Colts to a 16-2 record this season, and they may have been perfect if Manning and other starters weren’t rested by first-year coach Jim Caldwell in the final two games of the regular season.

Manning is attempting to join a short list of quarterbacks, including John Elway, Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady and Joe Montana, to win more than one Super Bowl.

After finishing 2009 second in the NFL in yards passing (4,500) and TD passes (33), Manning was masterful in beating Baltimore and the Jets — two of league’s best defenses — in the postseason. Manning has a 104.6 passer rating in the playoffs, throwing a total of five TDs and one interception.

Manning passed for 377 yards and three touchdowns against the league’s top-ranked defense in the AFC championship game, leading Indianapolis to a 30-17 win over New York on Jan. 24.

Colts defensive leader Dwight Freeney, though, suffered a torn ligament in his right ankle, which has been keeping him out of practice. The All-Pro defensive end, who led Indianapolis with 3 1/2 sacks, expects to play but it could be in a limited role.

“I think he’ll be back and playing third downs. And I think he’ll be effective, until I see something different,” said Raheem Brock, who is first in line to replace Freeney in the lineup.

Freeney’s absence would be a big blow to the Colts, who ranked eighth in scoring defense (19.2 points per game) during the regular season and have been impressive during the playoffs.

New Orleans ranked 20th in scoring defense, giving up 21.3 points a contest, and has surrendered a total of 42 in the postseason. The Saints, though, have been opportunistic, forcing 39 turnovers during the regular season and seven in the playoffs.

Against one of the NFL’s top offenses in the NFC title game, New Orleans intercepted Brett Favre twice and recovered three fumbles. However, Favre wasn’t sacked in that contest and the Saints have one in two postseason games.

Though Manning was sacked 10 times in the regular season, New Orleans’ only chance defensively may be to find a way to pressure him. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams created a buzz by saying the Saints will try to put some “remember-me hits” on Manning.

To help out their defense, New Orleans may focus a bit more on running the ball in an attempt to control the clock and keep Manning off the field.

Pierre Thomas led New Orleans with 793 yards on the ground during the regular season, but Reggie Bush is the Saints’ most dynamic player at that position. Bush has been relatively disappointing as a running back since being selected No. 2 overall in the 2006 draft, but he’s been a more physical runner in the postseason and he can make big plays as a receiver and a returner.

Bush has run one TD apiece rushing, receiving and returning in the postseason.

“They have really good backs, fast backs with Reggie Bush,” Colts linebacker Clint Session said. “We try not to get a lot of separation with a guy like him in the open field, so we’re probably playing him a little tighter than normal.

“We have to know the beast, as we call it. Know the beast, respect his speed, and try to keep a close eye on him.”

Bush was held to 38 yards on 12 carries, seven yards on four receptions and two yards on one punt return in the last meeting between the teams, a 41-10 Colts win Sept. 6, 2007. Manning threw for 288 yards and three TDs — two to Wayne — while Brees was picked off twice and finished with 192 yards.

Manning’s masterful magic will lead Colts to win

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:34:44 +0000

Associated Press

Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning (18) talks with head coach Jim Caldwell during an NFL football practice, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, in Davie, Fla. Indianapolis will face the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — There is one reason the Indianapolis Colts will win the Super Bowl: Peyton Manning.

He may be the best pupil ever to play the game, and by now he has dissected every New Orleans Saints game tape available and likely found every chink in their plans.

He’ll have help from Pro Bowl receivers, an improving ground game, an almost impenetrable offensive line and a solid defense that has played better than numbers suggest. They will win even if Dwight Freeney can’t play Sunday.

The Colts have hitched their hopes to Manning, and he won’t let them down in what promises to be an offensive game of wits.

No. 1 offense can lift Saints past Colts

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:02:26 +0000

Associated Press

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees listens to a question during an NFL football news conference in Miami on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010. The Saints will play the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday.

MIAMI (AP) — Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints’ top-ranked offense will be like nothing the Indianapolis Colts have faced in these playoffs.

In their previous two postseason wins, the Colts lined up against two of the NFL’s youngest and least experienced quarterbacks: Baltimore’s Joe Flacco and the New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez.

Brees has thrown for more yards than any NFL quarterback during the past four seasons combined. And in 2008 became only the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in one season.

With an offense that led the NFL in yards and scoring, the Saints have the ability to outscore Peyton Manning and the Colts.

That is why New Orleans could celebrate its first NFL title on Sunday night.

Indy’s schools want 2-hour delay after Super Bowl

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:13:19 +0000

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Public Schools students may be able to sleep in Monday thanks to a two-hour delay scheduled to give bus drivers more time to get to work the morning after the Super Bowl.

The problem is that state education officials don’t like the plan. State Superintendent Tony Bennett says Sunday night’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints doesn’t qualify as an emergency.

An IPS spokeswoman said the district is reviewing its options.

After the Colts beat the Chicago Bears in the 2007 Super Bowl, so many bus drivers called in sick the next morning that IPS officials canceled classes systemwide. Bus drivers report to work at 5:30 a.m., and the Super Bowl often runs until nearly 11 p.m.

Are Tight Ends the new breed of receivers

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:54:57 +0000

Associated Press

Dallas Clark and the Colts are to play the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl XLIV NFL football game on, Sunday, Feb. 7, in Miami.

MIAMI (AP) — The first question for Dallas Clark at Super Bowl media day came from a 4-foot Weekly Reader reporter: What do you like most about being a tight end?

“Good question,” Clark said.

In Clark’s case, there’s a lot to like.

He’s part of a new breed at the position, stretching defenses by catching passes downfield like a wide receiver for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Clark became NFL’s highest-paid tight end when he signed a six-year contract in 2008, and he made the Pro Bowl for the first time this season, when he had a career-high 100 catches.

He’ll try for his second Super Bowl ring Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

“The thing about being a tight end, you can line up in a lot of different positions and do a lot of different things,” Clark said. “I can be in the backfield. I can be out wide and try to act like a receiver sometimes, and be in with the big guys and try to block big defensive ends. I just love the versatility of the position.”

Fifteen years ago, there might not have been a place in the NFL for the 250-pound Clark, who’s at a size disadvantage when he blocks ends or linebackers.

But Tony Gonzalez of Kansas City and Antonio Gates of San Diego made the tight end a more popular target for quarterbacks, and Clark has accelerated the trend.

“They aren’t just blocking tight ends or single-route runners – guys who just go to the chains, turn around and catch the pass,” Saints safety Darren Sharper said. “These are guys who can spread out and match up against cornerbacks and create mismatches against linebackers and make plays all over the field.

“When Dallas Clark came into the league, you knew he was going to be that type of tight end, because he’s so athletic. And he’s playing with Peyton Manning, who knows how to get him the ball, so it’s tough to stop.”

Manning and Clark have become the highest-scoring QB-TE tandem in the NFL, with 41 touchdowns since Clark entered the league in 2003 as a first-round pick from Iowa. That’s only four TDs behind the NFL record for a quarterback-tight end combo set by Drew Bledsoe and Ben Coates with New England in the 1990s.

Clark’s productivity as a receiver has steadily climbed the past four years from 30 catches to 58 to 77 to 100 this season. He joined Gonzalez as the only tight ends to reach triple figures.

Clark had 1,106 receiving yards in 2009, a tight-end record for a franchise that produced a Pro Football Hall of Famer in John Mackey. But Mackey played mostly in the 1960s, a different era for NFL offenses.

“Gates and Gonzalez really opened up the gates,” Clark said. “The position has gone in a direction where, with a guy like me who probably can’t block every play, it gives the offense a different option and defenses a different thing to try to defend.”

While the Colts’ high-powered offense is sophisticated, offensive coordinator Tom Moore makes Clark’s role sound simple.

“Dallas is a great athlete,” Moore said, “so get him the football.”

The Colts did that well the last time they played at Miami in September. Clark made an 80-yard touchdown catch on the first play and finished with 183 receiving yards, the fourth-highest total for a tight end since the 1970 NFL merger. In November, he tied the team record for receptions with 14 against Houston.

It’s not that Clark can’t block. He wins praise for improving that part of his game, and said he tries to use good technique to make up for his size disadvantage.

“He has made a number of big plays for us in the passing game, and oftentimes people would think that’s the only thing he does,” coach Jim Caldwell said. “But the fact is he’s a very capable blocker.”

That was his primary role in the AFC championship game. After the blitz-happy New York Jets sacked Manning twice early, Clark began helping with pass protection.

“I ended up blocking a lot of the game,” Clark said. “Things change as the game continues and we figure out how teams try to defend us.”

Clark hopes there’s no repeat – he’d rather catch passes. And the Saints are bracing to deal with him.

“Do you put a linebacker on him? A defensive back? A safety?” coach Sean Payton said. “You’ve got to decide how you handle him. He brings so much to the table.”