Tim's Two Cents-February 8

The Saints Go Marching On.  Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints in the big game?  This year: nobody!  Not even Peyton Manning.  I know I predicted the Colts would win, but I couldn't be happier with the result.  At least my prediction that the Saints would score 31 points was spot on.  Even though my dad's prediction didn't come true, he wasn't that far off on the scoring margin of 14.  He had predicted the Colts would win by 16. 

Congratulations to the Saints and the city of New Orleans.  The Saints played like they wanted it more.  They were the more aggresive team.  I applaud them taking a chance on fourth down in the first half and doing an onside kick to begin the second half. 

On the other side, Peyton Manning started out well in the first half leading the Colts to a 10 nothing lead in the first quarter.  In the second half, it was the Saints, not the Colts, who made the adjustments and took control of the contest, outscoring Indy 25 to 7 after the first quarter.

The overall broadcast by CBS was also very good.  Jim Nantz and Phil Simms were stellar on the call.  They treated the game for what it was, just another game.  That's how it should be done.  I was happy to see that there were very little talk of Archie Manning and there were no snapshots of Kim Kardashian.  In other words, I'm glad this didn't turn into a celebrity event like the Oscars.

Another enjoyable aspect of the game was the officiating crew.  The pace of the game was excellent.  It was flying by very fast.  The officials also let the players play.  Call me crazy, but I think there were no more than 10 penalties called, 8 to be exact.  That's my kind of officiating.  If I were a referee, I wouldn't call penalties unless it is really blatant.

Once again, congratulations to Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and the Saints.  New Orleans will definitely be partying well past Mardi Gras.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and dbking under CC-BY 2.0 License    

Tim's Two Cents-February 7

The Countdown to Glory Begins.  The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived.  We are less than six hours from the big game between the Saints and the Colts. 

The opponents in this matchup make it hard to root against one team over the other.  The opposing quarterbacks are two of the best liked in the game and they are awesome competitors.  Peyton Manning has a knack for leading his team to late game winning drives.  Drew Brees has led what has been the most prolific offense in the NFL this season. 

How can you not also root for the city of New Orleans?  What has happened in that city since Hurricane Katrina is something special.  The Superdome is probably the loudest stadium in the league, but it won't be a factor today. 

As the days leading up to the game have gone by, I find myself conflicted in my heart and my head.  For the Colts to win, Peyton Manning has to be, well, Peyton Manning.  That is he has to be the general on the field leading his troops in battle.  On defense, all signs are pointing to Dwight Freeney giving the ankle a go.  How effective he'll be remains to be seen.  He definitely won't be 100%, that I'm fairly certain of.

For the Saints it's simple, they have to keep Peyton Manning on the sidelines and force some turnovers.  Drew Brees also needs to continue doing what he has done as one of the best quarterbacks in the game today.  The best quarterback is the one he's facing today.

So here we go.  After a week long wait, I'm going with my head and taking the five and a half and the Colts to win their second Vince Lombardi trophy in four years.  Colts 35, Saints 31.  Sorry Who Dat nation. 

For the record, my dad's also picking the Colts to win by 16, but he won't give a final score.  Newflash dad, that's not how this works!

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and BrokenSphere under under CC-SA 3.0 License

Tim's Two Cents-January 31

Is the Pro Bowl Past it's Prime?  The answer is yes.  The NFL's All Star Game will be today.  There will be no huge waves or scenic beaches on the Hawaiian islands.  It will still be at a beach.  The one known as South Beach. 

Leading up to this week, almost everyone has been trashing the Pro Bowl.  Like almost everyone else, I don't see the magic of the Pro Bowl.  While I applaud the NFL for trying something new by moving it up before the Super Bowl, it ultimately seems doomed for failure.  We won't get to see any of the Colts or Saints players who were selected to go.  That means no Peyton Manning or Drew Brees.  They will instead be playing for the grand prize next Sunday.

While the Pro Bowl will provide us with an opportunity to see a football game on an otherwise relatively quiet weekend, I won't be watching.  Most of the players won't even be playing very hard to avoid injuries.  The other truth is that most of them probably go just to get a free trip to Hawaii.  That won't be happening this year.  The way I see it, the NFL will have to move the Pro Bowl back to the way it was before.  I don't know how many people will watch if this happens.  I did hear of one way to improve the Pro Bowl.  At halftime, introduce the Super Bowl teams and have that be the kickoff to Super Bowl week leading up to the big week.  I guess it would make it more interesting.  Then again, there's already Media Day.  

The television ratings prove the NFL is the most popular of the four major sports by a country mile, but they have the worst All Star Game of the four major sports.      

Tim's Two Cents-January 25

Super Bowl XLIV Matchup Revealed.  For once, my prediction came true!  It will be the Saints and the Colts battling it out on February 7 in Miami.

What can I say about the Colts?  Peyton Manning is unbelievable.  He didn't panic in the first half when the Colts were down 17 to 6 against the Jets.  With under two minutes remaining before halftime, Peyton Manning and the Colts marched down the field in just two plays that ended in an Austin Collie touchdown reception to cut the defecit to four at 17 to 13 before the half. 

From that point on, the Jets had no chance to win in the second half.  Peyton Manning dissected the Jets defense with a surgeon's knife.  The Jets were held scoreless in the second half as the Colts punched their ticket to Miami with a 30 to 17 triumph.

The Vikings and Saints was a good encore that followed.  It was a back and forth matchup like the Packers and Cardinals a couple weeks before.  The Vikings put up a good effort even with five turnovers in a 31 to 28 overtime loss in the Big Easy against Drew Brees and the Saints.  Brett Favre stood resilient even though he was getting knocked around like a human pinata.  The retirement discussion is sure to start up again soon.  My prediction is he'll decide to come back eventually at some point over the summer, probably after training camp.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Ytoyoda and Craig ONeal under CC-SA 2.0 License