Peyton Manning Archive

The ‘I told you so’ post died with 4 minutes to go

By
Zuri
Published: February 7, 2010Tags: , , , , ,
The ‘I told you so’ post died with 4 minutes to go

The New Orleans Saints' Tracy Porter returns an interception for a touchdown. It was the deal breaker.

Man, it sucks to be wrong. But I’m glad I am.

There’s no way I should take a loss well after my last post, but I think I can accept this one. The New Orleans Saints were galvanized by the soul of their city (no laughing matter) for a 31-17 win in the Super Bowl. It showed when they came out in the second half, immediately puncturing the placidity of the game with a successful onside kick. (Surely an instant addition to the best plays in Super Bowl history.)

The scrum in that pile was some of the most inspiring stuff I’ve seen in a long time, with players grappling and fighting with one another for almost five minutes. Five minutes.

Five minutes.

Tracy Porter’s interception on Peyton Manning’s go-to play (a three-step drop and slant pattern to one of three receivers) was the obvious deal breaker. But it was the constant poise of quarterback Drew Brees — an accurate 32-of-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the game — that paced an almost methodic New Orleans team. He was much better than I could have ever expected. (A whopping 114 quarterback rating.)

And it was because of his long passes to Marques Colston, two-point conversion to Lance Moore and dump offs to Jeremy Shockey and company, that the Saints were able to keep the Colts and Manning off the field long enough to stunt Indianapolis’ fast start.

I’m just glad the Saints won in this fashion. Because it was suspenseful. It was inspired. It was a culmination of an amazing season and an even more amazing Cinderella story for the city of New Orleans. Prospects of a Saints win were doubtful all the way up until Shockey scored that touchdown. It was pretty much a guarantee that the Colts were going to beat the spread (-6).

Everything unraveled on that onside kick. That Saints recovery meant everything to the team — its first break of the game. And it kept Manning off the field long enough for Brees and company to finally put six on the board the old fashioned way.

Amazing.

And yes, I’m glad to be wrong about the outcome.

Not drinking the Saints kool-aide (or daiquiri)

By
Zuri
Published: February 6, 2010Tags: , , , , , , ,
Not drinking the Saints kool-aide (or daiquiri)

Somehow, you knew this was coming.

You had to. Otherwise, you’re just some fair-weather reader and you’ll be naturally disgusted one way or the other with my reasoning.

Boo hoo.

The New Orleans Saints are not going to win the Super Bowl. Sorry dad, mom, grandma, granddad, and everyone else in the family who is pinning their hopes on some Miami miracle. It ain’t happening. (Or, as I almost titled this post, “Who dat say they gonna beat dem Colts?” Thank God for sanity … and a journalism instructor that drilled into my mind the wisdom to shun abnormally overused clichès.)

Indianapolis Colts (-6) over New Orleans Saints

Chalk it up to the tale of two defenses. One is sketchy beyond measure, while the other (while healthy) is manageable and decidedly the game changer. All week you’ve been inundated with talks of Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush, Reggie Wayne and Dwight Freeney. Of all of those amazing names, and much more unnamed, only Freeney will ultimately shift the makeup of this game and alter its outcome simply by his presence.

Because out of the five names, we know exactly what four of them will do. And yes, they will all have amazing games, as we’ve grown accustomed to. But it’s Freeney (not Wayne) who we worry will play in any decent shape.

There’s a reason for all of the Freeney hype you’ve read in the last two weeks.

When Brees is pushed to the limit — I’m talking about hurried, hit and sacked — like all good quarterbacks, he steps up to the plate. Taking a closer peek at the numbers reveals. In what should be a heralded offensive line, Brees has gone through the entirety of the 2009-10 season being sacked only 20 times, which was seventh best in the NFL among 32 qualifying quarterbacks. (Based on games played and passes attempted. Also, his counterpart, Manning, was ranked second behind only Vince “I played half a season” Young.) Coupled with a great arm, amazing accuracy and above solid wide receivers, he’s exploded this season, completing 70 percent of his passes and throwing 34 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions. His quarterback rating is off the chart, so to speak (109.6).

But in games where No. 9 took on two or more sacks, the Saints’ margin of victory (11.27) increased to (14.4). That’s right, increased.

What does this say? Or, more precisely, what doesn’t it say? When Drew Brees has time to think, he doesn’t make quick decisions, getting rid of the ball and therefore putting more points on the board for the Saints.

What else does it say? That if I’m right, and Freeney (13.5 sacks) is less than 100 percent (wondering if he’ll take one of those shots in the rear) than the state of Indiana wants him to be, the Colts will lack the pass rush they think is necessary. In a confused, round about way, this will work to the Colts’ advantage. Brees will over-think things, tossing into the wild. (This is, as I would presume, the one game where you don’t want your players to think too much.) And make no mistake about it, Freeney is someone you have to think about, account for and put in the gameplan. He’ll keep Brees’ mind off of any sort of awkward throws he would concoct in his own right. But without him, the question mark on Brees’ game will only bolden without the pressure.

We’re talking mind games here people.

And let me tell you something else, that Manning fella is pretty good about not letting anyone get into his head — for any reason. Plus, every time I’ve bet against Manning I’ve lost. So I won’t suggest to you such an idiotic expenditure of your precious coin without toying with some other concocted reasoning. I know, it sucks. But so does NASCAR. Wait, whaaaa?

A turnover special, referees put Saints in Super Bowl

By
Zuri
Published: January 25, 2010Tags: , , , ,
A turnover special, referees put Saints in Super Bowl

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, beneficiaries of six fumbles (three lost) and two interceptions as well as two questionable calls by the referees in overtime, giving the “Who Dat” nation a superb 31-28 overtime victory against the bumbling Minnesota Vikings.

Somewhere in Louisiana, kicker Garrett Hartley is getting laid.

Hartley’s 40-yard game-winning field goal came on the heels of a questionable catch by Robert Meachem (trapped on the ground) and a phantom pass interference penalty on the Vikings’ Ben Leber (barely touched him). Both plays put the Saints in just enough distance for the second-year player to nail the field goal comfortably.

But don’t think these minuscule observations are reason to believe the Saints won — or rather the Vikings lost. The game’s result is a product of all four quarters. And in this case, five. The Vikings played like crap, losing the turnover battle which proved to be the team’s downfall.

All week long, critics remarked that if the New York Jets had beaten the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, it would’ve been ironic because it was the Colts who could’ve knocked the Jets out of the playoffs before they even got started. Well that didn’t happen. But as the Vikings and Saints game wore on, casual observers could note how many times the Vikings could’ve put the Saints away (twice) if they had not turned the ball over. Their mistakes came back to bite them.

Adrian Peterson, a fantasy treasure, accelerated his abnormal fumbling adding two on the day (nine on the season) and Brett Favre ended his third consecutive season (with three different teams) on an interception. Two of those games were in the NFC championship.

While the Vikings might have lost this game, the Saints certainly played their part. The combination of Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas at running back, carried New Orleans throughout the game. And despite only 69 yards rushing between them, and only one touchdown, they each came up with huge plays to give the Saints new life and capitalize on Minnesota’s mistakes. Thomas’ 4th-and-inches run proved pivotal and Bush’s 5-yard screen pass for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was a key turning point.

A couple of storylines that will most definitely appear after this game:

  • What will Brett Favre do next? — I’m soooo glad we don’t have to go through two weeks of Favre stories. But I’m sad that now we’ll be subjected to six to seven months of Favre watch.

  • New Orleans is playing in its first ever Super Bowl — With all that New Orleans has been through, this positive is long overdue.

  • Peyton Manning vs. Drew Brees — The inevitable great quarterback matchup. I’ll likely dissect this one here.

  • Peyton Manning vs. Archie Manning’s legacy team — Ain’t nothing like a good ol’ family story about how Peyton will be facing the team of his father.

Is there something I’m forgetting?

Simple question: Which game will be better?

By
Zuri
Published: January 22, 2010Tags: , , , , ,
Simple question: Which game will be better?

We’re loaded with stars this Sunday, with the NFC and AFC championships occurring.

Slated to play (as if you didn’t know) is Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings against Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints for the NFC.

For the AFC, Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets take on Peyton Manning and the supposed-to-be-spotless Indianapolis Colts.

Mind you, this isn’t a “who do you think will win?” question. This is a, “which game will be better?”

I’m leaning on the Jets-Colts game because they are both so dynamically different, it will be interesting to watch both teams on both sides of the ball. What do you think?



Another great Peyton Manning commercial

By
Zuri
Published: November 3, 2008Tags:

Love him or hate him, I think you have to admit that Peyton Manning has been in some great commercials. I can’t remember one I didn’t laugh out loud at. Here’s the latest: