It comes as little surprise that the top two quarterbacks in the league this year are in the Super Bowl. This was the predicted match up from about week five in the regular season. The Quarterbacks from both the Colts and the Saints have led their teams to historical heights this season, but despite what Trent Dilfer tells you about the NFL being a “passing league” championships are still won with defense.
A concern both sides should have is the ability to get pressure on the quarterback. The Saints have shown their ability to get to quarterbacks not only in their first two games, but all season compiling 35 sacks. Their biggest concern needs to be making sure that late hits and questionable hits at the knee do not occur.
Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams stated that the team wanted to get some good “remember me” shots in on Manning. They just better be weary of penalties, as this will eat them alive.
The Defensive secondary is one of the biggest problem factors for both the Colts and the Saints. The Saints ended the regular season with the 26th ranked pass defense in the league, their only bright spot was future Hall of Famer hopeful Darren Sharper, who actually score four defensive touchdowns this season. The Saints, however, are no stranger to giving up passing plays that result in big yards.
The Colts have other issues in their defensive secondary, who wasn’t too bad this year, given how young they are. With all star Corner Marlin Jackson and former defensive player of the year Bob Sanders out for the year, the Colts have had to improvise with young, under-developed talent.
The Colts will have to address their pass rushing problems. An ankle injury sustained by DE Dwight Freeney has landed him on the injury report as “Questionable.” Freeney will most likely play, but on a limited basis. With the league’s premiere pass rusher having a limited role, this will open the door for Raheem Brock.
Brock is more of a container than a chaser. He will be able to keep Brees in the pocket, and contain the run to the outside, but his pressure on the quarterback will be light at best. This will make the secondary have to come up to provide pressure, and that will leave some one on one coverage down the field.
The Saints have a decent rush defense.In the game against Minnesota, the team had five takeaways, three of which were fumble recoveries. The Saints linebackers are great at stopping the run up the middle, and are still pretty decent to get to the outside. They aren’t the fastest guys or the biggest at the linebacking position, but they are hard hitting and luckily for them, the Colts aren’t exactly bringing the best running game ever in. (32nd overall rushing attack)
The Colts have shown significant improvement over the last three seasons in their rush defense. Their two new defensive tackles are a combined 100 pounds heavier than the two players in that position a year ago. Their other big contributors have been Gary Brackett and Clint Session. Their passion to “shoot the gap” and ability to take away the slant passes over the middle have been one of the highlights of the Colts defense.
The last thing I looked at was the match up potentials. The one that really stuck out to me was who is Sharper going to be covering down the field. Sharper has shown his Pro Bowl from from his days as a Green Bay Packer, and has the ability to anticipate passes and turn them into touchdowns. But the Colts have shown
Ultimately this game will come down to defense. Not in the traditional sense of shutting the other team down, as it is apparent that points are going to be scored. I am talking about the sense of those one or two defensive stands where a drive stalls into a punt instead of six points.
Drew Breez is as exciting to watch as ant sex… ya exactly. Go Colts!!
Have you watched the Saints play all season? They are more exciting than the Colts and have more playmakers, you will see on Sunday!!