Column: Watch out: the Saints are better than you think

Who dat gonna beat dem Saints? Saints fans have been asking that all year and have yet to receive an answer in the playoffs. I know: When I write about Saints fans, you probably think of those crazy rednecks in that Youtube video that shoot up a big-screen TV, but bear with me for a minute. The common wisdom regarding Super Bowl XLIV is that the Colts are by far the superior team. This assumption has been reflected in the current Vegas spread of Colts -5 or -6. But, as is often said, on any given Sunday, any team can win. The Saints have been underrated all season, especially during the playoffs, and will prove their naysayers wrong on the grandest stage of all.

I will not argue with the line created by Vegas bookies. Indianapolis should be the favorite due to its playoff experience and its recent victory in Super Bowl XLI. Despite this, it may surprise you that Peyton Manning is only 9-8 in playoff games. Before you tell me that this statistic is biased due to Manning’s known playoff struggles prior to the 2006-7 Super Bowl win, let me remind you that in the past two seasons, the Colts have been eliminated by the Chargers during the first two rounds, making consecutive premature departures from the playoffs. Yes, Indianapolis has more experience in the playoffs, but it has not always been so successful in the big games.

It is true that the Saints lost to Dallas and woeful Tampa Bay in the regular season, but they are better off for those losses. We saw in 2008 that the pressure of a 19-0 season can destroy a team in the playoffs. That year, the Patriots ran out of gas in the final game of the season, as their hyped offense failed to deliver, and the underdog Giants won Super Bowl XLII, 17-14.

The Super Bowl is already the biggest game of any player’s career, and the added pressure of going for the undefeated season may be too much for a team to handle. The Saints will not have this problem due to their regular season losses. While many wrote them off for dead after losing to Tampa in Week 16, the Saints instead regrouped in the divisional round, demolishing the Cardinals 45-14, and narrowly edged the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, 31-28.

Additionally, in all the hype surrounding Manning, people seem to have forgotten about the star quarterback that is Drew Brees. During the regular season, Brees tossed more touchdowns and fewer interceptions than Manning. After being ditched by San Diego in 2005, Brees reinvented himself in New Orleans, throwing for 4,000 yards or more in all four of his seasons there. Marques Colston has developed into the Saints’ biggest threat, but to complement him they also have Devery Henderson and Robert Meachum, who are definitely equal to the Colts’ Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. The only edge that Manning might have over Brees is playoffs experience, but I doubt that a player of Brees’ toughness will collapse in the Super Bowl.

Both teams have top-10 passing offenses, but where New Orleans really has the advantage is in its ground attack, which was ranked sixth in rushing offense during the regular season. The double threat of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush is extremely hard to stop, especially now that the Saints have learned how to use Bush properly.

While the Colts did stop the Jets’ running game effectively during the AFC Championship Game last weekend, their performance during the regular season was very weak; the odds of the Colts’ run defense performing so successfully two weeks in a row are slim. On the whole, I would give the offensive edge to New Orleans based on its superb running game.

On the other side of the ball, the Saints’ passing defense does not match up well on paper against the Colts, but that ignores the fact that the New Orleans defense is exceptionally good at producing interceptions. Even if Saints’ defense can’t stop Manning, the offense will probably be able to keep up with Indianapolis. They certainly should not be written off as a pushover opponent.

Besides, there is something special about the thought of New Orleans winning a Super Bowl. The Saints have been the bane of the NFL for most of their franchise history, managing only nine winning seasons in their 42 years of existence. Now on the verge of the biggest trophy in professional sports, the Saints have embraced the magnitude of the occasion.

The fact that the Colts stole their franchise from Baltimore is another strike against them. There was also that little storm called Hurricane Katrina that you might remember hearing about on TV. New Orleans residents gathered around the Saints when the city was rebuilding from that terrible disaster, and the special relationship between team and city has grown to unimaginable proportions this year.

WHO DAT!

Prediction: New Orleans Saints 38, Indianapolis Colts 35