NFL: 2010 Super Bowl Prediction

2010 Super Bowl: New Orleans Saints Vs. Indianapolis Colts

2010 Playoffs: 4-6
2009 Playoffs: 8-3

2009 Super Bowl: 1-0

2009 Season: 166-90
2008 Season: 154-101

Pick: Colts

Last week, the Vikings gained 475 to the Saints 257 yards. But for some cosmic reason, the Vikings (who were the best team all season) decided to have five turnovers, despite not having three turnovers in any other game all season. It was a typical Saints victory, one mired in luck with a mix of pizazz. One only needs to look back at the Saints season to see countless other examples of these types of happenings.

The Colts have also enjoyed eerily strange luck in their quest to the Super Bowl. Facing the lowly Jets (instead of the vaunted Chargers, who had their number) in the AFC Championship, was one of many breaks the Colts enjoyed. Mark Sanchez, the Jets quarterback had 10 more interceptions than touchdown passes in the regular season. What defense would not want that type of assurance going into a game?

In Week 2, the Colts beat the Dolphins despite having the ball for less than 15 minutes.

In Week 13, Jason Suisham (Redskins) missed a game locking, chip shot field goal from 21 yards, doinking it off the upright. The game was only one of many undeserved wins for the Saints. Earlier in the season, the Saints had 16 turnovers in a four week stretch and still won every game. Never before had such a happening occured in the NFL.

Such breaks would mean the Saints would only have to win two home games instead of three road games to make the Super Bowl. To give you an example, the 11-5 Packers, who lost to the 12-4 Vikings twice in the regular season, were one and done in the playoffs. The marginally better (than the Saints) Packers were one and done in a close road playoff loss to the Cardinals. Such a similar fate would have been likely in any of three road contests for the Saints. But instead teams just kept giving the 13-3 Saints, the home field advantage.

Both the Saints and the Colts enjoyed a gross and inordinate amount of breaks. Consequently, we had to hear the bandwagon media drone on about both teams' potential undefeated seasons. We even had to hear the big mouth Michael Irvins of the world claim the Saints could end up being the greatest team in league history.

We got to watch the media hijack the MVP voting and give the MVP to Peyton Manning in a landslide, despite every major fan poll giving it to Brett Favre. Brett Favre was easily the 2009 MVP, but there will be more on that at another time.

Does Shots Heard cares who wins? Not so much. It is a given that one semi-undeserving team will get the ring. Where is the joy in that?

But for the sake of tradition, Shots Heard is making a prediction. Either way a team with serious deficiencies in their week to week running game will win. And both teams are in the Super Bowl, not for what they could do but more for how other teams failed.

It is not very 'Super.' The Saints can win and we will hear white trash drone on 'who dat.' The Colts can win and Peyton Manning will get paid millions of dollars to do more 30 second television ads. Depressing.

Shots Heard is likely being a little unfair to the Colts. All season long, the Colts were as good as any team in the AFC. But they did get a lot of breaks to have an unmolested run to the Super Bowl.

The Saints on the other hand were a 10-11 win caliber team that likely would have lost their first round game in the Wild Card round had they not been given games on a platter. In that light we should have been seeing another Viking Metrodome blowout (ala the Cowboys in the Divisional round) in the NFC Championship.

We should be seeing arguably the two greatest quarterbacks, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning (like in the Days of Yore with Brett Favre and John Elway) battling for Super Bowl glory. It would be great to see the quarterback with every major passing record play the quarterback who will likely one day surpass those marks.

But reality being what it is, the Saints are playing the Colts and with millions of dollars on the line, the media will not be selling this type of cold hard coverage. That is what untold tens of people come here. Ha Ha.

What? I said Ha Ha.

Picture: Not even in Troy Aikman's glory days with the Cowboys, did he enjoy the quarterback protection that Peyton Manning generally enjoys. Manning generally has more than enough time to make a throw and not get hit.