Who Dat?

As Jim Henderson, the Saints radio announcer, said after the NFC Championship as the color guy, Hokie Gajan, just couldn't stop laughing, "Pigs are flying. Hell has frozen over. The Saints are in the Super Bowl!"

So I have been listening to a LOT of commentary on the radio and on TV this week to get hyped up for the game. The one thing I don't understand is how almost EVERYONE thinks it would take a miracle for the Saints to beat the Indianapolis Mannings - I mean Colts. The recurring theme is that there is no way the Saints can stop Peyton Manning, and that the Saints only chance is due to Dwight Freeney maybe not being able to play...

WHERE ARE THESE GUYS GETTING THEIR INFORMATION?????

I did a little analysis of what I think are the most important factors involved in this game. Here are some stats. Which team do you think is which? If the tables are too small for your weak eyes, click on them to enlarge!

How about this comparison of performance against playoff opponents?

Here's another one. Which QB won the league MVP?

Here's another gem. How did these teams perform in close games and against common opponents?

If you haven't already guessed, Team A and QB A are the Saints and Drew Brees. Team B and QB B are the Colts and Manning. By the numbers, the Saints dominate most stats in the regular season and blew out most of their opponents with fewer close games. They also dominated in common opponents. It's also obvious that Manning is only the MVP because of a popularity contest. Clearly, Brees had a better year. The one area the Colts hold a decisive advantage is in how they performed against their playoff opponents, who had pretty good Ds. Then again, the Saints had no problem against the mighty Jets in the regular season.

Bottom line Ted Heffernan analysis: The Saints and Brees were clearly the better team/QB throughout the season, but the Colts have stepped it up in the playoffs. I agree with the announcers that the Colts will score on the Saints D. However, the Saints WILL get a turnover or two, and the Colts D will not be able to stop the Saints, who have a superior running game to complement Brees.

Saints 34
Colts 27

The Cincinnati Heffernans will gather (plus Bridget and Owen) for the game Sunday and watch the inevitable Saints victory. Then we are driving down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and the victory parade downtown that is expected to draw over 300k people!!!