Jason HeimConference Championship Wrap-Up
January 28th 2010 08:17
Category: NFL (America)
The New Orleans Saints are experiencing a season full of firsts: roaring to a 13-0 start, hosting the NFC Championship, and now, a Super Bowl appearance. A team that, just 5 years ago, had an uncertain future and a decimated fan base is now among the NFL's elite, and the pride and joy of a rebuilding region. The storybook unfolding of this season suggests that these Saints might be a team destined to bring home its first Super Bowl to its beloved city. They have the explosive, versatile offense, headstrong and capable leader in Drew Brees, playmakers at receiver and running back, solid lines on both sides, and a vastly improved defense that has been opportunistic all season.
The fact that the Saints got drastically outplayed by the Vikings and still prevailed is a testament to how Lady Luck will not rest until this team is crowned champion. Minnesota outgained New Orleans by 218 yards, held the ball for nearly 10 minutes more, had 62 fewer penalty yards, twice as many first downs, and the stats of domination go on. The Saints won out in one infinitely crucial category: 5 turnovers to one. The irony of the porous defensive effort is that the 5 forced turnovers are the only thing that allowed the Saints to even have a chance to win.
They say that defense and a good running game are the keys to winning in the NFL playoffs. The Saints have neither. What they do have is heart, a quick-striking offense, a defense that causes turnovers, and an icy kicker. The Vikings committed a few of the Cardinal sins of playoff football: making turnovers, not capitalizing in the red zone, and losing the battle for field position. In spite of playing better for nearly all 60 minutes, the Vikings found themselves on the business end of the overtime coin toss and playing defense for their season.
Before we get to that momentous walk off field goal, let's cover Brett Favre (hopefully for the last time). Favre was solid, as he has been all season, in this game, but his gunslinging Achilles' heel doomed him once again. Driving deep into New Orleans territory in a tie game with under 2 minutes, Favre unleashed a mistake of a pass that landed in the hands of the wrong team. The throw was made from the 38 yard line and was picked off at the 22. Why, I ask is Brett throwing a deep pass when all his team needed was 5 yards to be in almost-sure-thing field goal range? Its a shame that Brett's last sling (God willing) was a pick, but I can't help but thinking that this is evidence of someone who sold his soul to the Devil. The way it played out is almost karmic, with Brett betraying his beloved Pack to play for their archrival. There are rules, Brett. You don't stab your beloved in the back and escape the consequences. I'm just sad that an already miserable and rabid Viking fan base has to sleep with the devastation. They will surely question the play call by the eternally inept Brad Childress and the decision by Favre for years to come. There's always next year Minny, and maybe you'll be out from under the cursed Favre by then.
So its the Saints with a shot at their first Super Bowl instead of the Vikings. You have to root for them. What is not to like about this team? You have 10 days to think it over, good luck finding reasonable grounds to not root for the Saints.
The problem, at least from my perspective, is that there is an equally un-unlikeable team on the other side, those Indy Colts. I mean, is there anyone on the planet that doesn't love Peyton Manning's game? How about the world-class people in the front office that run a truly fantastic organization? The Colts don't talk trash and they don't have criminals (anymore, at least. I'm looking at you Marvin "Gun's Blazin' Harrison). This has been the best team in football all year long, and they have made everyone who doubted the fact for even one second feel foolish. The way they handled the Jets in their customary business-like manner, without panicking, showed that they are as good mentally as they are physically.
Can we just say it now and stop pretending that someone else is better? Peyton Manning is the best quarterback to ever play professional football. There has simply been no one better for longer, no one who makes his teammates that much better, no one who essentially coaches the offense, no one who is so squeaky clean and likable, and no one who prepares for games as thoroughly. While giving due credit to the tough Indy defense that suffocated the Jets in the second half of the title game, Peyton willed the Colts back from a 17-6 deficit, as if there was no doubt that the Colts would win.
The New York Jets are a compelling story as they look forward to next season. They seemingly came out of nowhere, peaked at the perfect time, and stuck to what they do best: run the ball and play airtight defense. They stuck so well to their game plan that they almost crashed the Super Bowl after sneaking in the back door of the playoffs as the #6 seed in the AFC. The Jets bullied teams all postseason by talking big leading into the games, then backing it up on the field. Quarterback Mark Sanchez, after a precipitous decline during the middle of the season, seemed to regain the touch he had at the beginning of the year in commanding the Jets offense. He played mostly mistake-free, protected the ball, and left the heavy lifting up to his running backs and defense.
Defense is the buzz word for the Jets. They have followed the blueprint of the New England Patriots and New York Giants by finding diamonds in the rough via the draft and free agency, developing them, and sticking them around established stars on the defensive side. Unsung heroes like linebackers David Harris, Calvin Pace, and safeties Jim Leonhard and Kerry Rhodes complemented superstars Shaun Ellis, Bart Scott, and Darrelle Revis perfectly. This model worked so well for defensive guru Rex Ryan that the Jets finished the season as the surprise top-ranked unit in the NFL. If this team can keep its defense intact and surround Mark Sanchez with receivers who can actually catch the ball (ahem, Braylon Edwards) while making the game easy for him to play as he develops, the Jets might reign over the AFC East for the foreseeable future. Nobody would have made a statement like this 6 weeks ago, even at gunpoint. The future looks bright for the young Jets as they move into their new stadium in the Fall of this year.
I will come back to preview Super Bowl XLIV early next week.
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