Congratulations are in order for the New Orleans Saints, who defeated the Indianapolis Colts last night for Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17. It was a game that many thought would be high scoring, very close, and in a Colts victory. But the Saints had another plan, and I think most football fans (outside of Indy, of course) were rooting for Who Dat Nation.



The Colts started out hot and ready to show the Saints how you play in a big game. At one point, Indianapolis was up 10-0 and looking to keep the gas on the pedal. By halftime, they were up 10-6, which included a huge stop against the Saints inside the Colts 5 in a 4th down attempt. But the second half would tell a different story starting with the opening kickoff. The Saints came out aggressive, with an onside kick to start the 2nd half of the game. New Orleans capitalized and Drew Brees threw a 19 yd screen pass to RB Pierre Thomas for the go-ahead score, 13-10.





Of course, that didn't stop Manning and company, who responded with a score on their own, after a 4 yard run from Joseph Addai that put the Colts ahead, 17-13 with 6:15 in the 3rd qtr. That would be the last the Colts would score for the rest of the night.





The Saints took control from then, on out. They scored 17 unanswered points, including a critical Manning INT on a slant pass that Tracy Porter turned back 74 yards for the final nail in the coffin and victory sealer







Ballgame. Even though the Colts had another opportunity to score, you could feel the victory in the air. The Saints, won the game, and deservedly so. They are Super Bowl Champions.

Drew Brees won Super Bowl MVP, who completed 32 passes and threw for 2 scores.

While Brees viewed by sports media as fans as being on the cusp of elite, his Super Bowl win and MVP status has pushed him over in a category his belongs in. While some people say that Manning is one of, if not the best QB of our time, last night was Brees >>>> Manning. Add Brees to the elite class, now. He earned the right to be there.

With the Saints win, the city of New Orleans has become one big party. While Fat Tuesday isn't until next Tuesday, it's probably safe to assume that New Orleans started a 9-day party extravaganza, starting with the team's Super Bowl win. With everything the city of new Orleans has been through, with the bad football they have seen over the years... they are finally proud to say they are fans of a Super Bowl champions- the team's first ever. The connection from the team to the community was already strong. But yesterday's win elevated that to a new level that no one knew could exist.

Congrats to the New Orleans Saints- Super Bowl Champions. We were all rooting for you.

Every year when the Super Bowl is set, the entire city of the teams get involved. This year is no different. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin and Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard placed their friendly wager on ESPN. This year, it seems as though the "food bet" is a feast. I don't want to spoil it for you, take a look for yourself. But after listening to what they are offering, I'm ready to take a trip to Indy and New Orleans for a weekend, just to eat!

And we now know it's the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. The two teams who were undefeated for majority of the regular season, made it to the big game. While many people picked at least one (or both) of these teams, it was still a crap shoot on who was actually going to make it. Yesterday's championship games were full of excitement and didn't disappoint, as expected. Let's recap what happened for these 2 teams to be the conference champions.

- The Colts came out as AFC Champions, like most of us expected. Rex Ryan had his usual, crazy schematic blitzes and at times Manning looked scared and confused. The Jets defense was really getting to him. In addition to that, New York's offense had a point to prove as well. Sanchize and Co was up 17-13 by halftime. But this is Peyton Manning we are talking about.... and right now he's playing on a level I've never even seen before. The Colts came back at the half and adjusted, scoring 17 unanswered points and winning the game, 30-17. Shout out to Ryan and the New York Jets for giving Indy a huge scare in the first half. But in the end, Indy came out victorious.

-*petty moment alert* I hate to do this, but I must..... my blogging brother, Ed The Sports Fan, wrote a blog that the 2009 Jets were a second coming of the 2000 Ravens (good blog post, check it out here). Well, you can't be the 2000 Ravens if you give up nearly 400 yards of total offense and don't make it to and win the Super Bowl. As I said in last week's post, The 2009 Jets = 2008 Ravens. Yesterday's loss just confirmed my assessment.

-It must be really bad when you have your own trending topic on twitter. Last night as the AFC Championship game was closing, #rexryanstomach was atop the hottest trending topics.

It's really bad when your sweater vests and shirts look like they are a size extra smedium. Rex looks like a male version of Octomom on the sidelines. It's not a good look, Sexy Rexy.

-Former Jets QB Joe Namath was in attendance to yesterday's game. Am I wrong for wishing Suzy Kolber had interviewed him again so he could make more passes at her???


-The NFL must be the only gig Jordin Sparks can get these days. When is enough, enough?? I'm just saying......

-Of course, the petty side of me LOVED Peyton Manning's classy swipe (if there is a such thing) at Rex Ryan and the Jets. During his postgame interview, Manning said , "I thought we just kept our mouths shut and went to work this week". I love petty moments!

-New Orleans has the second best pregame ritual ever. Of course, my Ravens pregame are #1 in my book, but I always wanna throw on some pads when I see Drew Brees fire his teammates up!


-The Minnesota/New Orleans game was one of the best playoff games BY FAR this postseason. It was live, full of drama and suspense... but it was also sloppy as hell. Turnover after turnover was the deciding factor in this game. If I would have told you that the Vikings had twice as many 1st downs (31 to 15), nearly 3 times the amount of rushing yards (165 to 68) and double the total yards (475 to 257) and still lost, you would think I was lying, right?! I would too. But Minnesota had 5 turnovers, out of the 6 total in last night's game.

Where they do that at?? The stats say they were the better team, but this is the NFL. Stats never tell the whole story.

-Out of all the turnovers, the one that sticks out the most is Favre's interception in field goal range with 7 seconds left on the clock. That pushed the game into OT and with New Orleans winning the coin toss, it was over. The Saints kicked the winning FG to advance to the Super Bowl. Brett Favre is a great QB, probably one of the greatest, but he will always be known for making boneheaded mistakes in the clutch as well.

Yesterday's INT eerily resembled the 2007 NFC Championship, when Favre threw an INT that eventually led to the Giants OT win against Green Bay. I hope Favre finally retires. His last 3 seasons haven't ended on a positive note. It's time to hang up the cleats, Brett!

-If I'm Brad Childress, I'd make Adrian Peterson carry a football for the rest of the year, until training camp. His fumblitis is hurting the Vikings.

-Listening to Joe Buck slurp Favre's bath water during the entire broadcast was annoying as hell. But it wasn't just Buck. Fox's pregame show should have been dubbed the Favre Pregame Show. There was no love for Drew Brees or the Saints. It was a big ol' Brett Favre love fest. I get it, Favre is an NFL legend. But he's on the couch now, along with 29 other teams. The media and their biased nature is down right sickening at times.

-Congrats to the Saints for advancing to their first Super Bowl ever. It's amazing how much joy a sports team brought to an entire community. The fans of New Orleans relied the Saints for joy ever since Hurricane Katrina, as a way to celebrate life. And now, they finally have an opportunity to bring home their first ever Lombardi Trophy.

-The girl in me is kinda glad New Orleans won. There is tons of man candy on that team. Reggie, Sharper, and Meachem makes it MLK Fan approved!


-Does American Idol have a contract with the NFL? Two former Idols did the National Anthem before the championship games. This is the NFL, they couldn't find more popular artists to sing? If Prince can make a Minnesota fight song, he damn sure can sing the National Anthem.

-Speaking of the Vikings Fight song, I blame Minnesota's mishaps squarely on Prince. That song is awful. If you haven't heard the anthem, check it out. Prince was dead wrong for this.

Excuse me for taking a brief hiatus. The Ravens once again, found a way to rip my heart out, and stomp on it like a Dave Chappelle skit.


To make matters worse, my boo Philip Rivers pulled a Peyton Manning (before his SB win, of course) and choked in the playoffs....... AGAIN! I had to regroup, this football weekend was just too much for me to handle in such a short period of time.

Luckily for me, I've ignored the local sports media stations, ESPN and the NFL Network so I could collect my thoughts and create a new blog post. Here's my thoughts on this weekend's divisional games:

-If you thought the Saints were going to be one and done in the playoffs, raise your hand.......

Looks like you were dead wrong! I had no idea how to look at Cardinals-Saints game, but I sure thought that the score would have been similar to last week's wild card game with the Green Bay Packers. After scoring on their first possession, they looked totally out of their game. Once Kurt Warner's INT and hit happened, it was pretty much a wrap.

Warner said he planned to retire, but then recanted that statement right before the playoffs. My guess is after that hit, he's gonna call it a career.

-Hello Reggie Bush!

I've waited your whole NFL career for a game like Saturday's, and you came out on fiyah! Five carries, 84 yards and a punt return resulted in 2 TDs for the day for Mr. USC. I guess Kim Kardashian's presence and possible marriage proposal bet has that effect on him.

-Shout out to the homeless dude at the Saints game.

Good to see New Orleans giving back to the community. Oh wait........... that's Brad Pitt.

- I love my Ravens, and I always will, but they were not on their game this weekend. The football gods clearly weren't working in their favor. From the awful personal foul call on Ray Lewis, to Ed Reed's INT being punched out and fumbled, the Ravens couldn't catch a break if they paid for it.

My biggest issue with the game was the offensive game plan of the Ravens. There was no sense of urgency, and the play calling was atrocious. Cam Cameron didn't adjust and neutralize the speed of the Colts defense, and I have no idea why. Saturday night, I was yelling, "Off with his head!", because I had an issue with majority of his play calling that night. But what's done is done...... yeah, I'm still salty. Sue me.

-Just when you think old man Favre is OLD MAN Favre, he sips on that damn Fountain of Youth again, and makes plays the same way he did 15 years ago.

Favre threw for 234 yards and 4 TDs in the Vikings 34-3 rout over the Cowboys. I don't think I've ever seen a dude so old (in football years), play so well. I stopped slurping the Favre kool aid once he went to New York, but I can't take away anything he's done this season. He's been a great addition to Minnesota.


- With most NFL games, there are upsets on the horizon. I don't think anyone saw the Jets going to San Diego and coming out with a win and advance to the AFC Championship. But that's exactly what they did. The Chargers moved the ball for majority of the game, but only scored 14 points in the game, with the Jets eventually taking the win, 17-14. Shout out to former Ravens defensive coordinator-turned-head coach Rex Ryan. He's doing big things in the Big Apple.

- 2009 Jets = 2008 Ravens in every way imaginable. Unless they win on Sunday. Then they're the 2009 Jets

-What is up with NFL kickers??? The 2009 NFL season is the official season of NFL kickers missing FGs. During the regular season, kickers made 80.5% of FG attempts, the lowest percentage since 2003. Sean Suisham and Nate Kaeding missed 4 FGs on Sunday alone. For the Cowboys, 6 points didn't mean much, but it could have maintained momentum. For Kaeding (who, by-the-way, was selected to this year's Pro Bowl), he missed 2 FGs that ultimately decided the game's outcome.

Kaeding also missed FGs in past playoff games against the Jets and the Patriots. If I'm Suisham and Kaeding's teammates, I'd be windmilling out of control until I'm over it. *in Herm Edwards's voice* You get paid to kick the ball- that's it!

*extra point* My final Ode To Rivers of the season.... I still love you!


-If you haven't checked out Showtime's Inside The NFL, there was a great remix they showed after the regular season was over. Whoever does these remixes is talented. I was amused. Enjoy!

The Colts- Dolphins game in Miami was a star studded even in South Florida last night. All of the minority owners came out to the sidesh... I mean, game, to make themselves look important.


J-Lo and hubby Mark Anthony, Gloria Estefan and her husband, along with the Williams' sisters and even Tiger Woods came to see Peyton and Co. take on Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins. To take a look at more pics, check out my girl Pigskin Loving Lady's site.

I'm personally not impressed by this fan fare. If I want to see stars, I watch award shows. But this is football. All of that doesn't matter, nor help me win my football pools that I'm in. Keep football the way it is, please and thanks. That red carpet-esque attire is not needed.

The Colts always find a way to win, and last night was no different. Although Indianapolis had the ball less than 15 minutes and only 35 offensive plays, they always seemed to stay toe-to-toe with Miami and ultimately win the game, 27-23.

While the Colts played a great game, I must point out Miami's lack of urgency towards the end of the game. The entire offense was sluggish getting to the line, with no timeouts left, and some of the play calling at the end of the game were questionable at best. By far, the worst 2-minute drive I've seen this season.

But my hat goes off to Colts QB Peyton Manning. At the end of the game, Suzy Kolber mentioned that he passed Johnny Unitas' record for most wins in the franchise*. When asked about his accomplishment, Peyton said the following,

"I don't feel comfortable with these comparisons to Unitas. But I'm very proud to wear the same uniform as Johnny Unitas. He was a real winner."

As a Baltimore native, that showed class to me. While I was young when the Baltimore Colts left and have really grown with the Ravens, every now and then I get uneasy when it comes to, attaching Peyton Manning to the Baltimore Colts. The fact that Manning avoided that comparison spoke volumes to me. He's always been a classy guy and that was a classy move. Not to just Johnny U, but to the fans of Baltimore who still have some disdain for what happened 25 years ago.

Thanks for staying classy Peyton.. and Great game!

With the 2009 NFL season approaching us, the Indianapolis Colts have dealt with a lot of adversity off the field, with 4 coaches either retiring or resigning from their respected positions

But the biggest question is, how will Jim Caldwell fare as the new head coach?? Caldwell has huge shoes to fill. Dungy was regarded as one of the league's top coaches during his tenure with Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. His retirement and current winning season streak adds a lot of pressure on Caldwell.

Mix in multiple coaches no longer with the team, and I smell pressure. That's a hard hit to take no matter what organization you are, but to be a rookie head coach and lose guys who you've had a re pore with already would make nervous.