2010 Superbowl Preview and Advertisement Preview

The 2010 Superbowl will actually be interesting to me this year, for a change. I like the Saints and their high-powered offense. Indianapolis has the same kind of offense and should make for an entertaining game. Officially the line is the Colts favored by 4, with an Over/Under of 56. My instinct would be to take Indianapolis to cover the spread and to take the Over. My score prediction is 35-27 Indianapolis over New Orleans.

Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are two of the most prolific passers in the game for offenses that can take over a game at any time. This is evidenced by the teams several come from behind victories late in ball games, most recently the Colts second half-dominance over the Jets after a lackluster first half. The game could come down to the wire but the Colts have a more solid defense that will stop the Saints a couple of times, which will be just enough for a victory.

Yes, a Manning vs. Favre Superbowl matchup would have been nice as they are arguably the two best quarterbacks still active. But I am glad that didn't happen. My respect for Favre went down the drain when he left Green Bay and then came back to play for someone else. And the Saints really deserve this. They have been at the bottom of the standings for so long but have maintained a good fan following over the years. Now that they have a good team, they deserve to be rewarded.

But the real competition is in the commercials. The creators of the commercial that is voted best in the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter gets a $1million prize. This pales in comparison to what CBS's net advertising revenue will be from commercials this year, estimated to be over $200million. Each 30 second advertisement slot is worth on average $2.5million. Pepsi had said it will not be buying ad time for the first time in 23 years. Presumably Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Go Daddy and a host of other companies will still provide their normal share of entertainment. A few companies - Dockers, CareerBuilder, Bud Light - have come out and said they will show ads featuring people in their underwear. Although I do enjoy watching football a lot, I am like the ladies and am looking forward to the commercials more than the game.