Colts and Saints Will Break Records in Super Bowl 44

Super Bowl 44 is finally upon us. Everything that each and every team plays for culminates this weekend in the game that everybody expected to happen, with the Colts and Saints meeting to decide who is the NFL's best in 2009-10.

You probably couldn't find two teams that more resemble one another that New Orleans and Indianapolis. They are both lead by field general quarterbacks who are considered among the top three, if not the two best quarterbacks in the NFL. Both teams have serviceable running games that pose double threats in the passing attack. Both squads threatened to go undefeated in the regular season before dropping two games (Colts) and three games (Saints) respectively.

Yet, the similarities end there. For Indy, this has become commonplace for them to stride this deep into the playoff, as they look for their second Super Bowl title in four years. While New Orleans has made nine total playoff appearances in its history, they have yet to reach the Super Bowl until this season. So in the end, its going to come down to the playoff tested Colts meeting up with the feel good story of the year.

Let's break them down.

What The Indianapolis Colts Bring

The Colts have always been a middle-of-the-pack defensive team that has gotten by on a solid pass rush. That said, the expected loss of Dwight Freeney, who led the team with 13.5 sacks on the season, will hurt the Colts in that regard. Granted, Robert Mathis's 9.5 sacks is nothing to laugh at, but without the threat of Freeney, the Saints will be able to double up on Mathis at the line and Brees will likely spend less time on his back.

For the Colts to win this game, they are going to have to slow down the Saints passing attack. Indy's defensive backs don't match-up well with the Saints taller and faster receivers, so Indy is going to have to play clock control as much as possible, which may result in a heavy dosage of Joseph Addai and Donald Brown, both running and catching short passes out of the backfield. They're also going to have to get creative on defense in order to free up Mathis or hope that someone else steps up in Freeney's absence. That said, Brees can burn them if they attempt too many stunt blitzes to make that change-up.

Ultimately, Indianapolis is the better football team on the field, but the loss of Freeney opens up an Achilles heel, no pun intended.

What The New Orleans Saints Bring

The New Orleans Saints may have played like one of the best teams in football for much of the year, but their real weakness came out in the final weeks of the season; defense. For the year, New Orleans ranked only 25^th in the NFL in total defense, allowing 122.2 yards per game on the ground and another 235.6 through the air. They managed to win their games through timely sacks from Will Smith, who had 13 of the teams 35, or by simply outscoring their opponents. New Orleans also dug down when it needed to, ranking second or better in completion percentage, touchdowns allowed, interceptions, and passer rating in the Red Zone.

Offensively, there wasn't a better team in football on the business end of the football. New Orleans led the leaque in points per game, yards per game, while placing fourth in passing yards per game and sixth in rushing yards per game. Despite the success of the offense, the rushing game can be lost at times, which puts a lot of pressure on Drew Brees to be on 100% of the time.

Predictions

This match-up, given the stellar offenses and the lack of true defense, presents the chance that this will become the highest scoring Super Bowl in history, topping the 75 points scored in Super Bowl 29, when the San Francisco 49ers beat San Diego 49-26. It's also feasible to think that the winner could top the record 55 points scored by San Francisco in Super Bowl 24.

With that in mind, this game is going to be won by the team that makes the most of its opportunities and converts in the Red Zone. Should Freeney not play, that makes this game very difficult for the Colts to win, even with Manning. New Orleans will strike quickly and pile up the points and will likely come out the victor in this game.

Final Score - Saints 52 - Colts 35

Sources:

New Orleans Saints, Wikipedia.com

NFL Standings, NFL.com

Indianapolis Colts Team Stats, NFL.com

NFL Team Stats - Offense, NFL.com

NFL Team Stats - Defense, NFL.com

Saints Red Zone Defense, ESPN.com

Highest Scoring Super Bowl, Wikianswers.com