And the final score will be 34-24.

And the Super Bowl MVP will be not Peyton Manning, but Dallas Clark.

And he will have 9 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s to no one’s surprise that I picked the Colt’s after I admitted to the world my man crush on Peyton Manning.  I am [...]]]> The Indianapolis Colts.

And the final score will be 34-24.

And the Super Bowl MVP will be not Peyton Manning, but Dallas Clark.

And he will have 9 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s to no one’s surprise that I picked the Colt’s after I admitted to the world my man crush on Peyton Manning.  I am actually a little surprised that Chris didn’t try to make up his Nostradamus-like pick of his Tennessee Titans by going with the Saints and hoping for the best.  To have the record show, prior to the year in a small circle amongst friends, including Chris, I picked the Colts to win the Super Bowl and the Titans to miss the playoffs entirely.  Being the unified voice that OBOD is, we went the Titans and I am still shaking my head to this moment.

After reading the Super Bowl previews from both Chris and Gene, there really isn’t anything left for me to say that they didn’t cover.  Both did bang-up jobs of breaking down the game (eat your heart out Peter King), so I am going to try to pick up a couple table scraps and explain why I think the Colts win by two scores that doesn’t involve Manning.

First, who is going to cover Dallas Clark?  If Visanthe Shiancoe gave the Saints problems last week, Clark could be an absolute nightmare tonight.  Reggie Wayne steals a lot of the attention, but it is basically Clark, not Wayne, who has replaced Marvin Harrison.  Check out these identical stats.

Wayne: 100 rec, 1264 yards, 12.6 avg, 10 TD

Clark:  100 rec, 1106 yards, 11.1 avg, 10 TD

Jabari Greer can probably hold his own against Wayne, but it is Clark who will present a tremendous matchup problem for Gregg Williams.  The X-factor is Darren Sharper.  He may be the best Clark-kryptonite the Saints have, but he will then be forced to leave his ball-hawking centerfield position in game where turnovers will be critical for a Saints upset.

My second point why the Colts will win is the running game.  A lot of Manning’s success comes from playaction.  I expect the Colts to coming out running, not passing early.  Looking beyond his fumbles, Adrian “All Thumbs” Peterson ripped up the Saints run defense pretty good a couple weeks ago.  Joseph Addai is not Peterson, but Manning is not Brett Favre.  The Colts don’t need a 140 yards from Addai, but more like 75 yards, enough to get the playaction going.  If they are successful with that the Saints secondary will be on their heels the whole game.

On the flip side, Pierre Thomas could be the key for a Saints upset.  The Colts defense is predicated on speed, which in my opinion will make Reggie Bush a non-factor.  But what if the Saints come out and pound the ball with Thomas right at Dwight Freeney and Raheem Brock?  The Colts are not great against the run (24th in the NFL), but have righted the ship some in the playoffs.  However, the Colts have to respect Drew Brees, unlike Joe Flacco or Mark Sanchez.  The Saints cannot go conservative like they did against the Vikings, but if they success running the ball, it could give Brees enough time to exploit any mismatches down field.

I do believe the Saints can win and as it should, the game will rest of the shoulders of their best player, Brees.  However, actually winning is a different story.  Brees will play well, but I think Manning plays better.  Either an early turnover or the Saints inability to get Manning off the field will lead to an early hole for the Saints, which will feel like the abyss against Manning.  Chris is right saying that if the Saints force a shootout they have a chance because they are best-equipped team in the league in playing from behind.  However, on the other side ol’ corral is Manning, who will have just one more round in the chamber than Brees.

-Adam Somers