When Peyton Manning underwent his neck surgery and missed this season there probably wasn’t a soul who thought that he might have thrown his final touchdown for the Colts. Yet the chances of that being the case grows exponentially with each passing day. Read the rest of this entry »

Feel free to order that custom “Luck” Indianapolis Colts jersey. In news that will deflate some of the NFL draft’s natural uncertainty, the last-place Colts appear primed to draft Andrew Luck with the number one overall pick, according to sources close to team owner Jim Isray. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s two distinct truths about Indianapolis Colts fans. Fact one is that about 78% of these fans didn’t exist until 2000. And fact two, their current depression can only be rivaled by my suicidal thoughts the evening of June 12. Based off Week 1′s performance, the Colts are on pace for a blistering total of 112 points (over the entire season). Read the rest of this entry »

Early on in youth sports after we learn the purpose of shaking hands in the team line & sportsmanship, we pick up the next lesson of never pinning a loss on the back of one team member. There will always be heroes and oftentimes obvious goats. But we’re taught never to single out one play or player as the cause for a loss.

Forget the fact that had the Colts won, Peyton Manning* would have been celebrated, his every word and action further venerated. We’re not supposed to talk about that. Don’t talk about the momentum swing that occurred as a result of pickoff that he threw in the fourth quarter.

Don’t focus on the negative; see the positive.

Note how Tracy Porter (and his hair) was a one-man show. How he (and the Saints defense) thwarted Peyton’s heroes on their quest to a second title in a matter of years. With his interception return of 74 yards for a touchdown, Porter sucked the wind of the Colts’ collective sails. Also remember that he had a key interception against Brett Favre two weeks prior and perhaps helped to write the final chapter in another storied career, inserting himself as a footnote there as well.

With Porter’s interception, he wasn’t exalted by himself. A whole city was given vindication…at least for a moment. Make no mistake about it: New Orleans did not magically recover from the devastation of Katrina because of a sporting event. Nobody’s that delusional, even though the media’s trying their best to sell the idea. But everybody who suffers deserves to be given a ray of hope to cling to and many Americans invest quite a bit of emotional energy into this business of sports. The revelry in the NO (which David D can attest) is all the way turnt up © Travis Porter, no relation, and may not come down with Mardi Gras right around the corner.

So don’t worry about the goat. Focus your attention on Tracy Porter, the Saints – the team formerly known as “The Aint’s” – and the city of New Orleans.

And two final things.

1. Tracy, be careful. As quick as the media attention and momentum have built to a swell, the fall from grace can be swift and brutal. Ask one of their most recent victims, Plaxico.

2. Detroit, there’s still hope. 2011 could be very well be yours.

*By and large, Manning is still the league’s best QB. Name another who’s had a higher trajectory over the course of his career. And when he puts down his pads for the final time, his name will likely be said with all the greats.

Despite fears of Manning overload being confirmed during the pre-game show, Super Bowl XLIV was still on of one of the more anticipated games in recent years. For the first time since the second Cowboys-Bills “showdown,” the top two seeds from each conference made it through their conferences unscathed. With two powerful offenses taking the field in the warm comforts of Miami, offense was assumed to be the showcase.

Only one team came out firing however. Following a weak Saints three and out on the first drive, Peyton Manning came out in beast mode, zinging passes into covered receivers and driving the Colts all over the field. Meanwhile, Saints receivers were having balls bounce off their face. The result: a quick 10-0 Colts lead and fears from haters everywhere that we were in for an Indy blowout.

But the Saints and Coach Sean Payton didn’t panic, sticking to their plan of frustrating the Colts deep with Cover 2 and taking what the Indy defense gave them. Brees quickly shed any pre-game jitters and the Saints own offense got into gear. But the Colts still seemed to have the upper hand, stoning Mike Bell on 4th and goal from the one with two minutes left. This was a bad coaching decision, in my opinion you always take the points in the first three quarters, even if driving to the one is frustrating as shit. But luckily for Payton, his team bailed him out, forcing a punt and driving to tack on a field goal to close the score to 10-6.

Colts fans can’t have felt good only being up four at that point, and things went from bad to worse when Payton teabagged their collective faces with his elephant nuts by calling for an onside kick to start the second half. This time the Saints capitalized, as Thomas juked about four Colts out of their socks on a TD screen pass.

Peyton, of course, wasn’t done. The highlight of this drive, and maybe of the Super Bowl was an unbelievable roll out pass to Dallas Clark, lofted perfectly into quintuple coverage. As one of the bigger Brady stans on the planet, I’ll admit no one else could have made that throw. And as an avid Colts detractor, I assume that we were going to see the same thing we had all year—the Colts putting away teams in the second half.

But a key coaching decision cost the Colts big: the decision to kick a 51 yard field goal with NFL senior citizen Matt Stover as your kicker. Caldwell showed way too much confidence in his defense, which had stopped generating any pressure and was allowing Brees to sit back and find the open man all day long. Given a short field, Brees looked cool as a cucumber finding Bush, Colston and Shockey on his way to giving the Saints a fourth quarter lead. A little help from the refs on the two-point conversion didn’t hurt either.

With the Saints up 24-17, there was plenty of time for Peyton to heroically lead them to a tie, or even a win. But faced with the pressure of Super Bowl defeat, his once crisp throws started getting a little of that New Orleans wobble wobble. The opportunistic Saints D took advantage. Tracy Porter stepped in front of a Wayne in-route, headed to the house and sealed the deal for New Orleans.

In the aftermath, the NFL continued its recent tradition of good to excellent Super Bowls. Both teams played at a very high level and, Jim Caldwell aside, no one really came away looking bad. While it’s definitely true that Peyton came up small in the fourth, he did keep the Colts in control of the game for the first half. In the end, the Saints were just too damn good on all sides of the ball—the best team did win. Congratulations to New Orleans fans, you deserve it.

One last game.

With the Pro Bowl thankfully out of the way football closes out another year with arguably the biggest sporting event of the year.  With two high octane offenses facing each other, we should be in for a treat.  Peyton Manning is looking to further cement his place in history, while the Saint’s are carrying the city of New Orleans on their shoulders.  Since these are, without a doubt, the top-rated teams this year its hard to call either team an underdog.  Yet that’s the position the Saints are in with almost everyone already giving the game to Indy.  We’ve played it out in our minds, via simulation & it’s been broken down by ESPN’s talking heads to the point that we almost don’t have a reason to tune in to the game.

Oh yeah… for the commercials.  Check below for the beleaguered Crew’s picks for winner and MVP.  Then, weigh in with your opinion as we countdown to kickoff. Read the rest of this entry »

Can’t wait til Sunday for the big game?  Still having trouble deciding who you want to place your wager on? Will the spread will be covered?   The good folks at EA Sports hypothetically answer all these question with their annual Super Bowl Simulation on Madden 10.  In the offensive slugfest we’re all hoping for, the Saints egde out the Colts 35-31 with Drew Brees taking home the MVP honors.

Going back to 2004, EA’s simulation has correctly picked each winner except for 2008 when the Giants shocked the world.  So they’ve got a track record in getting this right so that goes a long way to show how realistic the game has become, but not why I find the controls so complicated that I didn’t even buy Madden this year.  Read below as EA explains how they went about this and check out a video of the simulated highlights.

Utilizing each team’s current roster and the latest player statistics, Madden NFL 10 was able to accurately predict the outcome of both the NFC and AFC Championship games within a margin of three points for each game. EA SPORTS utilized this same simulation formula to predict the outcome of Super Bowl XLIII (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals) with unprecedented accuracy – down to the final score and individual player statistics. EA SPORTS has correctly predicted the Super Bowl winner for five out of the last six years, since the official Madden NFL Super Bowl simulation began in 2004.

[Via]

The Jets may not be heading to the “Big Dance,” but the organization and their fans can find solace in knowing they’ve got one of the most entertaining coaches in all of sports. He knows football too, but that’s besides the point. Rex Ryan is one of those guys who is a classic quotable waiting to happen win, lose or draw. He’s intense, to say the least, and has never made any apologies towards his attitude. And nor should he. Read the rest of this entry »

To quote esteemed sports philosopher Reggie Noble, “this is what it’s all about.” Win and you get a free trip to Miami and a chance for immortality. Lose and you’re forced to take solace in the fact you get paid millions of dollars to play a children’s game. Damn it. Read the rest of this entry »

Each conference’s best teams battle it out for a trip to the Super Bowl this weekend.  Everyone who was expected to be here is present, as the season served as an extended preview of an inevitable match-up in the NFC.  We always knew the Colts would be here, but who’d rise up to challenge them changed each week as pretenders came and week throughout the season.  Since no one else wanted it, the Jets seek to make the Colts pay for letting them in.  Both games should be competitive (finally!) as two teams stamp their tickets to Miami. Read the rest of this entry »

So much for drama.  Save for the Chargers and Jets, the games this weekend were almost over before they started.  The teams who were supposed to win took care of business for the most part and one underdog is still in the hunt.  Setting up for what should be a couple of good match-ups next week, take one last look at how those teams got there. Read the rest of this entry »

Welp, we’re back again trying our hand at picking this week’s games.  Looking to redeem ourselves over our paltry showings last go around, save for Jason who was omitted on accident, we put the mp3′s down long enough to expound on the pigskin.  Maybe this week we’ll even get some picks right.  Y’all know the drill:  Read, call us out for our naïveté & discuss below. Read the rest of this entry »

Ohhhh Donna

WinZip, You Have Underestimated the Cheapness of Man [Gizmodo]

Somali Pirates Had a Great 2009 [Gawker]

Acts That Jumped the Shark In The 2000s [Spinner]

14-1 Colts Should Be Fined By The NFL [With Leather] Read the rest of this entry »

“Time to separate the platinum from the white gold/Right from the door/The real from the fake, Ready rock from the raw…” – Jay-Z

With the NFL season winding down, Week 16 found teams looking to sew up playoff spots.  Although the top seeds were pretty much solidified, there were enough teams with hopes of a Wild Card berth jockeying for seeding to keep things interesting throughout the extended holiday weekend round of games. Read the rest of this entry »

Quite a bit went down in between Sundays in the NFL as ESPN actually filled its airwaves with news and highlights instead of spouting off randomness. Okay, they made time for plenty of Randy Moss “news” (I think he admitted to having sex with Tiger Woods), but between the tragic yet bizarre death of Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry and both undefeated teams playing mid-week night games, it was all NFL, all the time. Read the rest of this entry »