Will Indy be forced to punt even once in the Super Bowl? (1 Viewer)

[massraider]

You can already see that the Saints fans are going to be worse than the Patriots fans ever were if New Orleans wins.

That's a strong statement. I think you are underrating pats fans here.

 

[footballsavvy]

The tone was the same going into the Saints vs Patriots Monday night game earlier this season. The Saints didn't stand a chance against Tom Brady and the Patriots, remember?

Actually, the tone was the same going into the Giants game (week 6 I think it was). After the Saints b**** slapped them in the face, the Giants were not the same team from then on.

 

[golfguy]

You can already see that the Saints fans are going to be worse than the Patriots fans ever were if New Orleans wins.

kind of funny to me to read this. because indy fans are already acting like Patriot fans the last few times the were in the superbowl. I find it funny how a lot of people and media already aren't giving the saints a chance to win this game. sorry to say but the vikings are a much better team then either the jets or the ravens were this year. defensively the jets maybe better then the vikings but offensively it's not even close. IMHO there are 2 ways to beat the colts: 1. hit peyton early and often and his wrs and play hard defense (which is very hard to do now with the rules changes. 2. outscore them (and frankly NO offense has been a lot better then the jets or the ravens over the course of the season)

 

[shredhead]

You can already see that the Saints fans are going to be worse than the Patriots fans ever were if New Orleans wins.

The good thing is, you won't see any of us for about 2 months after if we win, because that's when the party will finally wrap up. :X

I'm pullin for ya man. I hope you get to experience this. Don't stop after 2 months though, I still get goosebumps when I see highlights of the Broncos first Superbowl victory, and that was 12 years ago. Indy has had their day in the sun, let it be the Saints turn. N'awlins, you desrve this!

 

[DoubleG]

Not if the Saints Defense creates 6 turnovers like they did against the Vikings today.

Yea, six turnovers and you still have to go to overtime to beat a team with a 40 year old qbLOL vs Indy, its over by half time for the Saints, just sayin

2009 Postseason--Indy -- 25 ppg

NO -- 38 ppg

2009 Regular season--

Indy -- 26 ppg

NO -- 32 ppg

I'm just sayin......

Here are some stats that might help you see through the homer glasses:15.5 - that'd be the average number of points the two teams INDY played gave up per game in the regular season - the Jets and Ravens are 1st and 3rd in the NFL in points allowed.

19.9 - that'd be the same stat for the two teams that NO faced in the playoffs - the Vikes and Cardinals were 10th and 15th in the league in points allowed.

Or perhaps you'd like to look at the other side of the ball?

Indy's defense is giving up an average of 10 points/game in the playoffs, NO defense is allowing 21 per/game. During the regular season the Colts were 8th in the league in points allowed. The NO defense? 20th - and the worst of all the teams that made the post season. To put that number is perspective, the Bills and Redskins allowed fewer points during the regular season than the Saints.

The Saints have a very good offense - but they haven't exactly been stellar on defense. It should be a very good game, but ironically, I think Indy's defense may make the difference.

 

[footballsavvy]

The Saints have a very good offense - but they haven't exactly been stellar on defense. It should be a very good game, but ironically, I think Indy's defense may make the difference.

You mean besides being one of the top rated defenses, including #1 against the run, until they suffered several significant injuries on defense (most of whom are healthy now)? Indy's defense is not good by any stretch of hte imagination. You talk about how many points the Saints gave up in the two playoff games - which were against two of the top scoring teams in the NFL.... versus how many points the Colts gave up against the pathetic Jets and Ravens offenses??? C'mon man. The Jets had more offense put up against the Colts than I have seen them put up all year. It is downright laughable that they gave up nearly 300 yards passing to Sanchez and the Jets.... and whats worse is that most of it was before the Colts had the lead, so it wasn't garbage yardage in the least. Sanchez simply abused their pathetic secondary. Heh.It is one thing to think the Colts have the advantage due to experience, but its ridiculous to say that their offense or defense is significantly better than the Saints...I think the player for player the colts have a little more talent on Offense, but the Saints have a much better coach and play caller. I would have said the Saints and Colts have a similarly decent defense coming into the game due to some lingering injury issues with the Saints, however, with Indy also dealing with a couple of significant injuries now, I have to give the Saints an edge on defense.Ultimately it will come down to Drew Brees being able to play calm in a situation that he has never been in before. If he can remain collected, I give the edge to the saints. If Brees remains keyed up the whole game, I think his accuracy will suffer just enough to miss a few big plays and it could be the difference.

 

[DoubleG]

The Saints have a very good offense - but they haven't exactly been stellar on defense. It should be a very good game, but ironically, I think Indy's defense may make the difference.

You mean besides being one of the top rated defenses, including #1 against the run, until they suffered several significant injuries on defense (most of whom are healthy now)? Indy's defense is not good by any stretch of hte imagination. You talk about how many points the Saints gave up in the two playoff games - which were against two of the top scoring teams in the NFL.... versus how many points the Colts gave up against the pathetic Jets and Ravens offenses??? C'mon man. The Jets had more offense put up against the Colts than I have seen them put up all year. It is downright laughable that they gave up nearly 300 yards passing to Sanchez and the Jets.... and whats worse is that most of it was before the Colts had the lead, so it wasn't garbage yardage in the least. Sanchez simply abused their pathetic secondary. Heh.It is one thing to think the Colts have the advantage due to experience, but its ridiculous to say that their offense or defense is significantly better than the Saints...I think the player for player the colts have a little more talent on Offense, but the Saints have a much better coach and play caller. I would have said the Saints and Colts have a similarly decent defense coming into the game due to some lingering injury issues with the Saints, however, with Indy also dealing with a couple of significant injuries now, I have to give the Saints an edge on defense.Ultimately it will come down to Drew Brees being able to play calm in a situation that he has never been in before. If he can remain collected, I give the edge to the saints. If Brees remains keyed up the whole game, I think his accuracy will suffer just enough to miss a few big plays and it could be the difference.

First off, I was only using the "total points allowed" metric as that was the one used by the original post I was refuting. The post I was responding to was using that specific stat to imply something - I simply used the same stats (only on the defensive side) to imply something else.I'd be glad to use other stats to show my point. Now, to be fair to the Colts, the Jets are also the #1 pass defense in terms of passing yards allowed - the Ravens check in at #8 on pass defense by yards allowed. The Vikes and Cards were #19 and #23 in that category, respectively. The reason to look at this stat over others is that both teams are prolific passing offenses. I find it odd that you sight using the points in the playoffs as unfair because the Saints faced "two of the top scoring teams in the NFL" while the Colts went up against "the pathetic Jets and Ravens offenses???" - apparently you didn't realize that the Ravens have outscored the Cardinals this season, and were a top 10 offense in terms of points scored. And to be fair to the Jets, they were the #1 rushing team and still 17th in points scored - middle of the pack to be sure, but hardly pathetic.I also think the 257 yards the Colts gave up to Sanchez passing (not quite 300) wasn't nearly as telling as the 86 rushing yards the Colts gave up againts the #1 rushing offense in the league (who had averaged 170 rushing yards/game in the other two playoff games). It seems to me the Colts decided to sell out to stop the run and make the rookie QB beat them...which he did not. Sounds like fairly decent coaching to me. Going back to passing yards per game, lets look at the two teams actually playing each other next week:The Colts defense was 12th in the league, giving up almost 213 yards/game through the air. The Saints were 26th in passing yards allowed per game. In my original post, I never used the term "significantly" (which I was accused of doing) - but I'll let you come up with an adjective of 12th compared 26th. Now, to be fair, let's look at rushing defense - the Saints ended the season at 21st in rushing yards allowed per game - the Colts were indeed worse at 24th. If the Saints want to win this game, I think it actually comes down to how well they can run the ball (which even the mighty #1 ranked rushing Jets struggled to do). Ironically, rushing defense is one of the few defensive stats I can find that NO>Indy (points allowed per game, total yards allowed/game, passing yards allowed/game all favor Indy). In fairness to the Saints, they have a "siginificant" advantage in exactly one defensive area: INTs. Sacks, forced fumbles, etc. are almost all the same.If the Saints can force Manning to throw a few picks, they will do well, but outside of turnovers, suggesting the Saints defense has the edge is to completely disregard the facts and statistics. Basically, if both teams play "true to form" (i.e. neither Brees nor Manning has a particulalrly bad day) the Saints will be hard pressed to come away with a win. To completely oversimplify:The Colts offense faced the best defense in virtually every statistical category (points allowed, passing yards allowed, total yards allowed) last week - the Colts put up 30 points.The Saints faced a Viking team that was 6th in total yards allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed and 10th in points allowed) - the Saints put up 31 points...in overtime.Next week the Saints will face a defense that is better in 2 of those 3 areas than the team they played last week - the Colts will face a lesser defense than they did this past week - in some areas, siginifcantly lesser than the Jets.

 

[David Yudkin]

The Colts offense faced the best defense in virtually every statistical category (points allowed, passing yards allowed, total yards allowed) last week - the Colts put up 30 points.The Saints faced a Viking team that was 6th in total yards allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed and 10th in points allowed) - the Saints put up 31 points...in overtime.Next week the Saints will face a defense that is better in 2 of those 3 areas than the team they played last week - the Colts will face a lesser defense than they did this past week - in some areas, siginifcantly lesser than the Jets.

Through 18 games, the Colts have a +139 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 146-155.The Saints through 18 games have a +203 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 136-163.Looking at statiscs between the two teams probably won't help the cause of those pimping the Colts.

 

[DoubleG]

The Colts offense faced the best defense in virtually every statistical category (points allowed, passing yards allowed, total yards allowed) last week - the Colts put up 30 points.The Saints faced a Viking team that was 6th in total yards allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed and 10th in points allowed) - the Saints put up 31 points...in overtime.Next week the Saints will face a defense that is better in 2 of those 3 areas than the team they played last week - the Colts will face a lesser defense than they did this past week - in some areas, siginifcantly lesser than the Jets.

Through 18 games, the Colts have a +139 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 146-155.The Saints through 18 games have a +203 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 136-163.Looking at statiscs between the two teams probably won't help the cause of those pimping the Colts.

First off, I'm not pimping the Colts - just growing weary of Saint fans that state out of hand that the Saints have a much better defense, when the actual stats don't necessarily back that up. Like the comment from the above poster regarding the Saints defense "that was #1 against the run"...until it ended up 21st.Secondly, the stats you just posted seem to indicate that the Saints outscored the Colts, but played lesser opponents. Finally, I noticed you left off all of the statistical points I made above, and conveniently left out the "to completely over simplify:" statement that preceded the final tongue-in-cheek points.

 

[David Yudkin]

The Colts offense faced the best defense in virtually every statistical category (points allowed, passing yards allowed, total yards allowed) last week - the Colts put up 30 points.The Saints faced a Viking team that was 6th in total yards allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed and 10th in points allowed) - the Saints put up 31 points...in overtime.Next week the Saints will face a defense that is better in 2 of those 3 areas than the team they played last week - the Colts will face a lesser defense than they did this past week - in some areas, siginifcantly lesser than the Jets.

Through 18 games, the Colts have a +139 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 146-155.The Saints through 18 games have a +203 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 136-163.Looking at statiscs between the two teams probably won't help the cause of those pimping the Colts.

First off, I'm not pimping the Colts - just growing weary of Saint fans that state out of hand that the Saints have a much better defense, when the actual stats don't necessarily back that up. Like the comment from the above poster regarding the Saints defense "that was #1 against the run"...until it ended up 21st.Secondly, the stats you just posted seem to indicate that the Saints outscored the Colts, but played lesser opponents. Finally, I noticed you left off all of the statistical points I made above, and conveniently left out the "to completely over simplify:" statement that preceded the final tongue-in-cheek points.

My point was that the stats overall would likely favor the Saints (for those that are stat heads and think numbers win games not players or coaching). As for strength of schedule, I hardly consider an average opponent strength of schedule of half a win per week a huge difference in schedule strength.

 

[Zigg]

The Colts offense faced the best defense in virtually every statistical category (points allowed, passing yards allowed, total yards allowed) last week - the Colts put up 30 points.

The Saints faced a Viking team that was 6th in total yards allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed and 10th in points allowed) - the Saints put up 31 points...in overtime.

Next week the Saints will face a defense that is better in 2 of those 3 areas than the team they played last week - the Colts will face a lesser defense than they did this past week - in some areas, siginifcantly lesser than the Jets.

Through 18 games, the Colts have a +139 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 146-155.The Saints through 18 games have a +203 point scoring differential against a combined schedule that went 136-163.

Looking at statiscs between the two teams probably won't help the cause of those pimping the Colts.

First off, I'm not pimping the Colts - just growing weary of Saint fans that state out of hand that the Saints have a much better defense, when the actual stats don't necessarily back that up. Like the comment from the above poster regarding the Saints defense "that was #1 against the run"...until it ended up 21st.Secondly, the stats you just posted seem to indicate that the Saints outscored the Colts, but played lesser opponents.

Finally, I noticed you left off all of the statistical points I made above, and conveniently left out the "to completely over simplify:" statement that preceded the final tongue-in-cheek points.

I suggest you take a look at the title of the thread you are posting in, then think to yourself why Saints fans might be a bit touchy within it. I havn't read much of the thread, but I doubt many Saints fans think they have a much better D, most probably admit the Colts have a better D. But the early consensus is that the Colts are going to roll over the Saints, that is what Saints fans are taking offense to, and rightfully so.

 

[Vicktimized]

I know the Saints haven't been blown out once this season. Have the Colts blown the doors off of anyone decent? I know they played in plenty of close games.

Just because the Saints didn't win "pretty" against the Vikings doesn't mean the exact same team is going to show up in two weeks. Just like a dominant win over New England didn't mean the same New Orleans team would show up the next week. Ditto Arizona. But they've found ways to win, and I don't see how anyone can "predict" a blowout here.

 

[Vicktimized]

The Saints have a very good offense - but they haven't exactly been stellar on defense. It should be a very good game, but ironically, I think Indy's defense may make the difference.

You mean besides being one of the top rated defenses, including #1 against the run, until they suffered several significant injuries on defense (most of whom are healthy now)? Indy's defense is not good by any stretch of hte imagination. You talk about how many points the Saints gave up in the two playoff games - which were against two of the top scoring teams in the NFL.... versus how many points the Colts gave up against the pathetic Jets and Ravens offenses??? C'mon man. The Jets had more offense put up against the Colts than I have seen them put up all year. It is downright laughable that they gave up nearly 300 yards passing to Sanchez and the Jets.... and whats worse is that most of it was before the Colts had the lead, so it wasn't garbage yardage in the least. Sanchez simply abused their pathetic secondary. Heh.It is one thing to think the Colts have the advantage due to experience, but its ridiculous to say that their offense or defense is significantly better than the Saints...I think the player for player the colts have a little more talent on Offense, but the Saints have a much better coach and play caller. I would have said the Saints and Colts have a similarly decent defense coming into the game due to some lingering injury issues with the Saints, however, with Indy also dealing with a couple of significant injuries now, I have to give the Saints an edge on defense.Ultimately it will come down to Drew Brees being able to play calm in a situation that he has never been in before. If he can remain collected, I give the edge to the saints. If Brees remains keyed up the whole game, I think his accuracy will suffer just enough to miss a few big plays and it could be the difference.

First off, I was only using the "total points allowed" metric as that was the one used by the original post I was refuting. The post I was responding to was using that specific stat to imply something - I simply used the same stats (only on the defensive side) to imply something else.I'd be glad to use other stats to show my point. Now, to be fair to the Colts, the Jets are also the #1 pass defense in terms of passing yards allowed - the Ravens check in at #8 on pass defense by yards allowed. The Vikes and Cards were #19 and #23 in that category, respectively. The reason to look at this stat over others is that both teams are prolific passing offenses. I find it odd that you sight using the points in the playoffs as unfair because the Saints faced "two of the top scoring teams in the NFL" while the Colts went up against "the pathetic Jets and Ravens offenses???" - apparently you didn't realize that the Ravens have outscored the Cardinals this season, and were a top 10 offense in terms of points scored. And to be fair to the Jets, they were the #1 rushing team and still 17th in points scored - middle of the pack to be sure, but hardly pathetic.I also think the 257 yards the Colts gave up to Sanchez passing (not quite 300) wasn't nearly as telling as the 86 rushing yards the Colts gave up againts the #1 rushing offense in the league (who had averaged 170 rushing yards/game in the other two playoff games). It seems to me the Colts decided to sell out to stop the run and make the rookie QB beat them...which he did not. Sounds like fairly decent coaching to me. Going back to passing yards per game, lets look at the two teams actually playing each other next week:The Colts defense was 12th in the league, giving up almost 213 yards/game through the air. The Saints were 26th in passing yards allowed per game. In my original post, I never used the term "significantly" (which I was accused of doing) - but I'll let you come up with an adjective of 12th compared 26th. Now, to be fair, let's look at rushing defense - the Saints ended the season at 21st in rushing yards allowed per game - the Colts were indeed worse at 24th. If the Saints want to win this game, I think it actually comes down to how well they can run the ball (which even the mighty #1 ranked rushing Jets struggled to do). Ironically, rushing defense is one of the few defensive stats I can find that NO>Indy (points allowed per game, total yards allowed/game, passing yards allowed/game all favor Indy). In fairness to the Saints, they have a "siginificant" advantage in exactly one defensive area: INTs. Sacks, forced fumbles, etc. are almost all the same.If the Saints can force Manning to throw a few picks, they will do well, but outside of turnovers, suggesting the Saints defense has the edge is to completely disregard the facts and statistics. Basically, if both teams play "true to form" (i.e. neither Brees nor Manning has a particulalrly bad day) the Saints will be hard pressed to come away with a win. To completely oversimplify:The Colts offense faced the best defense in virtually every statistical category (points allowed, passing yards allowed, total yards allowed) last week - the Colts put up 30 points.The Saints faced a Viking team that was 6th in total yards allowed, 19th in passing yards allowed and 10th in points allowed) - the Saints put up 31 points...in overtime.Next week the Saints will face a defense that is better in 2 of those 3 areas than the team they played last week - the Colts will face a lesser defense than they did this past week - in some areas, siginifcantly lesser than the Jets.

And that's one week. You can't base all your predictions on what happened in one week. We have 18 to go on, now. The Colts may have played a perfect game and the Saints may have eeked out a lucky win (now saying that's what happened, but for the sake of argument). It doesn't mean those exact performances will carry over. Who knows, the Saints may matchup better against the Colts than the Vikings. There are too many variables.

 

[ATC1]

First off, I'm not pimping the Colts - just growing weary of Saint fans that state out of hand that the Saints have a much better defense, when the actual stats don't necessarily back that up. Like the comment from the above poster regarding the Saints defense "that was #1 against the run"...until it ended up 21st.

Secondly, the stats you just posted seem to indicate that the Saints outscored the Colts, but played lesser opponents.

Finally, I noticed you left off all of the statistical points I made above, and conveniently left out the "to completely over simplify:" statement that preceded the final tongue-in-cheek points.

I suggest you take a look at the title of the thread you are posting in, then think to yourself why Saints fans might be a bit touchy within it. I havn't read much of the thread, but I doubt many Saints fans think they have a much better D, most probably admit the Colts have a better D. But the early consensus is that the Colts are going to roll over the Saints, that is what Saints fans are taking offense to, and rightfully so.

 

[gianmarco]

 

[Raider Nation]

They had to punt.

Carry on.

 

[kaa]

It is actually impossible to force your opponent to punt in a game of NFL football. They could always go for it on 4th down.