Blood is thicker than water for the Manning family

For the past two weeks he’s been the focus of attention as the Super Bowl draws near.  Reporters from across the world have wanted to hear what he has to say about playing against the New Orleans Saints, the team he grew up as a part of.  No, I’m not talking about Peyton Manning, I’m talking about his dad, Archie.

There’s no reason to feel sorry for Archie.  He had a great NFL career for a young franchise in New Orleans, married the homecoming queen, is father to two sons who have Super Bowl Championship rings and is one of the faces of the city of New Olreans, but he’ll be in the tough position tomorrow, faced with loyalty to his son and the Colts and and loyalty to a city and region that he and his family love so much.

In fact his son, Cooper, who is a successful businessman in New Orleans is one of Saints Quarterback Drew Brees’ best friends.  Their families hang out together.  Their wives and Cooper’s mom workout together. You get the idea.  Who do you choose to root for?

Well, blood is thicker than water,even the thick muddy water of the Mississippi delta as it spreads around New Orleans.  Archie, Olivia, Cooper and Eli will all be pulling for the Colts.  But even if things go bad for Peyton and his teammates tomorrow, you have a feeling the Manning family will still have a slight smile on their face, knowing that Peyton’s loss is the city of New Orleans gain and that can’t be a bad thing considering the pain and suffering New Orleans residents have face over the past five years. 

All eyes on Freeney's ankle as Colts Defense prepares for Saints

The biggest concern facing the Indianapolis Colts defense isn’t Drew Brees.  It’s will Dwight Freeney be available Sunday and if so how effective can he be?

Freeney has been walking in the sand along the beach outside of the team’s hotel and says his injured left ankle is improving.  It’s possible he’ll try to practice on Friday, but even if he doesn’t, don’t rule him out of Sunday’s Super Bowl.  The bigger question is how effective can he be?

Freeney’s game relies on his speed and quickness.  His ability to use his spin move against offensive lineman has to be significantly diminished no matter how much improvement there is between now and Sunday.  You know he’ll go if he can and he’ll be taped tighter than Beyonce at the Grammy’s, but he won’t be at his best.

That means left end Robert Mathis will be faced with the challenge of carrying a bigger load as far as putting pressure on Brees is concerned. And even if Freeney plays Raheem Brock will see a lot of playing time spelling Freeney. 

The Colts also have rookie cornerback Jerraud Powers battling a left foot injury, but he says he’ll be ready to go.  Don’t be surprised to see Brees take his shots at Powers on the opening couple of series of the game.  A rookie with an foot injury in a big game is just too inviting of a target.

What does the Indy defense need most to help their team beat New Orleans?  How about an early 10 pt. lead from Peyton Manning and the offense.  If they can play with a lead, they get to play with a more aggressive style and the absence or diminished capabilities of Freeney will mean less.

Make no mistake, with a healthy Freeney the Colts are a much bigger favorite to take home their second Super Bowl title. The pressure now falls on the offense to come up big and the defense to hold it’s own against the Saints.

Colts line is unheralded but Manning knows their value

When the Super Bowl kicks off late Sunday afternoon in Miami, everyone is expecting a lot of offensive fireworks from both teams.  The Saints come into the game with the highest scoring offense in the league and the Colts enter the contest with Peyton Manning at the helm.  ‘Nuff said.

While the four time MVP is lauded for his ability to read defenses, make pinpoint accurate throws and perform at his best when the game is on the line, he couldn’t do all those things without the stellar play of his offensive line.

The Colts front five, featuring Pro Bowl Center Jeff Saturday, guards Ryan Lilja and Kyle DeVan along with tackles Ryan Diem and Charlie Johnson have provided Manning with protection few NFL quarterbacks are afforded.  They’ve allowed just 10 sacks all season and four in the playoffs.

This is not a monster sized wall of human flesh, but rather a group of athletic quick footed pit bulls who battle with their opponents to give Manning that extra fraction of a second to find an open receiver downfield.  And in the NFL, that extra fraction can be the difference between the Super Bowl and being 6-10.

The line has allowed Manning and his receiver corps of Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, and Austin Collie to take center stage while they do the dirty work that no one sees but is indispensable.  Garcon has become a big play receiver after just four catches in his rookie year a season ago and Collie stepped in as a rookie with 60 receptions and 11 more in two playoff games.  Wayne and Clark are both 100 catch receivers this season.  That’s a lethal combination. 

There may not be much of a running game in the Colts attack, but only three times this season has Joseph Addai even carried the ball 20 times.  Combine his pass receiving and he averages 4.3 yards per touch.  Good enough for Indy.

The Saints are a defense built on speed and blitzing.  Defensive coordinator Greg Williams has publicly stated he intends to have his players put the hurt on Manning and pressure bad throws.  The Jets tried the same strategy and look where it got them.  

A final note about the Colts offensive line, proving as well as they’ve drafted over the years, building your team isn’t all about the draft.  Three of the starters were undrafted, the other two were fourth and sixth round selections.  You think Peyton Manning will care as he lines up behind center on Sunday?

Draft success key to Colts winning ways

This Super Bowl is the first time since 1993 that both top seeded teams from their respective conferences have made it to the Big Game, but for the Indianapolis Colts having a shot at getting there has been an almost yearly occurrence ever since Bill Polian took over as the team’s General Manager in 1998.

Step back two more years to 1996 and you can begin to understand where much of the Colts success comes from.  Unlike most NFL teams, they rarely miss when it comes to selecting first round draft talent.  Now to be successful, you have to be able to hit on  more than just your first pick each year, but making the most of your top choice is a key indicator of how you’ll do in the rest of the draft.

Beginning in ’96, the Colts drafted Marvin Harrison, in ’97 it was Tarik Glenn, then it was Peyton Manning in Polian’s first year.  Next it was Edgerrin James,  then Rob Morris.  In 2001 through 2003 the Colts hit home runs with Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney and Dallas Clark in succession.  In ’04 it was Bob Sanders followed by Marlin Jackson.

Joseph Addai came along in 2006 and Anthony Gonzalez in 2007. Mike Pollack was drafted in ’08 and Donald Brown in ’09.  While Brown hasn’t made a big contribution this year, third round pick Jerraud Powers has been a starter at cornerback most of the season.  We should also point out that Sanders and Pollak were actually second round picks, but were the teams first choice that year.

In the last fourteen seasons, the Colts have drafted 10 players with their top pick who you could say have made significant impact on their team. With Brown and even the injured Gonzalez it’s too early to judge what they’ll do long haul.  Oh yeah, they’ve also drafted possibly the best quarterback in NFL history.  That’s a pretty good percentage. Throw in finds such as Pierre Garcon with their 4th pick in the sixth round of 2008 and you can see why they’re consistently a threat to win the Super Bowl every year.

You want your team to go to the Super Bowl?  Hope they find a top caliber quarterback and learn how to consistently score with their top draft choices.  That’s been the Colts secret.

Prop bets of all kinds available

There are prop bets of all kinds available for the Super Bowl but the most unique bet for this one may be the over/under on how manny times Archie Manning appears on camera during the game broadcast.

The original figure was two and a half times based on the same bet that was offered last year by Bodog.com on Brenda Warner.  But this year the heavy betting has been on the over, so the number has risen to four.

The payoff is $10 for every $16 bet for the over and $10 for every $13 bet on the under.  This way Bodog gets more two-way action.

Haley putting together championship staff

While two teams are getting ready for this weekend’s Super Bowl the rest of the NFL is trying to figure out how to get there next season.  The Chiefs aren’t adding any players at the moment, but they are adding coaches right and left.

This week they announced the addition of former Chief and Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Thomas as defensive back coach and mentor to assistant Ronnie Bradford.  With three Super Bowl rings to his credit and experience as interim head coach of the Falcons, not to mention his years under Joe Gibbs at Washington, Thomas brings more championship pedigree to Todd Haley’s staff.

Now if they can only add players of this caliber.  

Bernie Parmalee comes in and takes over the tight ends after assisting Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.  Pat Perles is now the offensive line coach and Anthony Pleasant has been promoted to defensive line coach, a job that comes with its share of pressure considering all the money the Chiefs have sunk into the the D-line.

Haley has repeatedly stated getting his coaching staff lined up would be a two year process.  If so, he’s done a pretty darn good job, with a lot of coaches coming from the Bill Parcells coaching tree.  Now all these new coaches get to spend their off season figuring out what they’ve got on the roster and how they can get the most out of them.

Last season there was criticism of Haley that his ego was getting in the way of his ability to attract good coaches.  The staff that has now been put together certainly leads you to believe that he’s comfortable with surrounding himself with smart people who are more accomplished than he is.  

Haley said this process has been about getting the best coaching minds with the most experience together so that they can get the most out of their players and produce a championship team.  Step one may have been accomplished.  It just took a full season to get there.

Caldwell stays calm while following Dungy's path

Jim Caldwell’s rise to head coach of the Colts came slowly and quietly. After serving as head coach at Wake Forest from 1993 to 2000 with a very unremarkable record of 26-63 he joined up with Tony Dungy in his final year in Tampa as quarterback coach where Brad Johnson had a record setting year at QB.

When Dungy made the move to Indianapolis, Caldwell tagged along and helped guide Peyton Manning and the Colts offense.  While the face of the offense as far as coaching was concerned, has been Tom Moore for the past 12 seasons, Caldwell, quietly worked behind the scenes with Manning and the receiving corps.

While it was no real surprise that he was named to replace Dungy when the veteran coach decided to retire after last season, a glance at his only other head coaching stint back at Wake Forest had a lot of people wondering just what Jim Irsay was thinking when he made the announcement last January 21st.

But Caldwell has been just what he’s always been, a quiet worker who doesn’t seek the limelight.  He’s been decisive, cutting lose defensive coordinator Ron Meeks and replacing him with Larry Coyer and a more aggressive style.  Taking the heat for pulling players against the Jets when his team was 14-0, saying the goal is to win the Super Bowl and not go unbeaten.

As a coach, he’s not an observer on a high tower, he’s a guy who talks to his players individually and gets to know them.  By doing so he says he has a better understanding of what they can and can’t do for their team at any particular time.  It’s probably why he stepped off the gas against the Jets, he felt his team needed some rest for the stretch run.

And now they’re in Miami with a chance at another Super Bowl title in his rookie season.  Others may be surprised, but I think Caldwell is looking around and saying to himself, this is where I expected to be.