FLASHUPDATE SUPER BOWL XLIV TEAM NOTES/Wednesday, 4 Feb. 2010
Compiled By FlashUpdate Editor Bob Harris
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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
As the Associated Press framed it last week: "Move over Dallas, the New Orleans Saints are the new 'America's Team. ...'"
With New Orleans about to make its first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, memories of Hurricane Katrina still lingering and close ties between the team and the city's rebuilding effort, Colts players understand why the Saints are this year's sentimental favorite.
They just want to play the role of spoiler.
"There's a reason America is pulling for New Orleans, and why wouldn't they? They've been through a lot," Indy safety Antoine Bethea said. "Sports tends to pull people together, so it's commendable for New Orleans to be, as I guess you'd say, America's team right now. But at the same time, we're going to go out there as the Indianapolis Colts and play ball."
The reach of New Orleans' fans goes all the way to the highest levels of the White House.
"You know, I think both teams are terrific," President Barack Obama told ABC News. "I guess I am rooting a little bit for the Saints as the underdog, partly just because when I think about what's happened in New Orleans over the last several years and how much that team means to them. You know, I'm pretty sympathetic."
The Colts know they're still the favorite in at least one state, Indiana, and one city, Las Vegas. It comes as no surprise to learn that bookmakers installed them as a 5 1/2 -point favorite, prompting Obama and others to pull for an upset.
"He's entitled to his opinion and why wouldn't he be rooting for them?" Bethea said of Obama's decision to cheer for New Orleans. "Like I said, the city has been through a lot. But the Colts, man, we're going to go down there and give them a show."
Among the factors working in the Colts' favor is experience.
In fact, the team will be using the same Super Bowl game plan they used three years ago.
They'll stay at the same hotel, practice at the same facility and follow virtually the same routine, hoping to deliver the same result: A victory.
All season the Colts have said winning the Super Bowl was their ultimate goal. Now that they're one win from achieving it, head coach Jim Caldwell is asking the veterans for their help.
"We'll change some things. We'll tweak them and adjust them a little bit, according to how we envision some things, and it depends on what happens to us this week," Caldwell said Monday. "We'll make some adjustments; it's not an iron-clad sort of routine.
"But, overall, we'll probably be fairly close to what we've done previously."
With nearly half of Indy's roster having Super Bowl experience, Caldwell will rely on his veterans to help younger players cope with the countless distractions that are part of playing on the world's biggest stage.
Indy's leaders will make sure those distractions are less. ... Well, less distracting.
Among those singled out by Caldwell were Dwight Freeney, Peyton Manning, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne -- all of whom are likely to treat this trip like the business trip they made to Miami in February 2007.
"Hey, we've got three months to hang out after this," Saturday said. "You can hang out on South Beach for three months if you want. But we have a job to do first."
And it's that attitude that Caldwell believes will make a difference on game day.
"The ultimate goal is to win it all," he said. "Nobody is going to be satisfied until we do that. ..."
I'll go ahead and suggest none of the Colts are viewing the Saints as a pushover.
"(The Saints are) tough to ignore. When they were playing well, we were playing well. I read some of the reports where it talked about that very rarely do you find that the two No. 1 seeds end up playing one another. I guess it hasn't happened since 1993. Obviously, that's something we were aware of," Caldwell said.
"They are a good team, a talented team and played well and fought through all of the traps that you typically fall into as a No. 1 seed. We're looking forward to playing them."
As the Sports Xchange suggested, New Orleans will present a myriad of challenges on either side of the ball that the Colts will have to contend with.
"They have a number of weapons. Drew Brees is certainly a talented quarterback, extremely accurate guy, who spreads the ball around quite a bit. With the weapons that he has, he can give you some problems. We're really going to have to go to work. They can run the ball. They can throw it with the best of them. They've put a lot of points on the board, so they're tough to handle," he said.
"Defensively, they give you a lot of different looks and a number of problems, and they have great personnel to back it up. They have a good kicking game, return game, etc. Teams, when they get to this point, they don't have too many holes, and they certainly don't."
Uh. ... Neither do the Colts -- the only NFL team to make the playoffs 10 times in the past 11 years.
In my opinion, the Colts' edge in playoff experience will be the determining factor in Sunday's game. While anything can happen in a shootout -- something the Saints proved in both of their playoff wins -- I'm looking for the Colts to prevail.
And I'm not obviously not alone. ... As former Colts coach Tony Dungy told listeners during a Tuesday appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, he would be "absolutely shocked" if the Colts lose.
"They haven't lost a game this year that they really were trying to win," said Dungy.
Can't argue the point. ...
On the injury front. ... Freeney still hopes to play in the Super Bowl despite a torn ligament in his right ankle.
The All-Pro defensive end said he's been walking around barefoot and along the sandy beach outside the team's hotel to strengthen his sprained right ankle. It may be enough to get him into Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.
"Sometimes walking is good because it keeps things fluid," Freeney said Wednesday. "You hear people say he should be in a boot or something. But sometimes it can get stiff, and you've got to get that motion back in the ankle. It gets the blood flowing, so I've been walking around barefoot and in the sand."
Freeney is questionable for the game after tearing a ligament in the ankle with about 2 minutes left in Indy's 30-17 AFC championship victory over the Jets.
Since then, AP sports writer Michael Marot reports, Freeney has tried almost everything -- ice, oxygen chambers, even chiropractors -- to get healthy enough to play.
"It's better than yesterday, and yesterday was better than the day before," Freeney said. "It's a slow progression right now, but that's where it is. Every morning I wake up, and it feels a little better."
Still, Freeney said it's "very discouraging" not to be able to practice for Sunday's game.
"The competitor in me says they'll never stop me from being on the field," he said with a laugh before adding: "There's some pain there definitely with throwing everything at it, all types of techniques to find the best thing to get this thing as good as possible. You name it, I've probably done it."
Freeney led the Colts with 13 sacks and is considered the leader of a defense that has performed well in the playoffs. ...
One other Colts starter, cornerback Jerraud Powers, also is questionable with a left foot injury. Caldwell says Powers is improving but he may not practice until later this week.
Powers told reporters he is cutting on the foot and expects to play against the Saints. ...
Rookie running back Donald Brown (toe) was hurt against the Jets. Brown is expected to be available to play against New Orleans. ...
Other notes of interest. ... As Fanhouse senior NFL writer Nancy Gay noted last week, Manning brought the Colts back from fourth-quarter deficits five consecutive times and seven times overall in the 2009 regular season, setting NFL records in both instances for game management and success.
The most gratifying of those efforts might have come against the Jets. How did Manning find the hot hand that failed the offense in the first quarter and led to a 17-6 Jets advantage late in the first half?
According to Gay, the NFL's most adept player (or is it player-coach?) all but took over the play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Tom Moore and receivers coach Clyde Christensen in the final two quarters.
Manning put his trust in his younger receivers -- Austin Collie (seven catches, 123 yards) and second-year deep threat Pierre Garcon, who caught 11 balls for 151 yards, both career highs.
The Colts scored 24 unanswered points as Manning posted his NFL-record seventh 300-plus-yard postseason game, surpassing Joe Montana and Kurt Warner (six each).
It's no surprise that the NFL's only four-time MVP devoured hours of film on the Jets the week leading up to that game. Nor does it bode well for the Saints that Manning will have had two full weeks to do the same in advance of this contest. ...
Worth noting. ... The Colts have averaged 26 points per game, ranking seventh in the NFL in that department. As much as Manning would like to think that kind of output will be enough against New Orleans, he knows it may not be.
The Saints have averaged a league-best 31.9 points per game.
"I do know that we are going to have to score points in this game if we are going to have a chance to win," Manning said. ...
Can you say shootout?
If it is, expect Garcon, Collie and Dallas Clark continue to making major contributions with Wayne more than capable of doing so -- although he's been drawing much heavier coverage in recent weeks.
Against the Jets, Wayne worked extensively against the league's best cover corner, Darrelle Revis, much to the benefit of Garcon, Collie and Clark.
And the rushing attack?
As the Xchange noted this week, the Colts have gotten pretty good production out of all of its running backs in 2009.
True, the running game has been largely inconsistent this season.
But the team has been able to move the football on the ground in key situations, thanks to the play of Joseph Addai, Brown, Mike Hart and Chad Simpson.
Addai's efforts against the Jets last week were a prime example. And it's safe to say the Jets' run defense is more daunting than the Saints. ...
In a couple more Manning-related items. ... During the Media Day festivities in Tuesday, owner Jim Irsay acknowledged the obvious regarding his star quarterback.
"We know that Peyton's going to be the highest-paid player in the league," Irsay told reporters. "It'll get done. There's no question about that, and it's something we'll focus on in the offseason."
Per Fanhouse's Michael David Smith, Manning's current deal runs through 2010, during which he's due to earn a base salary of $15.8 million, per NFLPA records. In 2009, Manning received a base salary of $14 million.
"Peyton's deal is not a hard deal," Irsay said.
As Smith put it: "The easy part is that Manning, a four-time MVP, will be the highest-paid player in the league. ... The hard part is by how much?"
Also. ... As Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald suggested, of all the guys you'd think would trash talk, Manning would be at the bottom of the list, right? Clearly, there would be plenty of guys ahead of him.
Yet there was Manning, with millions watching on the Pro Bowl telecast, calling Saints safety Darren Sharper, Jamie Sharper. That's his brother's name.
And Sharper, never one to shy away from any sort of spotlight, fired back Tuesday. He was talking about Clark when he returned fire:
"He's a guy you have to watch out for," Sharper said. "He's Peyton's -- I should say Eli's -- go-to guy. ..."
I suspect Sharper will understand the difference a little better on Sunday. ...
And finally. ... Matt Stover becomes the oldest player in NFL history to advance to the Super Bowl.
Stover, who kicked for the Ravens from 1996 to 2008, turned 42 last Wednesday. He has made all five of his field goals in the playoffs this season, including all three in the AFC championship game.
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