NFL Betting :
Super Bowl Preview

New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl XLIV
Sunday, February 7th 2010, 6:25 PM EST

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Bookmaker Lines : (*lines are current as of 2/1/10)
Spread : Colts -5.5
Points Total : 56.5
Money Lines : Colts -210, Saints + 175

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It will be a paradise location for a dream matchup Sunday in Miami, Florida between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts for Super Bowl XLIV. The Super Bowl Odds are posted and the countdown has begun and our last week of NFL Picks is upon us.

Indianapolis Colts Last Game

In the AFC Championship Game MVP Peyton Manning played like he had the invincibility star from the Super Mario Bros. video games. He still has not lost this season when he has played with his starters on both sides of the ball.

Manning just dismantled the Jets and Rex Ryan’s number one ranked defense. It took Peyton all of one and a half quarters until he solved the equation scoring 24 unanswered points leading the Colts to victory after falling behind 17-6. Many are saying that he is already the greatest of all-time and a Super Bowl victory would cement that.

Even if that isn’t true, you’re still going to have to go Tanya Harding on Manning and hire someone to take out his knees before the game to stop Peyton at this point.

The Colts defense got burnt by some fancy play calling by Jets Offensive Coordinator Brian Scottenheimer and WR Braylon Edwards early. At halftime the Colts adjusted and took away the deep ball with their safeties and focused on the run. The Jets then got the brunt of the Colts’ front seven led by DE Dwight Freeney and MLB Gary Brackett.

At the tail end of the game, Freeney came up lame. His effectiveness for this game remains to be seen, but if it is a third-degree ankle sprain, which includes a torn ligament, that’s a tough injury to play with.

As soon as the Colts took the lead in the 3rd quarter, the game was never in doubt. Peyton Manning stayed away from All-Pro CB Darrelle Revis, who took WR Reggie Wayne away for the most part, but Manning compensated by throwing to WR Pierre Garcon to the tune of 11 catches and 159 (AFC Championship record) yards and a touchdown. The Jets had no answers, much like the rest of the NFL as the Colts rolled 30-17.

New Orleans Saints Last Game

In a NFC title game to remember, the New Orleans Saints squeaked out a victory, 31-28, with an overtime field goal against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in what may have been Favre’s last game in the NFL.

It was almost like a fight from a Rocky movie with both heavyweights standing in the center of the ring slugging it out. Brett Favre was repeatedly crushed by the vicious Saints pass rush.

The Vikings made mistake after mistake including a horrific 12 men on the field penalty on the 33 yard line which pushed them out of field goal range followed by Favre throwing a pick at the end of regulation. The Vikings never got the ball again and Favre had to watch Brees march down the field in overtime for the winning field goal.

The Saints are going to have to play better this week if they want to beat this Colts team. The Colts have not lost while playing Peyton Manning a full game and Manning annihilates 4-3 defenses like Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’.

If the Saints can get consistent pressure on Manning with their front four, much like the Giants did to Tom Brady two years ago, then and only then will the Saints have a chance at stopping the great Peyton Manning. They would be the first to accomplish this feat in over a year’s time if they did.

A big X-Factor in this game is the heart and drive of Saints QB Drew Brees. He has galvanized the Saints and “Who Dat Nation” around him and he’s going to have to pry himself away from a special Mardi Gras this year where the beads are flying a little bit higher to pull this one off. Brees has the tools on offense and if Freeney cannot play or get pressure, the Colts young defensive backs will face a most difficult test.

The Super Bowl

Drew Brees and the Saints have been the feel good story of the year.

Less than a handful of years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and its suburbs, the New Orleans Saints have clinched a berth to the Super Bowl in a jam-packed Superdome where only a few years earlier was jammed packed as a temporary homeless shelter and disaster relief center.

It is hard to root against a team with as much desire as the Saints, but they are up against it this week.

Peyton Manning doesn’t just beat teams, he leaves them in awe. His skills are so far beyond anyone in the game right now that the Saints will not be able to withstand the storm.

Expect Brees to just fall short but dazzle with a tremendous performance of his own.

The Pick :

Colts 38 Saints 30.

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Indianapolis Colts to win on the Money line
and take the over 56.5 points total