Predictions Of a Colts Blowout Premature?

I don't normally feel compelled to write, but an interview with Nick Halling, a commentator over here in England and the first non-American to commentate on an NFL game in the US no less, really made me want to put fingers to keyboard.

When asked "Who do you think will win on Sunday?" he responded with, and I quote, "I hate to be boring but the Colts start as favourites and if they fail to win it will be one of the biggest upsets ever.  It will be a fairytale in New Orleans win after the City was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and I hope they really enjoy their first trip to the Superbowl but they are just not as good as the Colts."

Lets review that answer a minute.

"It will be a fairytale if New Orleans win" - seems to be a popular consensus for impartial fans.

"They are just not as good as the Colts" - down to personal opinion I guess, but plenty of arguments to back that up.

"If they (Colts) fail to win it will be one of the biggest upsets ever" - Say that again?

I am all for a good debate on who will win, and appreciate that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but to say a Saints win would be one of the biggest upsets ever is a really poor comment from someone with knowledge of the game.

Lets take a quick look at a few stats of the Saints Regular Season:

The Saints were second best team (in terms of W-L record) in the NFL regular season (tied with San Diego) and were only one win behind the leading Colts.

The Saints had the best offence (points & yards), 4th best pass and 6th best Rush attack.

Drew Brees broke the NFL record for pass completions, and Darren Sharper broke the NFL record for Interception return yards.

The Saints defence was third in the league in interceptions, and scored eight defensive touchdowns, by far the best in the league. 

To me these sound like the kind of stats of a team that deserves to be in the Superbowl.

The main reason that media pundits have such a downer on the Saints is the amount of yards the defence allows, and I agree this is a major area of concern going against Peyton Manning and the Colts.  But the Colts don't have a great Defence either (18th in yards allowed, 14th pass yards, 24th Rush Yards). 

Against the Vikings the Saints Offensive line handled Allen and Edwards well enough (1 sack on Brees) so there is no reason they can't handle Mathis and a less then 100% fit Freeney.  Pierre Thomas averaged just short of 4.5 a carry against the 'Williams Wall' so should get some joy against that 24th ranked rush defence.

And remember that 3rd ranked Saints Intercepting Defence?  They will be against a starting quarterback who threw more interceptions (16) than all but six other QB's.

And for all of the talk about Saints defence fearing Manning, shouldn't the Colts defence also be fearing Brees?

Brees threw more touchdowns (34) than any other player this regular season.  He had the highest completion rating in NFL history.  Although Brees threw for 112 fewer yards than Manning, he did so on 57 fewer attempts.  He also threw for five fewer interceptions in the regular season.  Finally, Brees has more touchdowns and fewer interceptions than Manning in the post season despite the Saints relying more on their running game than the Colts.

And although Manning was outstanding against the Jets No 1 defence, the Colts Defence also allowed Rookie Mark Sanchez to through for 250 yards and 2 long touchdowns.  How do you think Brees is going to enjoy throwing against that secondary?

Finally, against four other playoff Saints won 3, by 26 points against Eagles, 14 against Jets and 21 against Patriots.  In their loss to Dallas where they were outplayed most of the game yet they were within one touchdown going into the final few minutes.  Colts also won three against Playoff teams, although would have beaten the Jets if they hadn't rested their starters.  However, one of these wins was by 1 point against the Pats in week 10, and one by 2 points against Ravens in week 11.

I can see how the Colts may be favourites going into the game, but can those of you in the media please give a bit more respect to a team that deserves to be the NFC representative.