Bill Polian recently commented that no team will ever do what the Bills did in the early 90's: Four back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.
Polian may be right, but the Colts are primed to do something that hasn’t been done since 2005: Make back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.
The reason the Colts stand a great chance at making another Super Bowl run this season is because of the incredible amount of depth on the roster, and the talent they developed last season because of injuries.
All of a sudden rookie players became full time starters, and played well beyond anyone’s expectations.
A big factor in the Colts ability to make another run is due to the uncapped year. It is going to be a huge advantage for the Colts since their idea of free agency is to re-sign their own players. Ironically, given this fact, the rule for the final four will have no impact on them.
The Colts only have two unrestricted free agents: 1) Gary Brackett and 2) Matt Stover. Bill Polian has made it quite clear that re-signing Brackett is a priority. In fact, don’t be surprised if a deal is not worked out before the start of free agency. Whether Stover is back will depend on the health of Vinatieri, and whether the Colts are considering drafting a kicker.
The Colts also have a lot of restricted free agents to re-sign, and owner Jim Irsay’s intent to extend Manning’s contract and make him the highest paid QB in the league; however, given the rule changes the Colts could set themselves up in a great position for years to come.
By paying Manning a lot of his money this year, whether it’s in salary or a signing bonus, it would allow them to pay him less in future years when the CAP comes back. This would free up money to keep the core players together for years to come.
An uncapped year will also allow the Colts to keep all of the restricted free agents that they want to keep. This means that players like Antoine Bethea will be back next season.
When the Colts get to the draft they can finish what they started last year which is continuing Larry Coyer’s plan of getting the front seven bigger on defense. The Colts will probably pick up a couple of linebackers in the draft. Also, given Polian’s recent attack on the offensive line, and the retirement of offensive line coach Howared Mudd, the Colts will probably draft some bigger offensive lineman. This is almost a foregone conclusion when you factor in the ages of Jeff Saturday (35), and Ryan Diem (31).
With the expected return of Marlin Jackson, Anthony Gonzalez, Tyjuan Hagler, and Bob Sanders—if the Colts decide to keep him—this team will have some big-time playmakers returning, and probably the best receiving corps that Manning has had since he was drafted.
With an ever improving defense, an incredible set of targets for Manning to throw to, two very good running backs in the backfield, and a revamped offensive line, the Colts are in a strong position to be the first team to go to back-to-back Super Bowls since the Patriots did it in ’04 and ’05.
Hopefully Bill Polian is right, and the Colts don’t repeat what the Bills did in the early 90’s: Lose four Super Bowls in a row.
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As the last piece of tickertape settled at the end of an unforgettable night at Miami's Sun Life Stadium, one sound continued to resound through the stairwells and across the parking lots. It sounded suspiciously like booing and yet its message was quite the contrary. "Who Dat?"
The words belonged to 19th-century minstrel songs, and were later reprised in the jazz numbers that filled the French quarter in the Thirties. Exultant Saints supporters, not daring to believe that a city under water five years ago could ever reach a day like this, kept up the refrain almost until their lungs burst.
Drew Brees, the winning quarterback and all-American boy who has thrust himself to the heart of the city's relief efforts since Hurricane Katrina, put it best when he dedicated their first Super Bowl to "the entire Who Dat Nation."
Jonathan Vilma, the Saints linebacker, felt a more powerful sense of accomplishment than most. As a man of Haitian descent, he had the aftermath of not one natural catastrophe, but two, weighing on his mind in the mayhem of Sunday. Drained of emotion, he looked squarely into the camera and asked: "Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints?" The answer was no one, not this year.
To defy all predictions, the Saints outgunned the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. It seemed fitting, too, that cornerback Tracy Porter, as a Louisiana boy, produced the decisive fourth-quarter score when he jumped in front of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's intended receiver, Reggie Wayne, before returning the interception 74 yards for the touchdown.
Expect Porter to assume a prominent role when the Saints ride their hometown floats today. Do not be surprised, either, if he and his team-mates are honoured with a tea party at the White House – President Obama is an avowed fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers but he, like all in attendance in Miami, remains acutely sensitive to the plight of New Orleans.
The plaudits will be bestowed mostly upon Brees, who eclipsed Manning, his far more celebrated contemporary, by completing all eight passes that gave the Saints their lead in the final quarter. It would be wrong to overlook, though, the inspiration of Sean Payton, the head coach whose calls galvanised his players to rally from 10-0 down. It was Payton, too, who took the gamble of ordering a short kick-off to start the second half, triggering a mêlée from which the Saints, somehow, emerged with the ball, before Brees picked out Pierre Thomas to score.
"Everybody in New Orleans gets a piece of this," Payton called out as he held aloft the Vince Lombardi Trophy, the first in Saints history. The moment completed an astonishing run by his team – they won three post-season games this year, having managed just two in their previous 42. It also signalled the emergence of Payton as a master tactician on the grandest stage, far removed from his struggle to carve out a living in Leicester in the late Eighties, in Britain's now-defunct Budweiser League.
Hollywood royalty were out in force to watch a story of Hollywood pathos unfold: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jamie Foxx and Adam Sandler were in the sky boxes, all apparently cheering for the Saints. They witnessed the thwarting of Manning, by common consent the finest quarterback of his generation, but this was not the narrative of the night.
The story lay in how the Saints managed to engineer a decisive second-half shift in momentum. Such was the threat of Manning, they needed the clear water of a seven-point margin before they dared dream. Jeremy Shockey's touchdown gave the opportunity, but Payton's boldness allowed it to be converted.
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The men's and women's shoe sells for $105 online through Thursday with 10% of the price of each pair sold going to Haitian relief effort Mercy Corps. Bush also designed a companion pair featuring the Saint's black and gold with the "Help Haiti" inscription.
"Partnering with Adidas and Mercy Corps to design this shoe is just one way to raise awareness, raise money and do my part to help the people of Haiti," Bush said.
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