What a Super B0wl! I bet not many people bet on the under for the Super Bowl, but that’s exactly what happened! Here’s a recap of the big storyline in the game, the battle of the two quarterbacks Drew Brees and Payton Manning and what it meant for the Super Bowl and for sportsbook betters. Much thanks to BetUS for their continued amazing support of the Super Bowl betting action! If you’re looking to bet on football, basketball, baseball, soccer or just about any sport, BetUS is a fantastic option.
Heading in to the Super Bowl, I highly criticized the betting line of -4.5 for the Colts preaching that it was far too low for a team as strong as the Colts. I ignored all the hoopla surrounding the eventual Super Bowl XLIV champion Saints, refusing to tag them personally as a “team of destiny”.
The hardship of the city of New Orleans and the tremendous season of the Saints was lost to the wayside of what the Colts did in the 2009 NFL betting season and the deafening legacy of Peyton Manning. I hate admitting when I was wrong, but I have never enjoyed being wrong more than in Super Bowl XLIV.
A city mired in depression, catastrophe and destruction celebrated their very first Lombardi Trophy in style and it couldn’t come at a better time. With Mardi Gras just a week away from kicking off, the celebration in New Orleans will last forever. And to be honest, no city is more deserving.
Vindication had to be sweet for Drew Brees, especially winning in Miami. Brees was ironically jettisoned by the Chargers and thought about playing in Miami before coming to New Orleans, where he felt a cosmic calling luring him to one of the NFL’s worst teams. Returning to Miami with the Super Bowl trophy in play, Brees would not be denied. Throwing 32-of-39 passes for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns, Brees submitted one of the best Super Bowl performances by a quarterback in history.. He tied Tom Brady’s completion record and secured the second highest efficiency rating behind Phil Simms. On a team that has never won a Super Bowl, as a player that had been shunned by NFL franchises and in a situation where he was an underdog, Drew Brees emerged as the MVP of the biggest game of the season.
Peyton Manning, perhaps the best quarterback in NFL history, was picked off for the game clinching score and despite all his marvels this season, he wasn’t able to secure the victory. But I’m not about to lay the blame on Manning.
In fact, the reason the Colts lost the game was because his receivers simply couldn’t keep their hands on the ball. Reggie Wayne ended the game by letting a ball slip through his gloved hands in the fourth quarter. Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon were also unable to keep plays alive. Manning dropped a ball in to the hands of Dallas Clark in quadruple coverage, but that was the only spectacular play of the day for Peyton.
Nothing typified this game more than Collie lunging for the onside kick that opened the second half and having the ball bounce off his shoulder pads. First of all, players in those situations should never dive for a ball that doesn’t crest the 10-yard marker because it would be a foul in the first place. You can’t give a team like New Orleans momentum and that’s exactly what Collie did by diving for a ball that wasn’t in play in the first place.
That’s the end of my “the Colts should have won the game” rant. I can’t hate on a city, a team and a player like Drew Brees that is so deserving of a Super Bowl victory. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the subsequent mismanagement following the disaster, and all the continuing social difficulties that have followed since then, the Saints have given the city of New Orleans something to cheer for yet again.
I shouldn’t be surprised by the Saints victory. I really shouldn’t. But I am. I never once believed that Peyton Manning would let the Super Bowl slip from his hands. Yet I underestimated what it means for a team to play for a city that deserves the victory so much. And again, I seriously devalued just how good Drew Brees can be when everything is on the betting line. For the record, Brees romped past three future hall of famers in Favre, Warner and Manning to win Super Bowl XLIV.
Drew Brees will be remembered for a lot of things when his career ends. His meteoric numbers will jump out on the stat sheet. The story about the relationship he had with his mother will be highlighted. The fact he was jilted by the San Diego Chargers will certainly gain some steam. Yet nothing will stand out more than Brees substantiating hope to the city of New Orleans.
The Saints will march back home to a rousing applause from their fans, while Drew Brees can rest assured that he has accomplished more with a Super Bowl victory than most quarterbacks ever can. It’s one thing to keep a monkey off your back, or overcome the betting spread as an underdog. Validating the prayers and desires of a downtrodden city, Brees has emulated what a champion should be to the people behind him.
The gushing love fest for Peyton Manning came to a screeching halt at Super Bowl XLIV when he failed to clear the Super Bowl spread and was run out of the building by the Saints. Now just 9-9 SU in the playoffs, Peyton Manning’s legend has returned to Earth to reside amongst the mortals. It’s not like losing the Super Bowl is going to make him any less eligible for the hall of fame when he retires, but people remember the times when a quarterback loses the Super Bowl. Just ask Dan Marino and Rich Gannon.
Manning was frustrated early on the by the Saints’ defense in the Super Bowl and with a pick-six that put the game out of hand, Manning was the one holding the bag when the Colts were upset by the team of destiny. Completing 31-of-45 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown, along with the pick, is subpar for Manning but he also had a bad day from three of his main receivers.
Pierre Garcon dropped three surefire first-down catches. Austin Collie not only dropped a first-down pass, but he also lunged for an onside kick that hadn’t gone ten yards to begin with . Reggie Wayne allowed a touchdown pass to slip right through his fingers on the final drive of the game. It’s not like Manning didn’t come to play, and his receivers deserve as much of the blame for the loss as he does.
The injury to Dwight Freeney and the season ending loss of Bob Sanders also killed the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV betting. Even with those injuries, the Colts were able to hold the Saints to 24-points offensively and made the UNDER the bet to take.
That being said, Peyton will be the one to blame at the end of the day. He’s the quarterback and the league MVP. Touted as the greatest quarterback to ever walk the planet, and with the stats and broken records to prove it, he needs to assume the responsibility. That’s the unfortunate side of being the quarterback – when all is said and done, you’re the guy with fingers pointed in your direction when the dust settles.
In prop NFL betting, the Colts have opened the season as 6/1 favorites to win Superbowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in 2011. They’re trailed in the AFC by the Chargers who have 8/1 odds despite the ongoing curiosity of LaDanian Tomlinson’s dramatic drop-off and the presence of Norv Turner. Holding pace are the Super Bowl champion Saints at 8/1 as well, and for now they’re the benchmark in the NFC. The Cowboys, Packers and Vikings are 12/1 to win Super Bowl XLV.
The kudos from the oddsmakers at BetUS notwithstanding, Peyton Manning has a massive mountain to climb in 2010 betting. After coming off a dazzling MVP season in which he went 16-1 SU as a full game presence, Manning must win a championship to validate all the hype surrounding him. It’s honestly an obstacle that he built himself, and we as fans love to scrutinize greatness in an effort to legitimize the history of the game. When all is said and done, Manning’s numbers will probably set the records across the board, but if his number of Super Bowl rings doesn’t match the other greats in history, then his place therein will be questionable.
Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw both won four championships, leading all quarterbacks. Behind them, Tory Aikman and Tom Brady have three each as starters, while Steve Young earned two as a backup to Montana and one on his own.
For now the addiction to hyping up Peyton Manning has run in to a brick wall, and rightfully so. Manning did not just lose Super Bowl XLIV, but he also lost a fair chunk of the adulation that he’s enjoyed this season. Even I was quick to say that the Saints would only win if Peyton Manning let them, and maybe I was right because of the pick-six. I still place Manning as one of the greats no matter if he ends his career with one ring or multiple. But the greatest? That’s a question only Manning can answer and his quest for a holier grail than Super Bowl XLV starts on the road to Arlington.
The Rise of Drew Brees
Heading in to the Super Bowl, I highly criticized the betting line of -4.5 for the Colts preaching that it was far too low for a team as strong as the Colts. I ignored all the hoopla surrounding the eventual Super Bowl XLIV champion Saints, refusing to tag them personally as a “team of destiny”.
The hardship of the city of New Orleans and the tremendous season of the Saints was lost to the wayside of what the Colts did in the 2009 NFL betting season and the deafening legacy of Peyton Manning. I hate admitting when I was wrong, but I have never enjoyed being wrong more than in Super Bowl XLIV.
A city mired in depression, catastrophe and destruction celebrated their very first Lombardi Trophy in style and it couldn’t come at a better time. With Mardi Gras just a week away from kicking off, the celebration in New Orleans will last forever. And to be honest, no city is more deserving.
Vindication had to be sweet for Drew Brees, especially winning in Miami. Brees was ironically jettisoned by the Chargers and thought about playing in Miami before coming to New Orleans, where he felt a cosmic calling luring him to one of the NFL’s worst teams. Returning to Miami with the Super Bowl trophy in play, Brees would not be denied. Throwing 32-of-39 passes for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns, Brees submitted one of the best Super Bowl performances by a quarterback in history.. He tied Tom Brady’s completion record and secured the second highest efficiency rating behind Phil Simms. On a team that has never won a Super Bowl, as a player that had been shunned by NFL franchises and in a situation where he was an underdog, Drew Brees emerged as the MVP of the biggest game of the season.
Peyton Manning, perhaps the best quarterback in NFL history, was picked off for the game clinching score and despite all his marvels this season, he wasn’t able to secure the victory. But I’m not about to lay the blame on Manning.
In fact, the reason the Colts lost the game was because his receivers simply couldn’t keep their hands on the ball. Reggie Wayne ended the game by letting a ball slip through his gloved hands in the fourth quarter. Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon were also unable to keep plays alive. Manning dropped a ball in to the hands of Dallas Clark in quadruple coverage, but that was the only spectacular play of the day for Peyton.
Nothing typified this game more than Collie lunging for the onside kick that opened the second half and having the ball bounce off his shoulder pads. First of all, players in those situations should never dive for a ball that doesn’t crest the 10-yard marker because it would be a foul in the first place. You can’t give a team like New Orleans momentum and that’s exactly what Collie did by diving for a ball that wasn’t in play in the first place.
That’s the end of my “the Colts should have won the game” rant. I can’t hate on a city, a team and a player like Drew Brees that is so deserving of a Super Bowl victory. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the subsequent mismanagement following the disaster, and all the continuing social difficulties that have followed since then, the Saints have given the city of New Orleans something to cheer for yet again.
I shouldn’t be surprised by the Saints victory. I really shouldn’t. But I am. I never once believed that Peyton Manning would let the Super Bowl slip from his hands. Yet I underestimated what it means for a team to play for a city that deserves the victory so much. And again, I seriously devalued just how good Drew Brees can be when everything is on the betting line. For the record, Brees romped past three future hall of famers in Favre, Warner and Manning to win Super Bowl XLIV.
Drew Brees will be remembered for a lot of things when his career ends. His meteoric numbers will jump out on the stat sheet. The story about the relationship he had with his mother will be highlighted. The fact he was jilted by the San Diego Chargers will certainly gain some steam. Yet nothing will stand out more than Brees substantiating hope to the city of New Orleans.
The Saints will march back home to a rousing applause from their fans, while Drew Brees can rest assured that he has accomplished more with a Super Bowl victory than most quarterbacks ever can. It’s one thing to keep a monkey off your back, or overcome the betting spread as an underdog. Validating the prayers and desires of a downtrodden city, Brees has emulated what a champion should be to the people behind him.
The Fall of Peyton Manning
The gushing love fest for Peyton Manning came to a screeching halt at Super Bowl XLIV when he failed to clear the Super Bowl spread and was run out of the building by the Saints. Now just 9-9 SU in the playoffs, Peyton Manning’s legend has returned to Earth to reside amongst the mortals. It’s not like losing the Super Bowl is going to make him any less eligible for the hall of fame when he retires, but people remember the times when a quarterback loses the Super Bowl. Just ask Dan Marino and Rich Gannon.
Manning was frustrated early on the by the Saints’ defense in the Super Bowl and with a pick-six that put the game out of hand, Manning was the one holding the bag when the Colts were upset by the team of destiny. Completing 31-of-45 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown, along with the pick, is subpar for Manning but he also had a bad day from three of his main receivers.
Pierre Garcon dropped three surefire first-down catches. Austin Collie not only dropped a first-down pass, but he also lunged for an onside kick that hadn’t gone ten yards to begin with . Reggie Wayne allowed a touchdown pass to slip right through his fingers on the final drive of the game. It’s not like Manning didn’t come to play, and his receivers deserve as much of the blame for the loss as he does.
The injury to Dwight Freeney and the season ending loss of Bob Sanders also killed the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV betting. Even with those injuries, the Colts were able to hold the Saints to 24-points offensively and made the UNDER the bet to take.
That being said, Peyton will be the one to blame at the end of the day. He’s the quarterback and the league MVP. Touted as the greatest quarterback to ever walk the planet, and with the stats and broken records to prove it, he needs to assume the responsibility. That’s the unfortunate side of being the quarterback – when all is said and done, you’re the guy with fingers pointed in your direction when the dust settles.
In prop NFL betting, the Colts have opened the season as 6/1 favorites to win Superbowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in 2011. They’re trailed in the AFC by the Chargers who have 8/1 odds despite the ongoing curiosity of LaDanian Tomlinson’s dramatic drop-off and the presence of Norv Turner. Holding pace are the Super Bowl champion Saints at 8/1 as well, and for now they’re the benchmark in the NFC. The Cowboys, Packers and Vikings are 12/1 to win Super Bowl XLV.
The kudos from the oddsmakers at BetUS notwithstanding, Peyton Manning has a massive mountain to climb in 2010 betting. After coming off a dazzling MVP season in which he went 16-1 SU as a full game presence, Manning must win a championship to validate all the hype surrounding him. It’s honestly an obstacle that he built himself, and we as fans love to scrutinize greatness in an effort to legitimize the history of the game. When all is said and done, Manning’s numbers will probably set the records across the board, but if his number of Super Bowl rings doesn’t match the other greats in history, then his place therein will be questionable.
Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw both won four championships, leading all quarterbacks. Behind them, Tory Aikman and Tom Brady have three each as starters, while Steve Young earned two as a backup to Montana and one on his own.
For now the addiction to hyping up Peyton Manning has run in to a brick wall, and rightfully so. Manning did not just lose Super Bowl XLIV, but he also lost a fair chunk of the adulation that he’s enjoyed this season. Even I was quick to say that the Saints would only win if Peyton Manning let them, and maybe I was right because of the pick-six. I still place Manning as one of the greats no matter if he ends his career with one ring or multiple. But the greatest? That’s a question only Manning can answer and his quest for a holier grail than Super Bowl XLV starts on the road to Arlington.