Super Bowl XLI game thread

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Alvin#40

It was raining though...cough cough

It's true and I'm sure that played a factor in his decision making, but even so did you see how much room Addai had to make plays?

That's just patience at its best.

[Alvin#40]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

It's true and I'm sure that played a factor in his decision making, but even so did you see how much room Addai had to make plays?

That's just patience at its best.

Good point....Brunelle's passes left his hand in 3 seconds...Mannings 5 secs or so.....check down. 1 of the cover 2's weaknesses. Gotta have some quick backers. Kudos to Dungy's rain and non-rain game plan. GREAT coach!

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Alvin#40

Good point....Brunelle's passes left his hand in 3 seconds...Mannings 5 secs or so.....check down. 1 of the cover 2's weaknesses. Gotta have some quick backers. Kudos to Dungy's rain and non-rain game plan. GREAT coach!

Also a good point. Manning probably has more confidence in his blockers than Brunell does in his. Not sure whether thats the lines fault for having poor pass pro or Brunell's for not trusting them (likely both), but Brunells ave. yards per attempt this year were similar to Mannings yard per attempt from the playoffs, so I think its a lot of that same patience factor.

It helps immensely to have a defense.

[MTK]

Back to the game, at least it was an entertaining Super Bowl. The first half was pretty wild with all the turnovers, the kickoff return, etc. Good to see Manning get that monkey off his back, he's not going to go down in history as the next Marino. I thought they should have split the MVP between the Colts' RBs but I don't have a problem with Manning getting it either.

Funny how even a Super Bowl thread takes us back to Brunell. Excuse me while I go kick some dirt on Barbaro.

[SmootSmack]

So now that Peyton has his ring, who is the best active QB not to have a Super Bowl win?

[irish]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

So now that Peyton has his ring, who is the best active QB not to have a Super Bowl win?

Carson Palmer.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

So now that Peyton has his ring, who is the best active QB not to have a Super Bowl win?

Jason Campbell.




Yeah yeah...burgandy and gold glasses off now...

Palmer, Brees, Trent Green?

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

So now that Peyton has his ring, who is the best active QB not to have a Super Bowl win?

Mark Brunell.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

Mark Brunell.

He said best ACTIVE, not best ROSTERED.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

So now that Peyton has his ring, who is the best active QB not to have a Super Bowl win?

I agree that it's Palmer. Palmer may find himself in the same situation as Manning down the road. Perrennial playoff team who "couldn't win the big one" because the defense can't get over the hump.

God I hate that phrase "can't win the big one". It's like someone who hated Peyton Manning up and decided that "the big one" was defined by any game the Manning led Colts lost. There's no substance to that theroy.

On an unrelated note, how much better were the 2005 Colts then the 2006 Colts? The 2005 team had a very good defense, and one of the best offenses in NFL history. That team lost to the Steelers in the Divisional Round because although they had been the better team all that season, they werent the better team on that one day. Ironically, this Colts team probably was not a top 5 AFC team in the regular season, and won the super bowl for the same reason they lost in the playoffs a year ago: They may have been going up against some clearly better teams, but they outplayed each one of them on the day they played, and thus are the SB Champions.

This was a pretty improbable playoff run for Peyton and Gang, but considering some of the improbable defeats this team took in the past, they certainly deserve this one.

[SmootSmack]

I think that even if Manning did win it all this year, it would not have been considered "enough" if he didn't beat Brady and the Pats along the way

[SmootSmack]

I would say McNair (maybe McNabb), a lot has to do with the length of their careers to this point compared to guys like Brees or Palmer

[MTK]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

I would say McNair (maybe McNabb), a lot has to do with the length of their careers to this point compared to guys like Brees or Palmer

I'd go with McNabb... Palmer needs a few more years before the monkey creeps onto his back.

[GTripp0012]

I don't think he had to necessilary beat NE. I think that a lot of people were just waiting for Peyton to get a ring before they crowned him as one of the greatest to ever play. But why? Is Peyton any better at QB now then he was three weeks ago? Probably a bit because of the way he won that Patriot game with the comeback, but anyone with a brain knew that he was capable of beating NE (because anyone who follows the NFL knew that the last two times the teams played in NE, the Colts were victorious), and that there were many logical reasons that it had never happened in the past for him. Throughout his career he had won high pressure games, and lost others. Who was some idiot sportswriter (or a group of them) to determine whether or not Peyton Manning was fit to ever win a superbowl?

I just think that saying that Player "X" is a really great player but can't win the big one is an ignorant position. Obviously these great quarterbacks got that reputations for being great because they won games down the stretch for their teams.

I think can't win the big one is too general of a statement to be taken seriously. If the "Big One" refers only to the super bowl, then all players who have never played in the super bowl are exempt from this tag. If it's just the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl that qualify as big games, then you have to have played and failed in multiple Conference Championships to don the tag. If it's all playoff games, then by definition, a win in a playoff game relieves you of the cant win the big one tag.

A guy who plays well and leads an otherwise inferior team to many key victories is uncomparibly better to a guy who "wins big games" while being along for the ride with a great team. Guys in the media who lable ANY player as being "unable to win the big game" are ignorant enough to disagree with this point.

Technically, the Colts got very fortunate on the road to SB XLI. They got to play a Chiefs team with a struggling offense that had eeked into the playoffs, and the next week they went into Baltimore. I didnt think the Colts would beat the Ravens, but when they did, they were very lucky that the Patriots won and they got to play the Championship game at home, instead of in SD where I doubt they could have won. Getting to the SB was a tough road, and then they got fortunate enough to get the Bears in a situation where they turned the ball over 5 times.

What sportswriters need to take from this is the lesson learned that even the team that gets boned time and time again in the playoffs is capable of winning it all if things break right.