If you're even a casual viewer of the World Wide Leader (ESPN), you probably know that their Super Bowl coverage is a bit, shall we say... over the top? You're inundated with countless statistics to the point your head is spinning and the line between what's important in this game and what’s not becomes blurred (and I can't tell you what I'll do if I hear Mark Schlerth repeat the same thing over and over again. Yes Mark, Saints left tackle Jerrod Bushrod is in heaven right now in light of the Freeney injury. We got it, I just don't want to hear you say it for a 12th time).

This should be your one and only preview you read from here on out. We’ve broken it down to the five most important aspects of this game. It's OK to change the channel on your TV now. Really.

Put an end to the talk. Freeney is a non-factor. Why the media coverage is giving his ankle injury an "air" or uncertainty is beyond me. It's nice the Colts have called it a "Grade III Sprain", a name like that gives the impression, you know, that his ankle's ligaments aren't..torn?

Torn was how someone in Freeney’s camp described it. Now the reality is that a Grade III sprain and torn ligaments are one in the same, the issue here is purely semantics, but semantics or not, the result of the injury is the same. Freeney can't push off, he has no stability in that ankle and sharp direction changes, i.e. his patented spin move, are impossible.

Freeney is a finesse, speed player, his torn-up ankle takes away any possibility of him being effective in that role. End of story, I admire him for trying to get well enough to play for his team (and to escape the anguish from the great possibility he won’t play in either one of the Indy Colts two Super Bowls), but the Colts might as well send his helmet to get refurbished for next season ‘cause it’s of no use to him this Sunday.

Peyton Manning is great, maybe the greatest, but lets put some things in perspective. His Super bowl XLI MVP was a 247 yard, one touchdown, one interception performance in a game where he accounted for six points of his team's 29. His lone score came in the first quarter. The real MVP of that game was Joseph Addai, whose 29 touches for 144 yards (19 carries for 77 yards and 10 catches for 66 yards) was probably his best performance ever. Manning is 9-8 in the playoffs and when you compare him to other great QBs like Montana (16-7), Brady (14-4,), Aikman (11-5), Starr (9-1), even a guy like Kurt Warner(9-4), his record during the most important time of the year is not all that impressive.

My point being that yes, he is a great QB, his tactical ability on the field is second to none all-time, but even with his four season MVP's (one of which he co-won with the late Steve "Air" McNair), he's not king yet. The caste we've set for him is appropriate in talking about his possible legacy when it's all said and done, not right now. He is a living legend no doubt, but he's not there yet.

To be spoken about in the manner that he is, he'd have to be far and above his present contemporaries output in the league. But he's not.

Which brings me to my next point, there's a smaller gap between Manning and Drew Brees in this game than I think is realized. They do it two completely different ways but their output is almost the same.

In his '09 MVP campaign, Manning completed 393 of his 571 passes (69%) for 4,500 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.

Brees connected on 363 of his 514 passes (70%) for 4,388 yards. 33 of his passes went for touchdowns and 11 were picked.

If you take a three-year window, Manning: 12,542 yards, 91 touchdowns, 42 interceptions, and Brees: 13,880 yards, 96 touchdowns, 46 interceptions, I’d say they are fairly comparable.

With that said, I have no problem with the discussion that the Saints defense, ranked 25^th overal this year, needs to bring their A++ game against this Colts offensive unit, but by the same token, The Colts D needs to do the same; The Colts this year were 18th overall on defense. The difference in total yards given up between their rankings is 18.6 yards yards per game (read: they're on the same defensive level).

This game will be an offensive explosion for sure, make no doubt about it, but a shoot out? Maybe not. Not that there won't be "gun slinging" in this game, the Saints just won’t have to rely on that mentality as much because they have something the Colts don't.

A rushing offense. The saints were first overall in offense this year and featured the league's sixth best rushing attack. In spite of their ninth overall offensive ranking, the Colts were an astoundingly bad 32nd in rushing offense.

There may be an 18.6 yard discrepancy in their defensive overall rankings, but a 50.7 yard per game difference between their rushing attacks coupled with the colts 24th ranked rushing defense, is just too much to ignore.

I think the Saints superior rushing attack will help neutralize the "Manning factor" and from there, it's going to be a game of who has the ball last.

My Prediction for Super Bowl XLIV is Saints: 38, Colts 31.

(09' playoffs picking record: 6-4)

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