Football Sports

With the Super Bowl this Sunday I decided to ask the Fourth Down reporters their thoughts on the game and the NFL. Here you can read what fourth down reporter Simon Pitney thinks. First question has to be who will…

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With the Super Bowl this Sunday I decided to ask the Fourth Down reporters their thoughts on the game and the NFL. Here you can read what fourth down reporter Simon Pitney thinks.

First question has to be who will win the Super Bowl?

Indianapolis Colts. The majority of the team know what it takes to win the big game after their exploits in 2006. This team has experience of winning tight matches (7 times in regular season they came back from fourth quarter deficits) and they have Peyton Manning. If, and it’s a big IF, the Saints can generate enough pressure to unsettle Manning, they may have a quarter, or a quarter and a half to generate a lead. As we saw against the Jets, Manning is the master of in-game adjustments – you cannot stop him for 60 minutes. The only hope for the Saints is to build an early lead whilst unsettling Manning, and then hold on when he inevitably starts connecting with his targets and moving the chains.

The Saints are the feel good story and I will be willing them on – but with no previous experience of the unique super bowl atmosphere – I think they may get caught up in the emotion of it all. Drew Brees will need to be perfect and Reggie Bush may need to make a game changing play – else I can see a comfortable and professional win for the Colts.
One small caveat – the Saints had a much harder schedule this year and came through strong. The Colts won’t have faced a super-bowl calibre team yet this season, whereas the Saints have run through a very strong NFC.

Who is your regular season MVP (most valuable player)?

Chris Johnson. To gain the yardage that he did in that team was quite astonishing. You have to feel that if Vince Young had been given a game from the start of the season, forcing teams to respect the pass game as well as the run, Johnson would have broken the rushing record. The true mark of how outstanding a season he had, was that even though everyone facing the Titans knew he was their only weapon, they still couldn’t stop him. If he had been in a play off team, he would have won the MVP award for real.

Which player has disappointed you this season?

Purely because I am a Raiders fan – how can I look any further than JaMarcus Russell? It’s so disappointing because my expectations weren’t actually that high. I just wanted to see some sort of desire and work ethic from the lump. Instead I got further evidence of someone who is either lazy, or stupid, or both.

What was the greatest Super Bowl performance of all time?

Individually I am going for the fairytale ending that was Super Bowl 34. Kurt Warner, only one year into being the quarterback and four years from stuffing groceries, produces the most passing yards in super bowl history. His first half stats alone were incredible (277 yards) and big enough for most super bowl quarterbacks. In the second half he then added a 73 yard touchdown pass as the Rams edged past the Titans.

As a team – its probably the San Francisco 49ers’ effort in super bowl 24. Collecting his fourth ring Joe Montana threw five touchdown passes as they blitzed the Denver Broncos 55-10.

What does Manning have to do to ensure ‘legend’ status?

I don’t think he has to do anything. Of course a second ring would add to his status, but even if he loses on Sunday and never throws a pass again he will be a legend. The fact that he is mentioned when discussing the greatest quarterback of all time means his place in elite company is assured.

Now Kurt Warner has retired, is he a Hall of Famer?

Kurt Warner has to be a hall of famer. I understand all the arguments against him – namely that he was only truly active and successful in about half of his time in the NFL. However, the man holds the three highest passing games in super bowl history – that alone ought to be enough. When you add in that he has thrown for over 100 touchdown passes for two different franchises, and that these two franchises were unfashionable (and in the case of Arizona, historically terrible) when he took them to the super bowl it ought to be a foregone conclusion. He may not have the career passing yards that Favre, Brady or Manning have, but his record in the big games (9-4 post-season), and the way he has played in those big games means that Canton ought to be rolling out the red carpet.

Does Tim Tebow go in the first round?

Bucky Brooks knows more about college football and draft scenarios than I do – and he says no. It’s difficult to see who would take him that high. The weaker teams have issues all across the board, whilst the teams in the middle only need to tweak things, rather than overhaul their entire offence. There is no gossip to support this, but if he is to go high, then I would imagine it would be somewhere like Buffalo – they are not huge franchise that will drown him in expectation, they are overhauling things with a new coach anyway and that coach is offensively minded – therefore he could utilise the skills of Tebow effectively. To answer the question though, I am with Bucky and say no.

Who do you think will win the Super Bowl next season?

The Colts will be there or thereabouts again next season. You would imagine that the Saints would continue to torch teams. If Favre comes back again for the Vikings then they could be a force again, and bearing in mind they didn’t win the Superbowl this year the Steelers ought to be back. However, if its not one of those four then I think the Green Bay Packers could be an interesting bet. The loss to Arizona might actually have done them some good in the long run. They have a great defence and Aaron Rodgers has some big game experience now. I can tell you who it won’t be – the Oakland Raiders.

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