The Saints Go Marching in Miami

On Super Bowl Sunday, 106 million viewers watched a team that for so long was in the basement of the NFL walk away as Super Bowl champions. New Orleans isn't the home of the Aints any longer. Now its fans chant "Who Dat?" instead of wearing bags on their heads.

There's not much I can say about New Orleans that hasn't been said repeatedly by every sports analyst in the country. This football team and championship may mean more to New Orleans than a team in any other city. It has given the people, so devastated by hurricane Katrina, something to rally around. That is going to be some party....

The game itself as well as the post season also showed the NFL a lot of things. First is the benefit of resting players. After the momentum swing that carried the New York Giants to a Super Bowl win in 2008, teams that rested players and took the foot off the gas towards the end of the regular season were really looked down on by the rest of the league. No more. The Saints went 13-0 and finished the season 13-3. The Colts went 14-0 before benching Peyton Manning in a game against the New York Jets and finished the season 14-2. Everyone criticized this move. The result? Did the Colts lose all of their momentum and go into their playoff matchup against the Jets with no confidence? Of course not. The Jets played a tough game, but the Colts really stayed in control.

The Saints defense also really made its mark in the post season. With a star studded offense, it's easy to overlook the guys on defense, but take a look at who the Saints beat to get to win the Super Bowl: Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning. That's impressive.

Finally, something that does not bode well for the Washington Redskins, we saw the importance of a great quarterback when it comes to the post season. Top tier quarterbacks lead to success. That sounds obvious, but there are numerous teams that settle with an average quarterback because it's not "fair" to compare someone to Tom Brady and as long as he gets the ball to his receiver he'll be ok. False. The matchup between Drew Brees and Manning really highlighted this fact. Two of the best quarterbacks, if not the best, matched up against one another. Take a look at the quarterbacks who have competed in the Super Bowl over the last few years:

2010: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning
2009: Kurt Warner, Ben Roethlisberger
2008: Eli Manning, Tom Brady

All six quarterbacks are considered to be some of the best in league. The last time an average (or below) quarterback made it to the Super Bowl was in 2007 when Rex Grossman came in with the Bears, and, of course, Chicago lost to Peyton and the Colts. The last time an average quarterback won a Super Bowl was Super Bowl 35 in 2001 when the Ravens won even with Trent Dilfer at quarterback. This season, the playoffs saw teams led by Manning and Brees, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, Donovan McNabb, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez, and Joe Flacco. Mark Sanchez is probably the worst of the bunch and he's not bad. It just shows you that in today's game you have to be secure in the quarterback position to make and be successful in the playoffs. There is not a single quarterback on the list of playoff quarterbacks who is not better than Jason Campbell. Something for Mike Shannahan to think about moving forward.

Ultimately I was happy to see Drew Brees raise the Lombardi trophy for his team. It's good to see the good guys win when the headlines always seem to be dominated by the idiots (Gilbert Arenas, Mark McGwire, Plaxico Burress, etc.). Yo can rest assured that he will receive the welcome he deserves in New Orleans. With Mardi Gras next week, I don't think the party is going to stop.

And don't worry! If you think I could possibly pass up the chance to write about the Caps/Penguins game from Sunday, you're mistaken. I will write about it in tomorrow's blog.

Let's go Caps!