The New Orleans Saints made a statement yesterday, with their 31-17 victory over the Colts in Super Bowl 44.  They are for real, and the new power house in the NFC. Drew Brees was pretty much perfect after the 1st quarter yesterday, and was well deserving of the MVP award. Though two other people should have been considered for the award, and that is head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. They both coached a brilliant game yesterday and put the Saints in a position to win.

While the Saints offensive line had no trouble keeping Brees upright, Payton did a great job of ensuring Brees had plenty of short and dump off targets to keep the chains moving. Brees and Payton more or less neutralized the Colts pass rush by staying out of 3rd and long passing situations. And Payton had the call of the year, by onsiding the 2nd half kickoff. What made the call even bolder was the fact that the earlier bold call, of going for it on 4th and goal didn’t go his way. That onside kick changed the course of the game, not only was the Colts defense unprepared to stop Brees, but I think it finally allowed the Saints to believe they could win the game.

The other coach that deserves a lot of credit is Williams, whose defense was the first to beat Peyton Manning this season. While overall the Saints had a great game plan, and much will be made about the interception return, three drives in particular epitomized the Saints performance yesterday. The first was the Colts first drive of the game. Manning was moving the Colts down the field, and it looked like a given that they would be putting 7 points on the board. Instead the Saints defense tightened up and held them to a field goal. The next key drive of the game, was early in the 4th quarter after the Saints cut the Colts lead to 17-16, and Peyton Manning converted a 4th and 2 to the Saints 32. Again it seemed as though Peyton was about to score and make it an 8 point lead. At the very least, the Colts needed about 3-5 yards to attempt a fairly makable field goal, instead the Saints forced them to lose 3 yards and Indianapolis missed a 51-yard field goal (which also gave the Saints offense great field position). The last defensive drive of the game, really showed the Saints tenacity. Manning drove the Colts down to the Saints 13 with just under two minutes remaining and a pair of timeouts. Sure the Colts would have needed to score and get the onside kick, but it looked like the Colts were about to make it a one score game, yet they never found the endzone. All-in-all it was a tremendous performance by the Saints defense to bend, but not break to the Colts offense.

The real MVP of the game of course was the field general, Drew Brees. After the first quarter Brees went 29 of 32 and just left the Colts guessing. He did a fantastic job of executing Sean Payton’s game plan, and constantly kept the chains and the clock moving. Brees’ performance was even more impressive given the fact that the Saints running game completely disappeared last night, managing just 51 yards and 2.8 yards per carry. Despite being one dimensional, the Saints passing attack was incredibly effective. Hopefully with the Super Bowl win and MVP award, Brees will start being thought of among the elite quarterbacks in the league (in all honesty outside of Peyton, who can you say is better than Brees?). It shouldn’t be to much of a debate though since I don’t see the Saints going anywhere as long as Brees is behind center.

Last night the Dallas Cowboys came to play, and despite the best efforts of Nick Folk Drew Brees the Saints could not stay undefeated. It was a game that was huge for both teams, not only was the Saints drive for perfection on the line, but the Cowboys needed a win to stay atop the playoff picture. The Cowboys deserve a ton of credit for the way they played that game last night.

The Saints have had some close calls this season, but no team has taken it to them like the Cowboys did last night. Dallas was hitting on all cylinders. On offense Tony Romo played one of his best games all season, and the offensive line gave him pretty good protection. The Dallas ground game contributed 145 yards and two touchdowns, picking up some tough first downs along the way. The best part about the Dallas offense was the fact they were able to hold on to the ball (over 36 minutes), and keep Drew Brees off the field. When Brees did have the ball the Cowboys made him look like an ordinary quarterback (which is still good, but quite the down grade for the Saints).  With the exception of one long run by Reggie Bush, the Cowboys stopped the Saints running game cold (being up by 21 points in the second half didn’t hurt matters either). Dallas really did an excellent job against the Saints passing attack, their defensive backs had great coverage and their defensive line applied the pressure. The Cowboys ended the game with four sacks (including two forced fumbles, one that literally ended the game), but applied tremendous pressure all throughout. They messed with Drew Brees’ rhythm, and were really the key to the victory.

All is not lost with the Saints, they are still the top seed in the NFC and should be a favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. While I realize its tough to see that loss, especially knowing that their last two games are against the Buccaneers and Panthers (two games they should easily win), they are still an excellent football team. Their defense has begun to scare me though, as they have let three straight teams go up and down the field on them.

The Cowboys for their part did what they need to do. They answered the questions about their December curse last night, and set themselves up in a prime spot for the playoffs. In fact, if they win out they will win the division. Their defense played a tremendous game yesterday, and the play of DeMarcus Ware was a sight to see. He was in the Saints backfield so much you would have thought he was on the other team. And what was more impressive was the fact he was playing hurt. On offense Romo played a great game, and hung in there and made plays with his feet. If the Cowboys can get to the playoffs they are a team that could get hot and go on a run.

The real question for Dallas is who will their kicker be the rest of the season, because it will not be Nick Folk. He is AWFUL right now. How do you miss wide (or hit the goal post) when you are from the 24 yard line in the center of the field? What’s worse is they showed clips of him during warm-ups and he was missing everything (as he’s done all season). Folk has to be cleaning out his locker now, and Dallas will need someone decent if they hope to go deep into the postseason.

Tonight’s New Orleans Saints versus the New England Patriots has all the makings of an epic game. The Patriots are the most prolific team of the past decade with three Super Bowl wins and four appearances. They have a dominate defense that always seems to make the big play, as well as having one of the top quarterbacks and wide receivers in the league. The Saints on the other hand, usually don’t get the same credit as the Patriots and other great teams. Part of that has to do with their history; never winning a Super Bowl (or even going to one), and being an up and down playoff contender the past few seasons. Another reason why the Saints don’t get respect is that with the exception of Drew Brees, they don’t have the star power that New England, Indianapolis, Minnesota and other great teams have.

Also when it comes to star power, Brees doesn’t hold a candle to Tom Brady. Yet with the exception of Super Bowl rings, Brady doesn’t have the numbers to back up the argument that Brady is a superior quarterback to Brees. All you ever hear about when it comes to quarterbacks is that its Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and then everyone else (side note…what exactly does Brett Favre have to do to get out of this ‘everyone else’ purgatory?). If you take a look at the numbers Brees is equal to Brady (if not better).

First let’s look at Tom Brady. In 121 starts (123 games) Brady is 2,562 of 4,046 (completions and attempts) for 29,495 yards and has been sacked 217 times. He has thrown 217 touchdowns to 93 interceptions for a 93.6 quarterback rating. Brees in 116 starts (117 games) is 2,552 of 3,970 for 29,004 yards and has been sacked 152 times. He has thrown for 190 touchdowns to 108 interceptions for a 90.7 quarterback rating. Those numbers are about as close as can be. And when you factor in the five more starts for Brady, his completions, yards and sacks aren’t nearly as comparable to Brees’ numbers (unless Brees was behind the Redskins’ offensive line, I doubt he would get sacked 65 times in five games). Now in fairness, Brady’s touchdown numbers and interception numbers are still impressive even if Brees had five more games to his resume, as there is no way he would throw for 27 touchdowns in five games and the picks would only go up. What is worth noting, is that Brees’ numbers since joining the Saints have been exceptional, and his interceptions, sacks and incomplete passes have all gone down significantly, while his yards and touchdowns have improved. In reality, Brees has been an elite quarterback these past four years, but still carries the weight of his early Charger days with him (his last two years in San Diego weren’t too shabby either).

So why is one quarterback considered a surefire Hall of Famer and the other considered just a very good quarterback? Winning games, and winning Super Bowls. Why didn’t I consider those numbers for comparison? Because regardless what people try to tell you football is a team sport, and games aren’t won or lost by a quarterback alone. How many Super Bowl rings do Dan Marino, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts and Jim Kelly have combined? The answer is ZERO, despite the fact that all five are Hall of Famers and elite quarterbacks of their day. Is Troy Aikman a better quarterback than Dan Marino because he won Super Bowls? No, (though he might be a luckier quarterback) Aikman is deserving of a Hall of Fame bust, but he isn’t a better signal caller. And I think the same can be said here for Brady and Brees. Brady has played every single season on a playoff caliber team. Brees has played with some great players, but not great teams, until maybe this season. So while everyone else on the planet might want Brady over Brees. I’ll take Brees every Sunday (and Monday Nights) simply because he does more with less.

I don’t think tonight’s game will settle the debate one way or another, but I think the Saints will win tonight, behind a good balanced attack led by Brees. I’ll say the Saints win 31-24.