OPEN COURT: A truly ‘Super’ Sunday

For the first time since 1993, the NFL’s two No. 1 seeds will face off in the Super Bowl. This is the kind of tidbit that has been casually tossed around in the build-up to today’s showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, but that’s kind of amazing, isn’t it?

There is so much parity in this league that the gap between “great” and “very good” is almost imperceptible. As a result, a very good team can get on a hot streak and take down a great team in the midst of an off day and end up in the Super Bowl.

Not this year.

Yes, fans, Super Bowl Sunday might actually meet — heck, exceeed — the impossibly high expecatations.

I’m not expecting much out of the commercials or The Who (it’ll be such a bummer to watch Pete Townshend perform his signature windmill guitar-smash routine — a former symbol of rock rebellion — in the middle of America’s most corporate entity), but this football game is a gift bestowed upon us from the sports gods.

In the blue corner, you have the New Orleans Saints. This is a franchise that has endured the worst — the Aint’s era, the paper bags, Aaron Brooks, Archie Manning getting sacked every other dropback, the ill-fated Ricky Williams trade — only to become the area’s beacon of hope after a gut-wrenching national disaster.

No, a Saints’ Super Bowl win won’t reverse what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but it’ll result in the most unbridled joy we’ve ever seen from a fanbase.

In the red corner, you have the Indianapolis Colts — only the most well-run football franchise of the last 10 years. This is an organization that seems to nail every draft pick and always rise to the moment.

Super Sunday won’t be a David-verus-Goliath situation, nor will it be surrounded by circus sideshows. This will be a professional football game in its most literal definition.

At the center of it all will be Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.

Brees was the league’s most accurate passer and a dominant fantasy force this season, guiding the Saints’ electrifying offense to a 14-2 campaign. He doesn’t possess those ideal measurables (6-feet, 210 pounds) or the cannon arm, but he makes all of his reads and delivers the ball on the numbers.

Brees is the perfect trigger man for Sean Payton’s complex schemes. Their relationship is reminiscent of the Steve Nash and Mike D’Antoni partnership from back in those glorious “Seven seconds of less” Phoenix Suns days.

Thanks to Brees, the Saints have had the advantage at the quarterback position in every game this season.

Except this one.

It’s impossible to quantify just how good Manning is right now. Thanks to the stiffer pass interference rules, Manning has evolved into a nearly unbeatable force under center.

I can’t think of a quarterback who has a better brain for the position. Watching him attain this Zen-like state from the pocket has been nothing short of remarkable.

I don’t think any of us has a real appreciation for how fast professional football moves. It’s like trying to solve a multi-variable calculus equation, only if the square-root signs were 300-pound defensive ends running at you in full speed.

When Manning is in a groove (which seems to be every game these days), the game slows down. He’s found a loophole, and he isn’t about to share it with anyone.

Can you even remember the last time Manning took a hard hit? I can’t ever remember watching a Colts game and thinking, “Wow, how is Manning going to get up from that shot?” The ball is always out of his hand well before a defender can get a hand on him.

The Saints can score, and the Dwight Freeney factor will be huge, especially if New Orleans can sneak an extra receiver out there for Brees. That should do enough to make it a thrilling game.

But if the Colts need to score 24 points to win, Manning will find a way to get those 24. If the Colts need 42, Manning will get 42.

Brees is fantastic, but Manning is breathing rarified air. Look for him to hoist the MVP trophy after clinching an all-time classic.

Prediction: Colts 38, Saints 34.

Super Bowl XLIV

Sunday, Feb. 7.

Sun Life Stadium, Miami

4:25 p.m., CBS

Spread: Colts -5

Over/Under: 56.5

Likely set list from The Who: A medley of “Baba O’Riley,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Tommy,” “Who Are You,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

Best possible snack platter: Chicken wings, seven-layer bean dip (with Fritos for dipping), cheese and crackers, cold cuts station, pigs in a blanket, and pretzels.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747