Super Bowl Review

Well, since the Super Bowl ended, there have been about 3,153,876 articles about how Peyton did a great job of "managing the game" and "taking what the defense gave him," how Rex Grossman is suddenly a schlub, despite the fact that he led the Bears to the Super Bowl, and that one of the big reasons the Colts won is because Tony Dungy is very calm and patient.

Most people have been ripping the commercials apart, but almost all of them were better than Apple's 1984 commercial that supposed to be the end-all-be-all of Super Bowl ads. I think that we've come to expect too much, be too jaded, and that the NFL is over-hyping the event itself. Hell, I bought a plasma TV and threw a party for it. Expectations were high.

And, ya know what? This was a solid game. I understand that there were too many turnovers and that Grossman sucked balls, but it was a five point game until the 4th quarter (and even then it was only a 12 point game), there was a kickoff return for a touchdown, numerous 30+ yard plays, a missed extra point, two occasions were there were consecutive fumbles, and one hell of a tight-rope act by the guy that backs up the guy that got stabbed by his wife last year. All in all, good times.

And I've heard people bitching about the fact that Peyton Manning won the MVP. Okay, Domanic Rhodes had a touchdown and 120 yards. And that's impressive. But, he didn't end up with as many touches as Joseph Addai and really got a lot of those yards when the Colts were trying to grind clock in the 4th quarter. I think people are bitching because Manning didn't have one of those big "Peyton Games" where he throws for 350 yards and five touchdowns and looks absolutely invincible.

But here's the thing: He is, was, and always will be the most valuable player on the team. Even though the Colts were winning with him struggling, he's been the one to pick the team up and carry them when they absolutely needed it most. In both the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, the Colts had stretches right before the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half where they went into a zone and could not be stopped. Both times, they ran 30+ plays to 1 or 2 plays from the opposition. That demoralizes a defense and wears them out. And, in both games, Peyton kept the pressure on the defense, whittled them away, and left them exhausted and puzzled as to how they gave up 38 and 29 points respectively.

That was the magic of this run. It was a war of attrition. In years past, Manning would flinch before the defense. He would wear out before the defense. This year, he kept at it, kept fighting, and eventually broke down the three best defenses in the NFL. In the Super Bowl, he did exactly what the Bears dared him to do by playing their safeties at the goal posts. He called a lot of running plays and threw a lot of underneath stuff.

Bottom line: Thomas Jones had 120 yards, right? The difference in this game wasn't the running game. It was that Rex crapped the bed and Manning didn't. When the Bears had a 3rd and 6, you assumed Rex would get them 4, if that. When the Colts had 3rd and 6, you wondered how much the Colts were going to get, since them getting at least 6 was assumed. And that's why the Colts won. And, since the running backs were pretty well equal, you've gotta go with Manning.

All in all, I had a fun time. I liked the commercials (except the SalesGenie one), Prince was a pleasant surprise (he's drawing the most praise from the Super Bowl and I think that's because expectations were low and he completely exceeded them), and the game had a lot of interesting twists and turns and the outcome was expected, but surprising.

I think the main reason I liked this game is because I had absolutely no stake in it. Last year's Super Bowl was a hellish experience. I'm glad the Steelers won and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I'm also kinda glad that they didn't go to the playoffs last year. As magical as that run was, it was friggin' stressful.

I enjoyed just taking it easy, having a few beers, and not having to worry about who won or lost. I just focused on the craziness and the back-and-forth action of the game. And that was very nice. Just... watching football. What a concept.

Which is one of the reasons I liked the way CBS presented the game. Not too much fanfare, not too much spectacle, and Phil Simms and Jim Nantz kept it pretty low key. Just a couple guys hanging out in the booth watching a football game. I liked that.

Good times.

It didn't live up to the hype, but then again, how could it possibly live up to the hype?