Bodog Sportsbook has made the Ravens the 10th favorite to win next season's Super Bowl at odds of 20-to-1.
Less than 24 hours after the Colts lost this season's Super Bowl, they were made the 13/2 favorite to win Super Bowl XLV. The Chargers were next at 8/1, the Patriots and Saints both at 10/1 and the Steelers at 11/1.
The Giants were also at 20/1 with the Ravens, just ahead of the Jets and Titans at 25/1.
It was a rush to judgment on Peyton Manning's prolific NFL career last week that various media outlets were on the verge of naming the Colts quarterback the greatest player in the history of the game.
Oops.
Manning has had a marvelous career, of course, as a four-time league MVP. But greatest of all-time when he's still playing? Please, give that a rest. That's unfair to all who preceded him and to Manning himself. Where does Tom Brady fit into the equation? And if you consider Manning, you have to consider Brady. Manning has one Super Bowl ring, Brady three.
This is not to demean Manning's spectacular career. He is clearly among the best ever to play the game. But he's lost too many playoff games, and now a Super Bowl, to unilaterally declare him the best ever.
He is one of the most unique quarterbacks in history for the way he runs the offense. He is among the smartest, and hardest-working. But the best? That will take more success on the biggest stage.
When it counted in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday night, he made the game's big mistake. Ironically, it came on one of Manning's favorite plays with Reggie Wayne as the intended target. But Tracy Porter watched enough tape to know what was coming, and this time he executed better than Manning. If Manning is the greatest player ever, should he not have been able to deliver on the opportunity at hand?
If Manning lost a little luster from his portfolio, then the Saints' Drew Brees was the big winner on Sunday night. He was the quarterback the Chargers rejected in favor of Philip Rivers, and we know Rivers' record in playoff games isn't good. Reputations and legacies are created on Super Bowl Sunday. The book will remain open on Manning for now. Brees just started one.
Sorry, ladies -- it looks like former Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller is off the market.
Boller and former Miss California Carrie Prejean got engaged Saturday in San Diego, according to E! News, which refers to the St. Louis Rams quarterback as an "NFL stud."
According to E! News, the 28-year-old Boller and 22-year-old Prejean began dating last July.
Boller appeared in seven games (four starts) for the Rams in 2009, finishing with three touchdowns and six interceptions.
Kevin Van Valkenburg's post-game analysis of the Saints' 31-17 Super Bowl victory over the Colts.
1. The rush to anoint Peyton Manning as the "Greatest Quarterback Ever" -- especially by some of my brethren -- may have been a bit premature.
First off, Manning didn't lose this game on his own. Let's get that out of the way right up front. The Saints won it, and they did it with some incredibly gutsy calls and a perfect second-half game plan. I've always loved Drew Brees, always thought he got a raw deal in San Diego, so to see him get a Super Bowl trophy felt pretty good. He's proof that as long as you're accurate and you can read defenses, you don't have to be 6-foot-5 and have a Howitzer for an arm. (Although it sure would be nice to see what Joe Flacco could do with wide receivers that big and strong.)
But this Super Bowl will almost certainly be remembered as the one Manning didn't win. Manning was clearly the MVP of the NFL this season, and the Colts wouldn't have sniffed the playoffs without him, much less appeared in the Super Bowl. But the way people were talking about him the last two weeks was shocking, especially when you consider that his entire post-season reputation hinges on what happened in 2006, when he beat a Bears team led by Rex Grossman in a rain-soaked mess. (And he didn't even play that well, despite being named the game's MVP.) In fact, if Bill Belichick hadn't decided to force Tom Brady to play that season with junior varsity wide receivers, I'm convinced Manning wouldn't have even made it to that Super Bowl.
The facts don't lie. Manning's career playoff record is now 9-9. Now, maybe it's unfair to put all of that on him, but I'll go to my grave insisting that if you're going to go down as the best that's ever played the game, you can't throw a fourth-quarter interception in the Super Bowl when your team has a chance to tie the game. That's the kind of play that plagued Manning in every big game in college, and in playoff losses to the Steelers, Chargers and Patriots. In some ways, the Colts are turning into the Atlanta Braves of the NFL. They've accomplished so much during the past decade, but they have just one Super Bowl trophy to show for it.
In three of Tom Brady's Super Bowls, he drove the ball down the field late in the game and put his team in position to win. (Twice it did result in a win, against the Rams and Panthers. The third time, against the Giants, he left a little too much time on the clock, and David Tyree and Eli Manning pulled off a miracle.) Ben Roethlisberger drove his team for the winning touchdown in his second Super Bowl. These iconic moments matter in sports, no matter how many times number crunchers and stat heads tell you they don't. People are merciless on Brett Favre for his playoff shortcomings, and yet he and Manning have the exact same number of rings.
It's a tough subject to dance around because Manning is almost everything you'd want as an athlete. He's studious, humble, he doesn't take himself too seriously and he's never been in trouble with the law. Doesn't matter what your background is, or where you're from, if your kid grew up idolizing Peyton Manning, you'd feel good about it. But strictly from a performance standpoint, I think it's fair to ask: Can we really anoint him as the best quarterback ever, even if he holds every NFL record when he's finished, when he repeatedly comes up small in big moments?
Continue reading "5 Things We Learned From The Super Bowl" »
How our reporters, columnists and editors saw the Saints' 31-17 win over the Colts:
Mike Preston: The Saints are a super resilient team with a gutsy, aggressive head coach.
Jamison Hensley: Payton came to win. That is, New Orleans coach Sean Payton. His aggressive mindset -- that brilliant onside kick -- set the tone in the second half. And Peyton Manning will be questioned again for flinching under pressure in a big game.
Peter Schmuck: Sean Payton gambled and won one the hard way for the Big Easy.
Ken Murray: The best quarterback won the Super Bowl tonight, and it wasn't Peyton Manning. Drew Brees' passing game was dominating, and defensive coordinator Greg Williams threw a masterful game plan at Manning to lift the Saints to their stunning 31-17 upset in the Super Bowl. Manning handled the Saints' pressure, but when they dropped more players into coverage, he made his biggest mistakes. The absence of Dwight Freeney as a pass-rush threat allowed Brees to control the game and keep Manning off the field for huge chunks of the evening.
Kevin Van Valkenburg: I've always been suspicious that Peyton Manning's reputation as a clutch performer was a house built on sand. You aren't in the discussion of "Greatest Quarterbacks Ever" if you throw a fourth-quarter interception in the Super Bowl with your team down seven points. But this game will be remembered for Sean Payton's stones and for Drew Brees' poise. A well-deserved upset.
Kevin Cowherd: Saints coach Sean Payton proves to be a riverboat gambler, Peyton Manning proves he's human by throwing a disastrous fourth-quarter pick and they're dancing on Bourbon Street.
Ron Fritz: It's gonna be one helluva party in New Orleans, and deservedly so. The Saints took the Colts' best shots and punched right back, making the biggest plays when it counted.
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