Who is that, who is that, who is that who is going to outscore the New Orleans Saints? Nobody, that is who or whom or dat; I dunno. In between commercials and The CSI Players, Drew Brees picked apart the Indianapolis Colts secondary while Peyton Manning did the same except for one errant throw that went the other way for a Saints touchdown. And that was the game. Good night, or morning, or grief.
I was fairly confident Manning would gut it out, and when he didn’t my whole world view crumbled and I spiraled into a depression of Steven Wright proportions. Well, not really. I was surprised though. All the talk about Manning possibly being the greatest ever will have to be put on hold. This game doesn’t mean he can’t work his way back into that conversation, but what this game really did was shoot Drew Brees right into the middle of that great quarterback debate. His numbers are right up there with Kurt Warner’s and after winning a Super Bowl he is assured Hall of Fame talk unless he takes the Tiger Woods/Mark McGwire path to Grandma’s house (which is also the name of a brothel/HGH bar.
This game didn’t make any huge splashes fantasy-wise, but it’s hard to believe both teams won’t be scoring points next season. Yes, the year after a team wins, loses, or chokes away a Super Bowl they have trouble not sucking, but Manning and Brees will keep their teams competitive at the very least. Reggie Bush will be discussed a lot this off season. He is getting paid way too much for the numbers he puts up. He helps the team, but not enough when that money could go elsewhere. He could land with a team that might use him more, but that would be a mistake since he’s made of peanut brittle. Pierre Thomas is the best back in New Orleans and will continue to get the bulk of the carries and if he can stay relatively healthy, will be the guy to own. Of course Sean Payton could use Ron Dayne on the goal line. Joseph Addai really showed something to his detractors this year and it will be hard for Donald Brown to supplant him, but if Brown stays healthy there is no way he doesn’t dip into Addai’s numbers enough to hurt his fantasy value. Anthony Gonzalez can’t be happy with what developed at wide receiver while he was hurting. Pierre Garcon really developed and has earned the right to be the #2 receiver. And with Gonzalez out of the game for so long I don’t see him taking that job back very quickly. Brees and Manning of course are atop the fantasy heap, but I doubt I’ll own either one once again next season. Top QB’s are around later in the draft and I’ll take a RB or three please.
The game was good, but not classic. We might be getting a little too used to games like the Patriots/Giants and Cardinals/Steelers. Remember when Super Bowls had the suspense of a Ashton Kutcher movie plot line? Yes, Joe Montana and Troy Aikman hook up in the end!
So this brings us to a close of the 2009-2010 NFL season, which means we are at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season!! Tonight we are hosting our first mock draft to kick off the breaking down and over-thinking of the season to come. So stay tuned and remember, the NFL season is never over, it just gets slightly less violent.