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TUESDAY,FEBRUARY9,2010THEWASHINGTONEXAMINER
By JEFFREY TOMIK
and JOHN KEIM
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"I've never coached effort. I always
coached execution. But with this group
I've had to coach effort. Our personnel
may not fit playing as fast as I'd like
to play. But I've got to be able to do
something to get them to play harder."
� UNC men's basketball coach Roy Williams
Number to be worn by
White Sox SS Omar
Vizquel. It had been
retired in honor of Luis
Aparicio, who gave his
blessing for Vizquel to wear the number.
Million
people who
watched
the Super
Bowl, according to Nielsen, making it the
most watched TV event ever.
BY THE NUMBERS
11
UPON FURTHER REVIEW DEFINING MOMENT
FIRST LOOK: 2010 SEASON
106.5
Opinions from around the nation on
the hottest topics in sports:
� We know that for 43 years, when-
ever you needed a team to hold up
as an example of a perennial loser,
whenever you needed some team
to make all the other teams and
their fans feel better about them-
selves, we have been your go-to
guys. "It could be worse. We could
be the Saints." Not any more. We
are the champions, my friends.
� Mark Lorando says the Saints have
forever shed their long-earned label.
(New Orleans Times-Picayune)
� They had hoped to trade in the
perfect season for the perfect end-
ing, but in the end, the Indianapolis
Colts were left with nothing. Just
a bitter, hollow feeling that will last
well into the offseason as they try
to figure out how another brilliant
season could end so badly.
� Bob Kravitz says the Colts wanted
a Super Bowl more than a perfect
season. They got neither.
(Indianapolis Star)
� [Freddie] Adu is still only 20 but
his career has hit roadblocks at
virtually every turn with each new
direction only seeming to lead to
another dead end. As time ticks by,
there is an increasing danger that
he will go down as a footnote in
American soccer history, a caution-
ary tale to be brought out when the
hype machine flares up to herald
the next generation's boy wonder.
� Martin Rogers on Adu's unlikely
quest to join the U.S. World Cup
squad. (Yahoo Sports)
� Although [Danica] Patrick had to
be closeted in her hauler until the
awaiting crowd calmed down, she
thoroughly enjoyed the competi-
tion part of the equation. She not
only survived her first test in the
stock car world, Patrick put on an
Earnhardt-style show when crew
chief Tony Eury Jr., said it was "go
time."
� Lee Spencer writes that Patrick is
ready for more in her transition to
stock car. (FOX Sports)
COLUMN INCHES
CHEERS&JEERS
ON THE RECORD
Because we'd rather re-hash the Saints'
Super Bowl win instead of looking at
weather forecasts:
� The Colts played too passive. They
blitzed two times from the start of the
second quarter and both times they didn't
get close to Drew Brees, partly because they
were too worried about Reggie Bush. They
rarely mixed it up, too; the one time they
went with a three-man rush they sacked
Brees. But Brees was not hit after that
sack. The Saints often could block four
rushers with five linemen, allowing five
receivers to run routes.
� Um, Tony Dungy, want to rethink those
blowout comments? The man could coach;
the man can't predict. Good thing he's not
doing the weather in D.C. these days. On
second thought, at least we'd like his fore-
casts.
� Roger Goodell seriously talked about
banning the three-point stance. Yes, he did.
All in an effort to help curb concussions.
Next proposal: no tackling.
� Gregg Williams was superb. The ex-
Redskins defensive boss is a mastermind.
He stayed aggressive and it paid off on the
interception return for a touchdown. On
the play, Peyton Manning had Pierre Gar-
con on the other side one-on-one. But the
overload blitz came from that side, forc-
ing Manning to get rid of it quicker and he
tossed the interception. Manning was not
hit, but a linebacker was a step away. Wil-
liams alternated his looks all game.
� John Keim
Saints, Brees blitz
Colts' passive `D'
CHARLIE RIEDEL/AP
Drew Brees won Super Bowl MVP by picking
apart a Colts defense that rarely blitzed.
D
an Marino trumps Joe Montana in numer-
ous quarterback stats, throwing for
nearly 12 more miles and almost 150
more touchdowns. Yet it's not close
when it comes to who is considered the better
quarterback.
Montana won four Super Bowls; Marino won
none. Case closed. Super Bowl victories top stats,
at least when it comes to quarterbacks.
Other positions aren't held to the same
standard. For example, cases can be made
for Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson or LaDainian
Tomlinson as the greatest running back of
all time even though none of them ever
played in the Super Bowl.
Which leads us to Peyton Manning and
Drew Brees. How did Super Bowl XLIV
change the perception of these quar-
terbacks?
Brees � After the game, analysts
anointed the Saints' play-caller
among the "elite" of his era -- join-
ing Manning and Tom Brady. Brees
has thrown for more than 4,000
yards four times (one more than
Brady); he threw for 5,069 yards in
2008 (second most ever in a single
season); and completed 70.6 percent of
his passes this season (highest in NFL
history). So it's hard to say that Brees
wasn't already among the elite, but
this Super Bowl victory proved Brees
could win the big game and not just fill
the stat sheet. He's a couple more good
seasons from a Hall of Fame career.
Manning � Super Bowl XLIV was supposed
to vault Manning into top five quarterback of all-
time status, joining a group that owns multiple
championships. But the Colts lost and Manning's
postseason record (9-9) is being scrutinized
instead. Manning has led Indianapolis to seven
straight 12-win seasons, but only has one Super
Bowl win to show for it. Atlanta Braves, anyone?
Since coming out of college, the criticism of Man-
ning was that he couldn't win the big
game. He erased those doubts in
2007, but to move up the ranks
in NFL history Manning will
need more than just one Super
Bowl victory.
� Jeffrey Tomik
Super Bowls: QB's telling stat
The odds for next year's
Super Bowl already are out.
Despite what happened Sun-
day, Indianapolis is a 13/2
favorite to win it all, with New
Orleans 10/1 favorites (San
Diego is at 8/1). Um, the Red-
skins are at 50/1.
The defending champion
Saints do have some personnel
issues: both Pro Bowl safeties
are free agents, though Roman
Harper is restricted. Start-
ing linebacker Scott Fujita is
unrestricted; running
back Pierre Thomas
is restricted as is left
tackle Jermon Bush-
rod. Meanwhile, left
tackle Jammal Brown,
a former Pro Bowler
who missed all of last
season, likely will be
restricted along with
Pro Bowl guard Jahri
Evans.
The good news for the Saints
is that it'll likely be an
uncapped year.
Meanwhile, the
Colts have only three
key players to worry
about: linebacker Gary
Brackett (unrestricted)
and safeties Antoine
Bethea (restricted)
and Melvin Bullitt
(restricted).
� John Keim
From Super Bowl losers to next year's favorites
Bushrod
AP PHOTO

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