February 2 - During Sunday night's nail-biting Super Bowl 44, which
saw underdogs the New Orleans Saints ultimately beat the favourites the
Indianapolis Colts (to the shock of many
NFL betting fans), it's no surprise that a record 106 million people watched
the event live, which was played in Miami, Florida.
In a game rife with speculation, excitement, unrequited expectation and
ultimately surprise, the final game of the 2009/10 NFL season could not have
turned out any better, particularly for football fans who like their heart
strings to be tugged. If New Orleans' surreal journey from a long shot AFC team
to the Super Bowl XLIV champs doesn't end up on the big screen courtesy of
Hollywood, I'll eat my hat. The only question is who will play superb Saints QB
Drew Brees?
Talk about stepping up at the right time and showcasing unequalled match play
temperament. Consider that not only did Brees play probably one of the best
games of his career, but he also tied a Super Bowl record by completing 32
passes, and in doing so helped bring the Saints back from a scary 10-point
deficit.
But this Super Bowl was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, full of twists and turns
and red herrings. For instance, after watching the first quarter, if the tooth
fairy had hopped out of your flat screen TV and offered you 10/1 odds that the
Colts would win, hands up if you would've been tempted to bet your house.
And why wouldn't you, considering that in the first quarter the Indianapolis
Colts outgained the New Orleans Saints 154-36. At that point Colts QB Peyton
Manning looked a lot like Paul Bunyan to Brees' Tom Thumb. But the winds of
change were poised to blow through the stadium, and boy did they.
Whether it was perfectly timed Brees pep talk or a silent promise to each and
every victim of Hurricane Katrina that ravaged New Orleans a few years ago that
did it, who knows. But when a reinvigorated Saints ran back on the field, they
were a different team which the Colts were about to find out the hard way.
In the next three quarters the Colts struggled to score just seven points,
whereas the Saints starting piling on the points, racking up 31 to be exact.
Peyton Manning managed to go a full hour without completing a pass - like a
puppet with its strings cut, while Brees just kept on going like the famous
battery bunny.
Well, you know what happened next. Suffice to say that NFL betting fans canny
enough to back the Saints early on will no doubt be smiling all the way to the
bank. Colts betting fans, on the other hand, will no doubt still be clutching
their heads sobbing just one word incoherently over and over again - why?
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