coming from an almost completely neutral standpoint (I like the giants and don't really care about anyone else) I am going to say colts will win unless Manning has a really bad day. Why do I say that? the following facts will explain:
1) The colts have Peyton Manning, the Saints don't. Yeah, Brees is good. DAMN good. Good enough to put him in the top 3 quarterbacks in the league (with Manning and Tom Brady). But he's not as good as Manning. Sorry to say it, but he's not, not yet anyway...
2) The Saints' pass defense is ranked 26th in the league. This is not a good thing for ANY team going into the Superbowl, let alone if you are playing Peyton Manning. If you want proof of how much trouble the Saints are going to have trying to defend the Colt's passing game, consider this. Except for a (typical) slow start on Sunday, Manning simply decimated the Jet's pass defense torching them for 377 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. And the Jet's pass defense is ranked #1 IN THE ENTIRE NFL. Now imagine what he can do when he plays the 26th ranked defense...
3) The Colts won't turn the ball over 5 times. They don't run the ball enough to give teams a decent shot at making someone cough one up and if you do manage to get them to do that they just go back to the passing game. And Manning doesn't throw very many interceptions. This year he only had 16. Now, granted, the Saints aren't going to do this either and Brees actually threw less INTs than Manning this year (11), but given that even with those five turnovers, the Saints had to take the game into overtime and kick a field goal to beat them doesn't bode well for their chances of winning without getting all those freebies. Heck, they STILL might have lost if the Vikings hadn't given them a free first down to keep them from going 3-and-out in OT...
4) The Colt's defense is better than the Saints defense and they have been playing very well for the last few games. Whether they will continue to do so remains to be seen, but this has been a major factor in how well they have done in the playoffs. As I keep mentioning the Saints abysmal pass defense, I should mention that the Colts defense at #14 isn't great either, but it is much more capable than the Saints no matter how you cut it. Since this game is most likely going to be a shootout, holding the opponent to that field goal will be extremely important. Despite their problems with Favre, the Vikings were marching right down the field into the endzone for much of that game (when they weren't dropping the ball on the ground).
5) Peyton Manning is not 40 years old. and he is completely unflappable. Seriously, I have never seen anyone rattle him. Ever. He has his occasional bad days yes, (he IS human the last I checked...) but there is no way you're going to see him tossing balls up for grabs over the middle of the field like Favre did for the last half of the game. And if he can/needs to run the ball, HE WILL.
I guess at the end of the day, despite all that has been said (and even what I said), my prediction lies on two inescapable facts: The Colts have Peyton Manning and the Saints have the NFL's 26th-ranked pass defense. No matter how you cut it, that combination right there is a disaster waiting to happen. You can talk all day about how the Colts are one-dimensional and blah blah blah. It doesn't mean sh*t. The Colts could have easily gone 16-0 if they wanted to with a 'one-dimensional' team. No matter what else happens or doesn't happen, unless Manning has a really, REALLY bad day, he'll be walking home with his second Lombardi trophy.
Not trying to be a fanboy. Of course, it's hard when you own the best console eve... dang it
