Super Bowl XLIV: Karma Says Saints
The concept of karma can be a tricky topic to tackle. (Who hasn’t seen The Matrix?) Apart from the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism (and Neo and Morpheus), karma — or the general idea of destiny — is most readily applicable to the quasi-religion of sports.
Two years and two days ago, on Feb. 3, 2008, the New York Giants beat the 18-0 New England Patriots to capture Super Bowl XLII. The events of that night led many to assert the Patriots fell because they had messed with karma. There was SpyGate. There was running up the score. There was the terse arrogance of Bill Belichick and his (bleeping) 
humble pie. Added up, it all made casual fans want to vomit.
The football gods, if they were out there, couldn’t allow their game to be sullied.
That’s what facilitated The Helmet Catch, The Samuel Botch and every element of the flawless performance the Giants put on that evening. Or so goes the narrative of the superstitious. Purists would say the Giants simply came out and hit the Patriots in the mouth and didn’t relent.
Either way, it’s evident in hindsight the Patriots were not meant to go 19-0. Superstitions aside, let the record show they weren’t even supposed to have gone 12-0. The Ravens had them beat in a bone-crunching Monday Night game in early December, but a holding call in the end zone against Baltimore enabled the Patriots to cap off a disputed comeback.
Now look at this season. The Colts, led by the true poster boy of the NFL (sorry, Tom Brady fans), were winning games. Peyton Manning wasn’t using imported mercenaries to blow teams out of the water by 40 points. On the contrary, he was grooming young and inexperienced players with on-the-job training, combining his excellence with their potential to eek out contests with a late-drive here and a big play there.
After a stirring 17-point fourth quarter comeback vs. the Patriots pushed Indy’s mark to 9-0, the murmurs began. Could it really be? Is this that team? Are Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon those guys?
Once the Saints fell to the Cowboys and the Colts marched on to 14-0 with yet another late rally against Jacksonville, it became apparent. No one was going to beat this team, not in the regular season at least.
Yet for some reason, the Colts staff, without the blessing of its players, opted to lay down and cast aside a chance at history, at immortality.
Until that point, they had done everything the right way. No ulterior vendettas. No disputed calls. Just some of the finest football you’ll ever see, orchestrated by one of the all-time greats.
Whereas New England decided to screw karma, the Colts actually had it on their side, and politely passed. Now they enter Super Bowl XLIV, a game that even if they win will be accompanied by a collective bittersweet taste, because of what could’ve been. That’s not good karma.
The city of New Orleans and its football team know a thing or two about not-good karma. The Saints have embodied it throughout their history and the city has endured dose after dose of it ever since the first winds of Hurricane Katrina began to blow.
But both, although improbably, are still standing. The Saints are in the Super Bowl for the first time in their 43-year history and New Orleans, while still far from a true recovery, is alive as ever.
The Saints have already booked a parade. No, it’s not a preemptive victory march. It’s a win-or-lose celebration, because win or lose, they have something to celebrate. They have the Saints. They have N’awlins.
Now that’s some good karma.
Saints 37
Colts 34
doesn’t need to know blocking assignments or hot reads. On occasion he’s expected to make a hit, but that’s as the last line of defense when the kick coverage has completely broken down and he’s being counted on to take a good angle and hopefully run the returner out of bounds. Rarely chest-bumping stuff.
As effective of a game-manager as Mark Sanchez has been, he’s going to have to deal with the best pair of edge pass rushers in the league in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. A big sack late by one of them will end the J-E-T-S miracle run.
Graham, Shayne) you’ll ever see. Sorry, Cincinnati. You were unfairly duped again. Cedric Benson was the only player wearing a Bengals uniform who deserved to be on the field Saturday.
offering it at 2.5). The other is to only take the points on an underdog if you expect that ‘dog to win outright. It really boils down to who you like in this game.
While that game should certainly help the psyche of the Jets, it was far from a true representation of the Bengals. Cedric Benson — the eighth-leading rusher in the AFC — was inactive. Receivers flat out dropped four of Carson Palmer’s first 10 passes. The Cincinnati defense was without a handful of cogs, including Domata Peko, Robert Geathers, Rey Maualuga and Chris Crocker (all are expected to play Saturday). Surely not to be overlooked is the fact the Jets were playing for their season. The Bengals were not.
ones that are playoff-like, in that they require 60 minutes of physical commitment and superior mental toughness to prevail. In the postseason, when talent gaps are reduced and intensity and competition levels are raised, the team with the psychological edge usually comes out on top. Baltimore hasn’t shown any signs of having that edge in 2009.
Injuries are a major concern for the Cardinals as well. Blessed with the closest thing to good health throughout the 2008 playoffs, Arizona has suffered a bunch of injuries this time around. Anquan Boldin missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a sprained ankle. The team leader in sacks, Calais Campbell, will be taking the field Sunday with a broken thumb. In the defensive backfield, corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is nursing a bruised kneecap. And the status of safety Antrel Rolle (thigh) is still not clear.
playoff games, including in Minnesota and New York last year. You will see a whole different Donovan McNabb come Saturday, which spells trouble for a Dallas secondary that Jackson has proven he has the jets to get behind (along with every other secondary in football).
football galvanized the fragmented G-Men, and spurred them on to the biggest upset in the history of the game.
Wilhite, Pat Chung). The unit has a whole has allowed 9 points per game over the last three.
doing so officially opened the discussion on the possibility and likelihood of a 16-0 season. Of course, there’s a team in the AFC that’s also 11-0, but the major caveat is the Colts will have wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by Week 15 (16 at the latest). Which would indicate the Jets and Bills will be seeing their fair share of Jim Sorgi in Weeks 16 and 17.
into Heinz Field and sweeping the Steelers, particularly if both Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu are back as scheduled.
Yet perhaps more significant, the driving force behind a vengeful drive for perfection is spawned. As a result of that failed third-down and the ensuing culmination of an epic Manning comeback, the Patriots would embark on a furious spending spree that would net their just-a-tad-not-good-enough offense Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth.
so Brady could salvage some time to work his own magic (remember, the Patriots only needed a field goal to win once Indy scored).
