Super Bowl predictions in August or September are typically worthless. So, you can imagine how I feel when Sports Illustrated has not one but two Super Bowl predictions in May.
The first is by resident idiot and self-important pork chop Peter King. He seems to like the Patriots and the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. It seems Peter picks New England every year, even though they are clearly not the team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. Considering Peter is from New Engalnd, this doesn't surprise me. Last year, Peter picked the Patriots and the Vikings to play in the Super Bowl. Gee, nice call there Pete.
As for the Cowboys, Grizz at Blogging the Boys suggests King's pick is "the kiss of death." Woah! Calm down, Grizz. Peter's prediction last year did not cause the Vikings to rent a boat load of hookers, nor did force New England to sign bad free agents like Chad Brown and Duane Starks. We'll probably see more Cowboys Super Bowl predictions soon.
The second prediction is from Don Banks. He doesn't pick two teams. He just picks one that he thinks will make it. Which team does he pick?
Write it down and underline it twice:
The Indianapolis Colts will win it all this season, precisely because of the way they lost it all at the close of last season. Call it destiny, a reversal of fortune or the reaping of triumph from the seeds of bitter disappointment and even tragedy. Whatever. All I know is that the Colts in 2006 will be the latest example of a recent pattern in professional sports.
Like the Boston Red Sox of 2003 and the Pittsburgh Steelers of 2004, the Colts had to lose, and lose in the most painful fashion imaginable, before they too can now fight their way back to win in the most glorious.
Don goes on to say that like the Red Sox and Steelers (who both had to go through a season with major disappointments before finally winning it all the next year) the Colts will pull it together and win it all. It's nice to have someone in the media believe the Colts will win it, but predictions in May are dumb and useless. Let's wait until the playoffs before we start deciding who we think will play in the Super Bowl. When the playoffs began last year, tell me who had Pittsburgh and Seattle in the big dance?
In other news, SI ranked the 2004 Colts offense #3 all-time in NFL history.
The Colts would score so fast and get such big leads that sometimes they'd have to call off the dogs by the second quarter. Peyton Manning set the all-time record by throwing 49 touchdowns and had a record 121.1 passer rating. The Colts had three receivers with at least 10 touchdowns -- Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley -- and Edgerrin James ran for 1,548 yards.
This photo gallery/all-time ranking is pretty good. The best all-time was the 1994 San Francisco 49ers.
