Mocking the Super Bowl

Well, here we are in February in my lovely hometown of Tampa, Fl. We ran through the regular season and the playoffs for both conferences to determine the matchup for Super Bowl XLIII. It’ll be the Indianapolis Colts attempting to keep the Lombardi trophy in the Manning family for the third-consecutive season against the Dallas Cowboys trying to bring it back to the Lone Star state for the first time since Troy Aikman was under center.
Let’s break from the brief game summaries of the playoffs and detail some more specific matchups.
Keys for the Colts:
1. Peyton Manning vs. the Dallas secondary. This should be a matchup that the Colts win easily. Dallas features a young, unproven secondary. There aren’t many better route-running wide receivers than Reggie Wayne, and there aren’t many more accurate quarterbacks than Manning. Odds are that the Dallas secondary would have to rely on the pass rush to disrupt Manning and his receivers.
2. Dallas Clark vs. the Dallas linebackers. If Marvin Harrison is healthy this season, the Colts would likely feature three-wide receiver sets for most of this game, leaving the Cowboys in nickel. They won’t switch to dime because of the fear of Joseph Addai running all over the field, so a linebacker will be covering Clark -- who is basically a wide receiver. If Clark can go up the seam and keep drives alive, the Cowboys defense will not be coming off the field except to make way for the special teams unit to defend the PAT.
3. Bob Sanders in the box. The Cowboys would like to run the ball against a smaller defense in the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have one small advantage over other Tampa 2 defenses, and his name is Bob Sanders. Sanders will need to be in the box almost exclusively -- save for a few passing downs -- to help contain the powerful Marion Barber III. It’d be wild to see those two hit each other at full speed.
Keys for the Cowboys:
1. Offensive line vs. defensive line. This is the Cowboys best matchup against the Colts. The Colts, who feature a small defensive line that has a tendency to get worn down toward the end of games, face the biggest offensive line in football. It’s important for the Cowboys to both protect Tony Romo (because the Indianapolis secondary is good) and open up lanes in the running game.
2. Jason Witten vs. the Indy linebackers. Jason Witten is a monster of a tight end. He’s an excellent blocker and pass-catcher, and he is very, very large. That doesn’t bode well for the undersized Indianapolis linebackers. Witten will need to be able to catch tough passes over the middle and break tackles after he does. This could open up the outside passing game a little more for Romo and T.O.
3. The 3-4 rush vs. the Colts offensive line. The Colts line, although it has gotten better in recent years, has historically struggled against pressure from 3-4 defenses. This is because it’s harder to anticipate where the pressure might be coming from. The Cowboys have some of the best pass-rushing outside linebackers in the game, and if they can knock around Peyton Manning early in the game, they have a chance of disrupting him for the entirety of it.
This would be a high-scoring game, and while it might not be as exciting at last year’s Super Bowl, it will certainly attract a large audience as America’s team faces off against another very popular team in the Indianapolis Colts. There are plenty of stars on each team, and the each coaching staff would have a great game plan in place. Ultimately, though, we have to go with the more experienced team in Indianapolis. The Cowboys will make it interesting for three quarters, but the Colts pull away in the end.
Indianapolis wins the first-ever Mocking the Draft Super Bowl, 34-24.