Jim Lang

Jim Lang can be seen anchoring Connected on the weekends with Evanka Osmak and is the senior NFL reporter for sportsnet and sportsnet.ca. Jim is also a regular contributor to sportsnet.ca. For more you check out Jim's website, www.jimlang.ca

Jim Lang gives an in-depth analysis of Sunday's big game, with key matchups and who he thinks will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- According the Peter King of SI, the night before the Saints hosted the Vikings in the NFC Championship game, Sean Payton had former 49ers legend Ronnie Lott address the team. I am not sure Payton will need to use any special motivational tools for this game.

Since they entered the NFL in 1967, no team has suffered more ridicule from fans and media across North America than the Saints. Things got so bad in the early 1980s the fans would show up at the Superdome with paper bags over their heads and the team was being referred to as the "Aints."

After 43 years of losing, the Saints enter Super Bowl XLIV as the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the highest scoring team in the NFL. Standing in the way of Drew Brees and the Saints and the hallowed Vince Lombardi Trophy is a formidable foe, Peyton Manning the Colts.

The Colts come into the game as the winningest franchise in the NFL in the past decade. With each game, Manning moves one step closer to earning the label as the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. Even if Manning retired after Sunday's game, his resume is so beyond reproach that he would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

So for the first time since 1993, the Super Bowl will feature the top seeds in the AFC and the NFC. This game is also a battle between the two best quarterbacks in the NFL. Football fans can't ask for anything more than that.

Key match-up No. 1 - Peyton Manning versus the Saints defence. Just ask the Ravens and the Jets how hard it is to stop Manning. If you blitz Manning, he will burn you with his hot read. If you drop everyone back in coverage, he will burn you with the short passing game.

Having said that, the Saints have a plan for Manning. In the NFC title game, the Saints physically assaulted Brett Favre with a barrage of "remember me" shots as defensive coordinator Greg Williams likes to call them. The Saints only had one sack in that game, yet Brett Favre could barely walk after it was over. I think the Saints realize that building a game plan around trying to sack Manning is pointless. However, the Saints will devise a game plan where they hit him every chance they get.

This will be an incredible chess match to watch throughout the game. The Saints will never be able to totally stop Manning, because it can't be done. But they can get inside his head and possibly slow him down from time to time.

Key match-up No. 2 - Raheem Brock and Robert Mathis versus Jon Stinchcomb and Jermon Bushrod. Dwight Freeney's ankle is a mess. A member of the NFL's all-decade team, the Colts' outstanding defensive end has a torn ligament in his right ankle. Even if by some miracle he's able to suit up Sunday, he will not be effective. That means Raheem Brock gets the call in the Colts "next man up" mantra.

With all due respect to Brock, the guy is no Dwight Freeney. That means the bulk of the Colts' pass rush responsibility will fall on the broad shoulders of Mathis. Bushrod and the Saints offensive line have only given up one sack in the post-season. Their job will be that much easier with Freeney limping around the field on one good leg. Brock and Mathis have to rise to the challenge and be the "next man up." If not, Brees will have too much time to operate in the pocket.

Key match-up No. 3 - Reggie Bush versus Clint Session and Gary Brackett. The more I break down the match-ups between these two teams the more I realize that Bush has a chance to be a huge X factor in this game. Working in space, Bush is a nightmare for linebackers to deal with. With that being said, look for Sean Payton to have devised an offensive game plan that makes the most of Bush's skill set.

The other thing the Colts have to be wary of is Bush's skills as a punt returner. When he's working in open space, Bush is a special talent. As a matter of fact, since 2006, no running back has caught more passes. More than just an outlet to Drew Brees, Bush is a vital component to the Saints passing game.

So far in the post-season, Brackett and Session have been letter perfect with their gap discipline and tackling technique. They will need a lot more of the same on Sunday if they plan on containing a stud like Bush.

Key match-up No. 4 - Dallas Clark versus Jonathan Vilma and Darren Sharper. Speaking to Brees and the Saints, they went on and on how no one in the NFL can cover their tight end Jeremy Shockey. Well if Shockey can't be covered, then how in the world are you supposed to stop Dallas Clark?

Clark can play the slot, H back, wide out, tight end; in other words the guy can just about do it all in the Colts offence. That means Vilma, a lighting-quick linebacker, and Sharper, an extremely smart safety, will be given the task of containing Clark. Notice how I didn't say "stop" Clark? But you can contain him.

Sharper brings something else to the table; he's a playmaker on a defence that had nine takeaways this year. The Saints are coached to force turnovers, strip the ball out of hands and come up with interceptions. Look out for Sharper to allow Clark to make the catch, then go for the strip and try to force a turnover. Something the Saints defence under Greg Williams is very good at.

Intangibles - With each playoff game, Sean Payton has issued his team baseball bats the same colour as their opposing team's uniform. Cardinals red, Vikings purple, and now Colts blue. Payton included a simple inscription on each bat: "lay the wood."

The one thing I have discovered this week in South Florida is that Payton is a very effective motivator. He is also very intense and extremely protective of his players. Jim Caldwell is a great coach, but he comes across as more of the strong silent type. Almost like a college professor. Payton has a little more of the Marine drill sergeant in him.

Payton is a borderline genius when it comes to offensive football, and he's also a very driven and intense man. He realizes this might be his one and only chance at winning a Super Bowl, and he's not going to let it slip away. Caldwell is not very emotional, but you quickly get the impression that when he does speak, his players listen to every word he says.

Unlike other Super Bowls, you have a game that features two teams that no one really hates. You might not like the Colts or the Saints, but they don't inspire hatred. With the general feeling across America that everyone would like to see the Saints win the game for the city of New Orleans, I'm expecting the crowd to be heavily in favour of the "Who Dat?" nation.

Cool Facts - The Colts franchise has made it to four Super Bowls; all four games have taken place in Miami ... Brees is the first Texas-born quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. That is an amazing fact considering how many great football players have come out of the state of Texas ... Since the start of the 2006 season, Brees and Manning have each thrown 122 touchdowns, the most in the NFL during that time ... Including the playoffs, over the last eight games Brees has a quarterback rating over 100 six times and has only thrown two interceptions. Over his last eight games Manning has a quarterback rating over 100 only three times and has thrown eight picks.

Who wins - Before boarding the plane for Miami, I was all but convinced that the Colts were going to win the game. They have a Hall of Fame quarterback. They have an offence that can score at will. They have an underrated defence and they are well coached. The more time I spent in Miami and the more time I spent around the Saints, my opinion changed.

Brees is an outstanding quarterback. The Saints have an offence that can score at will. The Saints have an underrated defence. That Saints are well coached. In other words, there really is very little to choose between the two teams.

The Colts have a huge issue to deal with Sunday. One they have been vainly trying to down play to the media. The serious ankle injury to their all-decade Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney. I am beginning to think that Freeney will man up, take the shot and be in the lineup for Super Bowl XLIV. Even if Freeney plays, his injury simply won't allow him to be the player that he usually is.

Manning and the Colts have gone to great lengths to duplicate the conditions they had in Miami during Super Bowl XLI. They are staying in the same hotel. They are practising on the same field. In fact, a number of players insisted that they be allowed to stay in the same rooms as they did three years ago. To me, that's forced karma. What is happening to the Saints is real. As Jamie Dukes pointed out, the Saints won a game over the Vikings that they really shouldn't have.

In football and in life we are often faced with a struggle on whether or not we should listen to our head or our heart. Nine times out of 10 I try to listen to my head. This is not one of them. This is a game where I'm going to listen to my heart.

I truly believe in my heart that the Saints will win this game. This has nothing to do with sentiment or Katrina or any other syrupy prose; this is me believing in my heart that the Saints can beat the Colts. Will it be easy? Hell no. But Brees and the offence will score points, the Saints defence will force turnovers. As well, Bush will make things happen on special teams and Peyton will have his team prepared and hyper motivated to win.

The Saints come into this game with the love of the people on their side. Even U.S. president Barack Obama has come out and publicly said he would love to see the Saints win. I feel the combination of karma, destiny, the football gods, an opportunistic defence, a great quarterback and a head coach who knows how to push all the right buttons will prove to be the difference in this game.

Manning is one of the NFL's all time greats, but this is the year of the Saints.

The Saints win in a thriller.