The Breakfast Blend...the best part of waking up

By Willie Mullen

Championship Sunday

Here's my take on this morning's headlines:

• Led by the NFL's only four-time MVP, Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts are headed to the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons.  The New York Jets put up a great fight and had a 17-6 lead with just over two minutes left in the first half.  But Manning led a touchdown drive late in the half and another on the Colts first possession of the second half to start a 24-0 scoring run by the Colts that put this game away.  Early on, the Jets pressured Manning and got some big plays offensively but, as the game went on, Manning figured out their blitz schemes and the Jets offense stalled, ultimately dooming this years' Cinderella.  I wrote in Friday's preview that Manning would have to out-wit Rex Ryan and he and center Jeff Saturday would have to win the alignment battle at the line of scrimmage - the Colts did both.  The Colts defense deserves a lot of credit as well.  Take away the two big plays that led to 14 points and the defense allowed just three points and prevented the Jets from moving the ball consistently.  The defense will have their hands full in two weeks but for now they have a chance to rest, get healthy and begin preparation.  But yesterday's game was all about Manning.  He threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns against the league's best defense.  When the Jets took away top-targets Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, Manning looked to Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie and both responded in impressive fashion.  Even before Manning takes the field to win his second title, its hard not to think we are watching the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL.  Manning makes elite defenses look pedestrian, turns no-names into superstars and controls his offense with more precision and efficiency than any signal-caller that has ever played.  He is in position to win his second Super Bowl and he still has a lot of good years left.  It is not a far stretch to imagine Manning winning multiple championships in the coming years.


• The Saints will make an appearance on Super Bowl Sunday for the first time in franchise history thanks to yesterday's overtime victory of the Minnesota Vikings.  The Saints were in charge of the NFC from Week 1 and make for a great story.  Their offense is dynamic, their defense is a turnover machine and they can certainly pull-off the upset in two weeks.  That being said, yesterday's game was not won by the Saints - it was lost by the Vikings.  Minnesota is the better team and even found a way to nullify the Saints' home-field advantage.  Their defense slowed down the Saints high-powered attack and they consistently moved the ball.  But turnovers are the great equalizer and the Vikings killed themselves by putting the ball on the ground six times, losing three fumbles, and Brett Favre threw a dagger of an interception, his second of the game, near the end of regulation as the Vikings were on the fringe of field-goal range.  Minnesota out gained New Orleans 475 yards to 257 but committed five turnovers to the Saints one.  The Vikings were also four of six inside the red zone.  Minnesota has a past filled with lots of heart-break but yesterday's game has to rank at the top of the list.  If Brett Favre comes back, the Vikings will once again be Super Bowl contenders and should have a chance to make up for yesterday's loss.  If Favre retires (for good), the Vikings will have to find a quarterback and yesterday's loss could sting for a long, long time.  Give the Saints credit - they made the most out of the opportunities and won the game in the end.  For a city that was devastated by disaster just four years ago, New Orleans has a lot to be excited about and the next two weeks should be all-kinds-of-fun for Saints fans.


• One last thing about yesterday's Saints-Vikings game.  In my opinion, the officiating left a lot to be desired.  I have no problem with the amount of flags because most of them were justified.  There are two calls that really stuck out, however.  First, Vikings punt returned Darius Reynaud called for a fair-catch but muffed the punt.  Reynaud recovered the ball and was hit hard by Saints linebacker Jonathan Casillas.  Casillas was flagged for a 15-yard roughing penalty but here's my question: if a punt is muffed (regardless of the fair-catch), it becomes a live-ball and therefore Casillas essentially tackled Reynaud, albeit Reynaud was not trying to advance the ball.  Why is that a penalty?  The second call I took issue with was the "too many men in the huddle" flag that was thrown late in the game against the Vikings.  Coming out of a timeout, 12-men were in the huddle and Brett Favre appeared to recognize this mistake and call a timeout. The referees issued a five-yard penalty instead of a 15-yard penalty for calling back-to-back timeouts.  Maybe the referees determined the penalty occurred before the timeout but that needed to be relayed to the viewers because I thought a 15-yard delay of game was the right call.