Looking Ahead to Super Bowl XL
In the wildest Super Bowl in history, the Indianapolis Colts stunned the Minnesota Vikings with a four-touchdown, fourth-quarter barrage and won the NFL championship on Peyton Manning's Hail Mary pass with time expired, 37-36, in Detroit.
OK, we're a little ahead of the game here. Almost 10 months ahead, in fact.
But it's never too early to dream.
The NFL loves offense and exciting Super Bowls and an Indianapolis-Minnesota matchup of high-wire passing games is the stuff record TV ratings are made of.
How can we project two dome teams squaring off under the Ford Field roof in frigid Detroit next Feb. 5? Easy.
Because the quarterbacks, Manning and Daunte Culpepper, are two of the league's brightest stars.
Because the New England Patriots can't win every Super Bowl -- can they?
And because of what these two teams did and didn't do so far this off-season.
The Colts didn't trade running back Edgerrin James over the weekend when all 32 teams restocked their rosters in the college draft. Indianapolis made six selections on defense, starting with two cornerbacks. This was very good for a team whose secondary got torched by the deep ball all season in 2004.
Is it good enough? Who knows?
Assuming James, unsigned but tagged as the team's franchise player, returns to Indianapolis this year, the Colts have made enough progress on defense to once again challenge the Patriots. Their Nov. 7 rendezvous in Foxboro, Mass., in Week 9 could well determine home-field advantage in the AFC. It will be must-see.
The Colts are going to win one of those games one of these days, too.
Minnesota, meanwhile, would arrive in Detroit as a distinct underdog in the NFC. The Vikings probably have had the best off-season of any team between their free-agent signings and a marvelous draft.
But they have a wretched history of gagging in big games under coach Mike Tice, and it took a playoff appearance last season for Tice to keep his job.
By February, he'll have a new owner -- probably -- and a new spin on life. No more Randy Moss headaches for Tice. No more Randy Moss touchdowns, either.
That's where Troy Williamson, the lightning-fast receiver from South Carolina, comes in. The Vikings passed on Mike Williams with the seventh pick in last Saturday's first round and took Williamson.
