Studs (and Duds) of Super Bowl XLIV

“The celebration may never end,” said an understandably elated Drew Brees on Sunday night after leading his New Orleans Saints to their first ever Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLIV. Hyperbole, for sure – just ask the Pittsburgh Steelers, last year’s champions, who didn’t even enjoy a trip to the playoffs this year!

Still, the celebration is likely to last for a long time. Along with the Saints, there are a number of others who have cause for celebration after the festivities of February 7th. So let’s look back on the Christmas Day equivalent for the 2009-2010 NFL Season and take a look at who the real studs and duds were on this culminating night of gridiron glory.

The Studs

5. Dwight Freeney: Even though the Colts linebacker came out on the losing end of the NFL’s greatest night, he had nothing to be ashamed of on a personal level. His early pursuit of quarterback Drew Brees was a terrifying proposition for the Super Bowl MVP, and caused tons of early problems for the Saints. Freeney, in short, was a one-man wrecking crew that single-handedly forced the New Orleans defensive unit back to the drawing boards.

4. The New Orleans Saints Offensive Line: Despite causing Brees early problems with their seeming inability to stop the rush of Dwight Freeney, the Saints offensive line ironed out the kinks by the start of the second quarter, and gave a dominant performance throughout the rest of the game that allowed Brees the time he needed to earn that MVP, and New Orleans their first Lombardi.

3. Commercials: Super Bowl commercials are always hit or miss. This year, the hits belonged to companies such as E*Trade with the investing babies-on-a-plane act as well as Careerbuilder.com’s “Casual Day” and Monster’s “Fiddlin’ Beaver.” This year it appeared as though the business sector was the only one with a sense of humor.

2. Pierre Thomas and Drew Brees: These two guys did what they do with the right amount of smarts and intensity. Thomas, with his usual wrecking ball rushing style, forced the Colts defense back on more than one occasion with second and third efforts that turned busted plays into big gains, while Brees spent the last three quarters picking apart the Indianapolis secondary thanks to a stellar performance from the O-line.

1. Sean Payton: No one wanted this more than Sean Payton. He gave Brees a chance when no one else would, believing in the quarterback and his team, and making the types of gutsy calls that win championships. Despite a shaky start, he had his troops ready from the opening kickoff. Even when he made the decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line – a call that failed and tipped the momentum scale in their opponents’ favor – he pulled out all the stops and coached with wisdom and intensity.

The Duds

5. Commercials: Bud Light tried to score with several spots that were little more than tired retread of other better commercials. From the bizarrely unfunny techno-tronic piece featuring tons of guys sounding like Kanye West and celebrating their Bud Light purchases to the desert island, “we’d rather have our Bud Light than be rescued” motif, it was not the best night for the King of Beers. Doritos and GoDaddy, normally spot-on for creativity and humor, seem to have digressed into the realms of bad taste. Whether these heavyweights were trying too hard or too little, they came up short.

4. The Indianapolis Colts Defense: After a fine start, the Colts defense started to weaken throughout the second quarter and was shredded by time consuming drives that kept the offense off the field and looking rather stale in the second half.

3. The Who: These guys are old! While their music will live on for the truly revolutionary sound it was, there comes a point when age interferes with quality. Pete Townsend and the boys have crossed over. And while younger crowds are not the only intended audience for Super Bowl festivities, it’s likely that anyone younger than Generation X had no idea who these guys were until the CSI theme song showed up about ten minutes into the act.

2. Peyton Manning: While 31 out of 45 attempts for 333 yards and one touchdown doesn’t seem like it would be worthy of a “dud” label, the reality is that Manning crumbled when the game was on the line. His pick-six on the possible game-tying drive was bad enough. But then there was the shakiness and the bad decision-making in the final two minutes that dashed any chance the Colts had of closing the gap.

1. Jim Caldwell: His silent Stoic demeanor is often misconstrued as calmness, when in reality it falls closer to that deer-in-the-headlights look possessed by a recent two-term President of the United States. Caldwell is about as inactive and clueless when it comes to expecting the unexpected, making proper adjustments, and taking initiatives with clear, well-thought-out decisions. Many will point to his asinine logic on display in the final two weeks of the regular season. But you needn’t go back that far. Caldwell never took the reigns of this football team. He merely got in the way whenever it built momentum, and then called it coaching. Tonight was no exception. When the Saints were figuring things out, Caldwell’s game-plan had no response. As such, he may be one of the only NFL coaches to have fans calling for his head after a first-year trip to the Super Bowl.