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Sometimes what seems destined, only destines what that seems, ultimately to fail. In our much ballyhooed case, the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints seemed destined to go undefeated (and much to TV executives’ delights), even all the way to the Super Bowl. At 13-0 each, the two teams were far from flukes fielding both impressive offenses and opportunistic defenses. By the time the smoke cleared, the Saints went on to lose their next 3 regular season game, the Colts would win one more to go 14-0, but infamously opted to rest their starters in weeks 16 and 17 to complete the pair’s dubious end to the season and effectively back into the playoffs.

Again what seems destined… with the Colts habit of bowing out early in the playoffs (Super Bowl XLI the only exception), and the Saint’s lack of effective playoff pedigree, what started out as a date with undefeated destiny turned into most of the media/public calling for both teams to fall flat. Momentum, no rust, consistency, winning attitude… terms that were eagerly thrown around that wouldn’t apply to the Colts nor the Saints in an age of short memory. In the last decade, teams like the 2008 Arizona Cardinals, the 2007 New York Giants, and the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers all made us believe that the once coveted bye week possessed by the top seeds were not that coveted. The belief soon rooted that momentum as seen by the recent success of wild-card teams would be the deciding factor on who would make it to Super Sunday.

As Indianapolis dealt with injuries all season and New Orleans suddenly lost their mojo in losses (that they didn’t purposely tank) to the Dallas Cowboys, and the cellar dwelling Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this caused questions as to whether both teams are truly the contenders they seemed to be for the better part of 90% of this season. The bye week proved to allow the Colts to rest and get healthy, while the Saints in all probability to take a step back mentally and focus on their game plan and goals. The results cannot be argued as both will face off in what should amount to be a highly entertaining Super Bowl. The human notion to wonder what might have been (an 18-0 Colts team against the 18-0 Saints) will remain a fantasy until proven otherwise down the road. No one can really question the Colts or Saints (more so the Colts as the Saints lost in two contests they didn’t tank on purpose) motives to take “guaranteed money” so to speak (in Vegas terms at least) in striving for a deep playoff run over the risk of injury for a chance at history.

So while both teams missed a chance at history, it’s safe to bet that in the last two weeks, that notion was far from their minds on South Beach as the full force of the Super Bowl extravaganza ensued. One franchise deep with a storied history to a franchise deep with ineptitude make for an interesting contrasting subplot in light of two perceived high-scoring offenses. The road taken by both couldn’t be more different, yet here they are on the same field with the same expectations from their respective fan bases.

The heyday of QB Peyton Manning, WR Marvin Harrison, and RB Edgerrin James epitomized the second coming of the “Big 3″, an homage to the first widely panned trio of QB/WR/RB stars: Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith of the early 90’s Dallas Cowboys. While both the early 2000 Colts and early 90’s Cowboys featured prolific offenses anchored by equally under-represented offensive linemen critical to the success of such offenses, Dallas also had a very strong defense to compliment the multi-Super Bowl Championship teams. Indianapolis did not have the fortune (or competence) to field a championship-caliber defense as evident by the high scores put up by Manning and company, and the even higher scores given up by their defensive counterparts which led to inconsistent regular seasons. Their subsequent playoff failures, or lack of playoff berths even (see Jim Mora Sr.’s famous rant), paved the way for Tony Dungy’s eventual hiring. Bringing in his defensive expertise, and a calm but strong presence on the sideline, the Colts would become perennial playoff contenders. As important as his defensive acumen was Dungy’s willingness not to tamper with what works: the offensive machine set in place by Peyton Manning and offensive coordinator Tom Moore.

As NFL history would tell you, the Colts would not taste the thrill of a Super Bowl win, much less a berth but only once (prior to this weekend), thanks to the likes of the New England Patriots, and the San Diego Chargers. What’s interesting is that with two Super Bowl berths under his belt, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have slowly shed two-thirds of their trio, on the way to both Super Sunday appearances. In winning Super Bowl XLI, the Colts as they were all season for the first time, did not have the services of their longtime running back, Edgerrin James. Coincidentally with longtime WR Marvin Harrison let go after last season, Indianapolis enters their second championship game in four years without the services of Harrison. It’s arguable whether or not the presence or lack of presence of James and Harrison are conducive to the Colt’s success. It could be purely coincidental. After all, their replacements, RB Joseph Addai/RB Donald Brown and WR Reggie Wayne have each carved out a successive niche and role on this team. It also begs the point that Dungy’s consistent results on defense carrying over with the continued philosophy/execution by his protege/successor in Head Coach Jim Caldwell allow the Colts to have the balance on both sides of the ball that they desperately needed. In the end the constant is Peyton Manning, and his potential success on Sunday will cement him as the best pure passing QB the game would have ever seen. His commercial success non-withstanding, Manning is posed to become the most consistent (record for games started is still possible), stats-heavy (virtually all records are his to own or overtake within a few years), and winning quarterback to play the game. If “The Situation” is the hottest cultural trend right now, then Peyton Manning is the hottest sports figure today. It’s no secret that success/failure falls solely on his shoulders regardless of the fact that he needs all of his underrated offensive linemen to keep him upright, and that he cannot control what the defense does against their opponents.

On the other side of the field, the New Orleans Saints have trodden through an equally if not more difficult journey to this Sunday’s big match-up. Being that it is their first Super Bowl, many will agree to the significance of this team’s success preempted by decades of ineptitude and the more recent tragedies endured by Hurricane Katrina and the fallout thereafter. In recent memory, the mounting (albeit somewhat undeserved) pressure on RB Ricky Williams, the inconsistency of QB Aaron Brooks, and mainly a team without a direction or identity (other than mediocrity) could only consistently lose. Two people forever rightfully credited with the Saints’ turnaround came in the hiring of Sean Payton for Head Coach, and the signing of QB Drew Brees as a free agent out of San Diego. The latter was more risky given the fact that Brees was coming off a major shoulder injury and the notion that the talented San Diego Chargers were willing to let go a proven vet in favor of a yet unpolished young signal-caller in his backup, Philip Rivers. Brees ended up only leading one of the more higher scoring offenses in the last 3 years and becoming the team’s emotional alpha dog on a team suddenly teeming with offensive talent: RB Reggie Bush, WR Marques Colston, WR Devery Henderson, WR Lance Moore, TE Jeremy Shockey, and RB Pierre Thomas to name most.

Like their opponent on Super Sunday, the Saints finally found salient success when they committed to improving their defense. By bringing in renowned defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, and veteran ball-hawking safety Darren Sharper, New Orleans like Indianapolis threatened to both make it to the big game unscathed in the loss category. When the two teams kick off this weekend, the key will be the defense’s ability to stop both QBs from picking them apart. The potential loss/ineffectiveness of premiere pass rusher Dwight Freeney proves to be a huge loss on the defensive side, whereas the Saint’s habit of feeding off of turnovers could reduce their defense’s effectiveness if Manning takes care of the ball. I like many others expect a high scoring affair, but the wet weather in Miami, and the overlooked defenses of both teams could very well step up and keep this a competitive low 20s Super Bowl.

If you’re like me, the fanfare of the big game can only be topped by delicious fried foods in the backdrop of very expensive but ridiculously funny commercials that truly justify this Sunday as the best artificial holiday America loves and cherishes.