The annual holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday is here. On Sunday night, millions of people will gather around their televisions and carefully analyze which commercials were the best and which commercials went bust. Interrupting these commercials will be The Big Game, pitting league MVP Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

This is how it was supposed to go down all season. Both clubs had perfect records going for the majority of the season and boast explosive top-tier quarterbacks who have shown the ability to guide their teams down the field when it counts in the postseason. Neither team lacks for speed on the defensive side of the ball. The game has added hype because Peyton’s dad, Archie Manning, was the quarterback for the Saints back in the ’70s and early ’80s.

Much has been made of star defensive end Dwight Freeney’s ankle injury. Many have said that the injury could be the deciding factor in the game; the logic goes that the Saints can now double-team the Colts’ other star defensive end Robert Mathis, giving Brees the time he needs to pick apart the Colts secondary. In order for the Colts to win, they must put pressure on Brees and not let him get into a rhythm.

What I don’t buy is that Freeney’s injury dooms the Colts. Veteran Raheem Brock is Freeney’s backup, and his teammates have full confidence that he will pick up the slack if Freeney can’t go. This team has Peyton Manning at the helm and as a leader, he holds everybody accountable for his job. If one guy goes down, it’s another player’s job to pick up where his teammate left off. I understand that Freeney is more talented than Brock, but you don’t think when Brock gets out there on Sunday, he’s going to be amped and ready to shut the doubters up and rip Brees’ head off? You don’t think he’s going to take pride in delivering for his team? If Freeney doesn’t play, watch Raheem Brock. He could very well have one of those unforeseen, heroic, big-game moments.

These teams are pretty evenly matched. Usually, Super Bowls are over-hyped and then don’t live up to their billing (save Giants vs. Patriots of course). I think this Super Bowl will have “it.” It will have the drama, the scoring, the superstars playing well and a clutch moment or two in the fourth quarter. The Saints will try to use their depth at running back to try to soften up the Colts’ small but fast defense. Indy has the speed and versatility to slow a strong rushing attack down; they proved that against the Jets in the AFC title game. Still, with Brees, the Saints will put up their points. On the other side, don’t discount Joseph Addai. The Colts don’t run much, but Addai has the ability to make big plays. The Saints are banking on creating turnovers with their ball-hawking defense. Don’t count on too many mistakes from the efficient Manning. He has seen it all, done it all and won’t make dumb passes that aren’t there.

In the end, it comes down to this. The Saints don’t have the defense to slow down Peyton Manning in the fourth quarter. Matt Stover, the kicker for the Colts, has had legendary clutch kicker Adam Vinatieri giving him tips the past two weeks on how to win Super Bowls. I see Manning driving down the field and getting Stover in position to hit the game-winning field goal.