ESPN's Len Pasquarelli Points To Offense's Running Game As Key To Colts Success

Colts' running game key to Super Bowl run

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Overlooked amid the Indianapolis defense's suddenly stout performance against the run in the postseason is that the Colts' offense has taken care of the other half of football's most basic formula for playoff success.

Run the ball and stop the run. That's the simple equation, most NFL purists contend, for winning in the postseason.

And in advancing to the first Super Bowl appearance since the franchise relocated to Indianapolis in 1984, the Colts have surprised almost as many skeptics by achieving the first of those goals as they have by allowing just 76.7 yards rushing per game in their three postseason contests after surrendering a league-worst 173.0 yards per game rushing during the regular season.

Indianapolis has outrushed all three playoff opponents by a whopping average of 61.0 yards per game. The Colts, who averaged 110.1 rushing yards during the regular season, have averaged 137.7 yards in the postseason. Their rushing attempts have risen, from 27.4 per outing to 35.0. And the offensive split has changed, as well. During the season, the Colts ran the ball on 43.4 percent of their snaps. The quota is up to 46.5 percent in the playoffs.

"That might not seem like a lot," tailback Dominic Rhodes said. "But it's made a difference. Teams, I think, have been a little surprised by how we've stuck with the run. The good part is, we've run when we had to and run when we wanted to. We've used the run to dictate to people, and that's a good feeling."

Count the New England Patriots among those stunned by the Indianapolis offense's unusual reliance on the running game. The Patriots allowed 32 second-half points to the Colts in a 38-34 AFC Championship Game loss.

"With them being down like they were at halftime by so much [a 21-6 score], I think we felt like they might come out desperate and just throw every down in the second half," said New England defensive end Ty Warren. "But they didn't panic and just go one-dimensional. They stayed with the run, and it kind of kept us off-balance, definitely."

In fact, in the second half, the Colts were surprisingly balanced for a team playing from so far in arrears. On its 45 second-half snaps, Indianapolis had 21 rushing plays and 24 pass plays. On the first two possessions of the second half, both of which culminated in touchdowns that lifted the Colts into a 21-21 tie, the offensive mix was 11 passes and 11 runs.

That the Colts didn't panic, and didn't abandon the run, had another ancillary benefit: It resulted in an incredibly lopsided snap-count, one that, combined with Indianapolis' no-huddle "quick" offense, physically drained the Patriots' defensive front seven.

Beginning with 3:06 left in the second quarter, until there were just four minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Colts ripped off 34 offensive snaps, compared to only four by New England. For the game, the Colts had 80 snaps, while New England managed only 59 plays.

"It's probably the most ignored or underrated part of our offense," said Indianapolis Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday. "For whatever reason, people keep hanging that finesse label on us. But we've shown that we can run the ball, that we can stay in the game running it and close out games running it."

That has certainly been the case in the playoffs, where offensive coordinator Tom Moore and QB Peyton Manning -- who has more freedom to audible than any quarterback in the league and makes most of his calls at the line of scrimmage -- have blended the run brilliantly with the team's explosive passing game.

Against the Kansas City Chiefs, who were supposed to have the more dangerous rushing attack, the Colts ran for 188 yards and established tempo early. Their offensive mix defined balance, with 40 passes and 40 runs.

In the divisional-round victory at Baltimore, which featured the NFL's top-rated defense overall, and second-ranked unit versus the run, Indianapolis had more rushes (35) than passes (31). And the defining moment of that game came in the final half of the fourth quarter, when the Colts just jammed the ball down the throats of the smack-talkin' Ravens. Leading 12-6 with 7:36 to play, the Colts put together a 12-play drive that included 11 runs, ended in Adam Vinatieri's game-clinching field goal and bled all but 23 seconds from the clock.

"Peyton has really handled the run well," Saturday said. "His instincts have been tremendous."

Although it isn't a hard-and-fast rule of the Indianapolis offense, the Colts characteristically key off the alignment of the opponent's safeties to determine when they run. If the safeties are in a Cover 2 or split look, backed 10 to 12 yards off the line of scrimmage and essentially unable to play run support, Indianapolis will usually run. When there is just a single high safety, Manning will throw.

The formula has been a successful one for the Colts. All they need is for it to work one more time and they'll have run themselves to a Super Bowl title.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer at ESPN.com.

Arizona Cardinals Cardinals ready to bid for Super Bowl XLV

Cardinals ready to bid for Super Bowl XLV
Michael Bidwill tells Valley mayors of plan
Ken Alltucker
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 15, 2006 12:00 AM

With a Super Bowl locked up for 2008, Arizona's football interests expect to once again bid for pro football's showcase game in 2011.

Arizona Cardinals Vice President Michael Bidwill said Tuesday that the organization will submit a Super Bowl XLV bid in March during an NFL owners meeting.

Bidwill made his comment during a Super Bowl Host Committee luncheon attended by mayors across the Valley.
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"It's our intention to explore this," Bidwill said after the meeting.

Host Committee Chairman Mike Kennedy described the bid process as "incredibly competitive" because "everybody wants it."

NFL owners typically select a host city during their spring meeting.

Arizona's Super Bowl Committee is kicking into high gear, planning events leading up to the Feb. 3, 2008, game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The NFL selected Tampa and south Florida as Super Bowl hosts for 2009 and 2010, respectively.

During the luncheon, Frank Supovitz, the National Football League's senior vice president of events, said cities that prepare early for the Super Bowl tend to get the biggest economic payoff.

Cirque du Soleil To Perform in Super Bowl XLI Pregame Show - Superbowl.com

Cirque du Soleil to perform in Super Bowl XLI pregame show
(Jan. 9, 2007) -- Cirque du Soleil and Miami-based artist Romero Britto will team to celebrate South Florida and football in an unprecedented performance in the Super Bowl XLI pregame show on CBS at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida on Sunday, Feb. 4, the NFL announced.

The Super Bowl is annually the nation's highest-rated TV program. More than 141 million viewers watched last year's game in the U.S. Super Bowl XLI will be broadcast to a potential worldwide audience of 1 billion in more than 230 countries and territories.

Inspired by Brazilian street theater, 60 professional performers and hundreds of other participants will participate in the pregame show, which will be a high-energy extravaganza of music, dance, gymnastics and circus arts linked by a multi-colored football theme. The Cirque du Soleil performers will be a living, breathing canvas for Britto, whose signature pop-art has come to define the color and vibrancy of South Florida.

Grammy® Award Winner Louie Vega will supply an original musical score and will perform with his Elements of Life Orchestra featuring vocalist Anane while the Cirque du Soleil performance comes to life.

The Cirque du Soleil team will include Fernand Rainville, director of creation, Patricia Ruel, creator of costumes and accessories, Geneviève Dorion-Coupal, choreographer and Daniel Cola, acrobatic coach.

Don Mischer Productions and White Cherry Entertainment will produce the Super Bowl XLI pregame show as part of their season-long marquee entertainment agreement with the NFL. The two companies produced the NFL Opening Kickoff 2006 special from Pittsburgh and the Thanksgiving special from Kansas City on NFL Network. In addition to the pregame show, they also will produce the Pepsi Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show. Don Mischer Productions will serve as executive producer and director, while White Cherry Entertainment, led by Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss, will serve as executive producers. The NFL has worked the past three years with both Don Mischer Productions and White Cherry Entertainment on Opening Kickoff and Super Bowl shows.

David Saltz of Red Eye Flight Productions will also serve as producer of the pregame show. Saltz has worked with Cirque on their Beatles inspired LOVE production and has brought them together with Britto for this original Super Bowl performance. Saltz has worked with the NFL on Opening Kickoff and Super Bowl Halftime the past three years.