When you watch or listen to the Super Bowl on Sunday, remember the key factor in determining the winner may well be the number of turnovers by each team.

It is staggering to note how important fumbles lost and passes intercepted have been in deciding the outcome of NFL playoff encounters and Super Bowls.

Let’s begin by studying the 2009 postseason in professional football.

2009 NFL PLAYOFFS

11 Winning Teams
10 Had Fewer Turnovers
12 Turnovers by Winners
33 Turnovers by Losers

There were 11 playoff games, including the Super Bowl, and in 10 of those, the team with the fewest turnovers won. The only exception came in the San Diego-Indianapolis game where the Chargers committed the only two turnovers, but still won in overtime. Those losing teams had almost three times as many turnovers as the winners.

What about the postseason games this season?

2010 PLAYOFFS

TURNOVERS

Do you see the shared trait in these 10 games?

The winners had fewer turnovers in every one of them except the New York-San Diego clash when each had one. Except for the Jets, the losers all had multiple turnovers while among the victors, only the Ravens had as many as two. The turnover rate was almost 4 to 1 in favor of the winning teams.

PLAYOFFS LAST 7 YEARS:

• Teams with Fewer Turnovers 52 wins
• Teams with More Turnovers 12 wins
• Winning Percentage 81%

If you look at the past seven NFL seasons, clubs with the fewest turnovers in a playoff struggle have won 81 percent of those games. The ratio is better than 4 to 1.

SINCE 1990

TEAMS WITH TURNOVER ADVANTAGE HAVE WON 84% OF NFL PLAYOFF GAMES

If you review the last 20 years of pro football postseason battles, those squads with the fewest turnovers prevailed in a whopping 84 percent of those games.

Super Bowl Trophy

43 SUPER BOWLS:

• TEAMS WITH FEWER TURNOVERS 30 WINS
• TEAMS WITH MORE TURNOVERS 4 WINS
• SAME NUMBER OF TURNOVERS 9

Only four of the 43 winning Super Bowl teams have been able to outscore their opponents when they made the most turnovers. Those are not good odds.

Try to keep track of the turnovers as you take in the game. See if the pattern continues. ‘The past evidence is overwhelming.

Sun Life Stadium

This Super Bowl is being played on the Miami Dolphins’ home field at Miami Gardens, Florida with a 3:25 P.M. (Pacific Time ) kickoff on Sunday. That facility is 22 years old. When it opened, it was known as Joe Robbie Stadium in honor of the Dolphins’ owner. Since then, the name has been changed to:

• Pro Player Park
• Pro Player Stadium
• Dolphins Stadium
• Dolphin Stadium
• Land Shark Stadium
• and Now, as of last Wednesday, it has its seventh name——Sun Life Stadium.

It is a five-year naming rights deal with Sun Life Financial which will pay 7 1/2 million dollars a year, and 37 1/2 million dollars.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

What is the coincidence about the last two Super Bowls……Giants-Patriots and Steelers-Cardinals?

Are you thinking that it seems to you there have been some close Super Bowls lately? You’re right. Four of the last six and five of the past eight Super Bowls have been decided by either three or four points.

What were the odds before the season started that Indianapolis and New Orleans would be the Super Bowl teams?

Pre-Season Odds:

COLTS 11-1
SAINTS 17-1

TRIVIA ANSWER:

The last two Super Bowls have both been decided by touchdowns with 35 seconds to play. New York upset New England, 17-14 on a 13-yard pass, and Pittsburgh edged Arizona, 27-23 on a 6-yard pass.

Not 34 seconds and not 36, but THIRTY FIVE seconds were left in each game.

What are the odds on that?

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

How many NFL quarterbacks passed for 4, 000 yards this season? That’s an average of 250 passing yards a game.

10………….and seven of them helped direct their teams to the playoffs.

“Pass First” has become the NFL offensive code. There is more emphasis on spread offenses. Teams are now operating out of the Wildcat—-a direct snap to a back, not necessarily the quarterback. And, there have been rules changes which favor………the offense. The Saints have the highest scoring offensive unit in the National Football League. They scored 510 points during the regular season, 40 more than runnerup Minnesota, and averaged 32 points a Sunday. New Orleans also led the league in total offense with 404 yards an outing.

The Saints won nine games by 10 or more points. They may have more big play weapons than any other offense in the NFL.

New Orleans’ 31-year-old quarterback Drew Brees set an NFL record for completion percentage this season……..70.6 percent. He also led the league in passer rating at 109.6. Brees has thrown for 4, 000 yards or more in each of the last four seasons.

The Saints receiving corps is deep as any in the league. They are a much more effective offensive team when playing with a lead as their running game becomes more of a positive factor. Coach Sean Payton says the Saints’ planned goal every week this season was to establish a physical identity and be able to run the ball more productively. New Orleans ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing, and has one of the best offensive lines in football.

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

33-year-old Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who is 6-5 and weighs 230, won a record fourth Most Valuable Player award in the league this season. He was instrumental in helping the Colts score seven come-from-behind victories in the fourth quarter—-a new NFL record. Manning set another mark when he achieved his seventh 300-yard passing game in career playoff action against the Jets in the AFC championship duel.

Indianapolis will use four and sometimes five players in pass patterns so Manning has a number of options. Like Brees, Peyton is not sacked much as both men release the ball quickly to avoid blitzes.

The Colts ranked 32nd and last in the NFL in rushing, averaging 81 yards a game on the ground. No Indianapolis running back had a 100-yard rushing game this season. Their offensive line is not known for its strength or using muscle to overpower defensive front fours. Exploding on the snap count and blowing opponents away in running lanes is not the Colts style.

On the other side of the ball, the Saints have an aggressive defense that takes advantage of opportunities. They pace the league in points scored as the result of turnovers, and forced the second most turnovers in the pros—39. New Orleans returned an NFL high five interceptions for touchdowns, three by safety Darren Sharper.

The Saints run a base 4-3 defense, but will show a 3-4 look at times. They like to blitz, especially against very good passers like Manning. Their biggest weakness over the last three months has been stopping the run. They had trouble keeping containment on the back side, allowing some big cutback runs.

When rookie head coach Jim Caldwell met with the Colts last March, he told them he wanted to make certain they were fresh at the end of the season. So when Indianapolis clinched home field advantage for the playoffs with three games left, Caldwell chose to give his players more rest over a four-week period between important games. Caldwell wanted the Colts defense to play faster in the playoffs so he gave them a few days off in hopes his players could gain a step or two The coach believes speed can make up for a mistake. For the most part undersized, the Indianapolis defense is known for its speed and swarming tactics. The Colts have maybe the best set of defensive ends in the NFL in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.

AP Photo/Morry Gash

The Colts opened as four-point favorites over the Saints in Super Bowl 44, but a week later the betting spread was five and a half points, seven days before kickoff. Oddsmakers expect the over/under for points in the contest to be 56 1/2, which is the highest ever. The highest scoring Super Bowl was in 1995 when the 49ers downed the Chargers, 49-26. Steve Young threw six touchdown passes. The most points by one team in a Super Bowl was 55 by San Francisco in 1990. Denver had 10 that day.

SUPER BOWL TRENDS:

• Teams scoring first are 28-15 ( 65.1% )
• Teams leading at half are 33-8 ( 80.5% )
• Teams leading after three quarters are 36-6 ( 85.7% )
• Never been an overtime
• Never been a shutout
• Never been a punt return for a TD
• Teams gaining a 10-point lead are 38-1 ( 97.4% )
• Teams scoring 32 + points are 18-0
• Teams scoring under 20 points are 5-32 ( 13.5% )
• Teams scoring under 14 points are 0-17

Advertising time during the Super Bowl is the most expensive in television

AVERAGE COST of 30-second COMMERCIAL:

• 1967 Super Bowl 1 $42, 000
• 2010 Super Bowl 44 $3, 000, 000

SUPER BOWL FACTS:

• Parking Fee at Stadium is 60 dollars
• Slowest Weekend of the year for Weddings
• Number 1 at-home party of the year
• Number 2 food consumption day in U. S. behind Thanksgiving
• 20 million pounds of chips eaten
• 4, 000 tons of popcorn
• 8-million pounds of guacamole
• Over 40% of TV audience is female
• More women watch Super Bowl than Academy Awards
• 40% of TV audience not football fans
• 58% take bathroom breaks during game to avoid missing commercials
• 90 million toilets flushed at halftime

AP Photo/Dave Martin

This Wednesday will be the day that college football teams will find out officially where highschool seniors and junior college players will be playing next fall. It is Signing Day, the most important recruiting day of the year.

Most of the heralded and highly recruited prep and JC stars have already made their choices known. With that knowledge, Rivals.com has released its rankings of which schools have attracted the most blue-chip players.

AP Photo/Dave Martin

By Frederic J. Frommer
Associated Press Writer

The Justice Department announced Friday that the administration is considering a number of steps that would look into the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series. The department will determine whether to open an investigation into whether the BCS violates antitrust laws. The administration is looking at several other options, including asking the Federal Trade Commission to review the legality of the BCS under consumer protection laws. Several lawmakers and many critics want the BCS to switch to a playoff system, rather than the ratings system it uses to determine the teams that play in the college football championship.

(Real Sports Heroes says, “Go, Justice Department, go. Let the true national champion be decided on the field like every other sport.”

It is less than a month before pitchers and catchers report to baseball spring training camps. There are at least 19 quality free agents available who have not signed, as of January 31.

Alphabetically, they are:

• Garret Anderson
• Erik Bedard
• Hank Blalock
• Russell Branyan
• Orlando Cabrera
• Johnny Damon
• Carlos Delgado
• Jermaine Dye
• Brian Giles
• Kevin Gregg
• Orlando Hudson
• Livan Hernandez
• Adam Kennedy
• Braden Looper
• Felipe Lopez
• Pedro Martinez
• Gary Sheffield
• John Smoltz
• Jarrod Washburn