Football / NFL Super Bowl XLIV / Cool Colts face Saints' passion

The romantics are backing the New Orleans Saints but experience and quality point to the Indianapolis Colts as favorites in tonight's Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning, the game's undisputed number-one quarterback, is looking for his second Super Bowl ring. The Saints, who are in their first Super Bowl less then five years after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, have won the hearts of much of America.

Once mocked as "The Aints," the story of the New Orleans club, 43 years old this year, has been one of miserable failure followed by mediocrity. It took the team 20 lean years to get a winning record and a place in the playoffs, leading some fans to famously hide their faces behind paper bags.

New Orleans, too, has a masterful general in quarterback Drew Brees, but if the Saints are to produce an upset it is likely to come via their trio of running backs, who have dubbed themselves "The Three-headed Monster." The explosive pace of the unpredictable Reggie Bush is a particular danger.

The expectation, however, is that Manning will exhibit his passing genius once more to cement his status as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

The Colts move with devastating speed and efficiency down the field with Manning operating a no-huddle attack, making quick decisions, changing plays before the snap and delivering the precise passes that this season produced his NFL-record 10th 4,000-yard passing campaign.

The Saints, though, have coach Sean Payton, considered one of the sharpest, most animated coaches in the NFL.

An estimated 100 million people, a third of the U.S. population, will tune in to watch. In Israel the broadcast begins at 1 A.M. (kickoff at 1:30) on ESPN, FOX Sports and METV.