Super Bowl Stats: Five to think about ahead of the big game

Super Bowl / Andy Richmond / 02 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

Darren Sharper is one of few Saints with Superbowl experience

"With this combination of teams many will be expecting a big points total, but recent history suggests a total nearer 45-50 points is the norm these days. This is no normal game and teams sometimes take time to settle."

Andy Richmond has found five important facts to consider before betting on Superbowl 44

This is the first time for 16 years that the two No.1 seeds have gone head-to-head for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Everything points towards a close game but the last time the last time both No.1 seeds reached the Superbowl was 1993 when the Cowboys defeated the Bills 30-13.

With this combination of teams many will be expecting a big points total, they'll have to go some to top the 75 points that San Francisco and Denver racked up in Superbowl XXIX - but recent history suggests a total nearer 45-50 points is the norm these days. This is no normal game and teams sometimes take time to settle - the two highest scoring Superbowls in the last ten years in 2003 (69 points) and 2004 (61pts) only totalled six points in the first quarter combined.

Quarter by quarter. Pay careful attention to the ebb and flow of the game by quarter, in the last ten Superbowls the first quarter has featured on average 48 points. Nine of those ten first quarters have contained seven or less points - the only one to top that figure being the Colts' last trip to the Superbowl in 2007 - 20 points racked up in that first quarter - will their experience get them off to a fast start on Sunday? The points totals by quarter in the last ten Superbowls are as follows Q1-48, Q2-123, Q3-97, Q4-182.

Experience factor. Much of the attention will be focused on Manning attempting to cement his legacy with a second Lombardi Trophy, but the Colts have a number of important players who were with the team for Super Bowl XLI. Among the Colts players who own Super Bowl rings are Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Gary Brackett, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis and Jeff Saturday. The Saints, on the other hand, have limited Super Bowl experience. Randall Gay played in two of the Patriots' four visits to the big game, starting against the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, while Darren Sharper was a rookie with the Packers when they lost to the Broncos following the 1997 season.

Peyton Manning may have won the NFL MVP award for a record fourth time but Drew Brees matched him in every category along the way and statistically they are a mirror image of each other - apart from the fact that Manning has a Superbowl ring and Brees doesn't.

This is a great head-to-head for the teams but more so it may settle the quarterback debate, which on stats is hard to split.