The Super Bowl is now set. The surging New England Patriots defeated Peyton Manning's Colts and the overachieving Carolina Panthers thumped Philly. Neither of these teams could have been considered real contenders before the season started. So what do they have in common?

1. Superb coaching - Bill Belichik is the best game day coach in football and is a master strategist. Carolina's Fox is known as strong motivator and is probably underrated as a strategist.

2. Blue collar quarterbacks- Tom Brady was a sixth round draft choice and Jake Delhomme was undrafted. These two guys made it the hard way. No multi million dollar rookie bonuses that set you up for life before you ever play. Brady has a better arm but Delhomme is the picture beside the word "intangible" in the dictionary.

3. Defense- Both teams control the ball on offense and use defense to set up field position.

4. Strong running games. You don't often see either team throw for 300 yards.

Then there are those undefinable things. Character, guts, staying power that make teams champions. There are more talented teams out there (KC, Indy, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles).

Congrats to both teams. I predict New England by 9.
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