MIAMI - Scott Fujita, the Saints eighth-year linebacker, understands what his team is up against in Super Bowl XLIV.
It's the Colts, Peyton Manning, history, the oddsmakers, Peyton Manning, pro football's winningest team and finally, Peyton Manning.
The Saints (15-3) are playing in the first Super Bowl in the franchise's 43-year history, and the Colts (16-2) are trying to win their second NFL championship in four years.
Manning guided the Colts to a 29-17 over the NFC champion Bears in Super Bowl XLI. In Miami.
And now they're back in the same stadium where they will play the Saints in the world's most- watched sporting event.
"Our defense has been disrespected in the past," Fujita said. "I think Indianapolis' defense has been disrespected. But don't get it twisted. Our defense's success has a direct relationship with our success."
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Manning is a second-generation NFL quarterback, and perhaps the most-prolific passer in league history. His father, Archie Manning, took one beating after another during his 12 seasons with the Saints from 1971-82.
And that's what Gregg Williams, the Saints' first-year defensive coordinator, plans to do in this game.
It's perhaps the biggest reason the Saints doubled their playoff victory total over the last month, first with a 45-14 drubbing of the Cardinals, and then a 31-28 victory over the Vikings.
Williams doesn't hide his intentions, and Manning doesn't shy away from them, either. The Saints had 35 sacks in regular-season play, almost tripling their 2008 total.
"(The Saints) are extremely active. They are around the football at all times," Manning said. "You really see them playing together as a unit. They play a number of different guys in their substitution packages. You see a lot of team speed."
Williams likes a high-risk, high-reward defense, which gives up some big plays but makes plenty as well. The Saints scored nine defensive touchdowns this season, three by veteran free safety Darren Sharper.
Williams generated plenty of headlines during the Super Bowl buildup, when in an interview with a Nashville radio station, he told former Titans safety Blaine Bishop that the Saints needed to deliver "some remember me shots."
"That's why Gregg was brought here, to instill an attitude, a swagger," Fujita said.
For the Saints to claim their first Super Bowl championship, they're going to have to get some production from their defense.
"I don't think you can show up at the Super Bowl and expect to turn it on like a light switch," Williams said. "You can't say, 'Here we are now. We've got to play different.' ... When we step on the field, that's what it is ... I will encourage aggressiveness. You have to climb to that edge all the time."
TODAY
• What: Super Bowl XLIV: Colts vs. Saints
• When: 4:25 p.m.
• TV: Ch 13
• Radio: 1490-AM
