Sean Payton has guts.
For the first time in history a coach attempted an onside kick before the fourth quarter, and that coach was Sean Payton. He went for it and the Saints recovered it. A gutsy call by a gutsy coach.
Jim Caldwell got outcoached.
Caldwell had a good game plan, and it worked beautifully in the first quarter, but once the Saints figured it out, there was no plan B. The Colts knew that the key to the game was to keep the Saints offense off the field, and they did for a while, but once the Saints got the ball the Colts never got it back.
Emotions won out.
Going into the game the Colts were the favorites, and analysts around the world were picking them for that reason. Watching the game, Caldwell appeared to be calm, cool, and collected, even when the Colts made mistakes. Dungy was always calm, but you could see some emotion, and Caldwell needs to show some emotion at some point so that his players have something to feed off of.
Sean Payton on the other hand wore his heart on his sleeve, and his players responded.
The Saints didn’t need the Colts to turn the ball over to win.
All week the talking heads went on and on about the Saints needing turnovers to beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship and that it was very unlikely that they would get that many (if any) turnovers against the Colts.
Well, guess what, the Saints got all of ONE turnover (Porter’s interception) from the Colts, and they were already winning.
Garrett Hartley earned his pay check.
Hartley’s record breaking, clutch performance gave the Saints momentum at the end of the first half, and into the second.
Even on a bum ankle Dwight Freeney is scary.
Freeney was questionable all week after not practicing with a high ankle (basketball) sprain. He didn’t seem to miss a beat. He did come out a few times, and there were a few plays where he looked a bit slower than usual, but he did come away with the games only sack.
This time, the failed 4th down conversion didn’t help the Colts.
Everyone remembers the Week 10 Colts/Pats game where Belichick went for it on 4th and 2 and failed, giving the Colts a short field and a chance to win the game.
Fast forward a few weeks, and the Saints go for it on 4th and Goal. They failed too. The big difference in the two situations? Week 10, the Colts got the ball on their 29. In the Super Bowl, the Colts got the ball on the Saints 2. After a quick 3 and out, the Saints were able to get into field goal range for Hartley’s second field goal of the game.
The half time show needs to get younger…
… and by younger, I mean that the NFL needs to stop raiding nursing homes for the half time show, and start looking back at the Top 40. I know they are worried about another wardrobe malfunction, but it’s time to move on.
The ads weren’t bad.
Several were laugh out loud funny (Doritos, VW, and Bud Light come to mind), and some were groan-worthy, but overall, not bad.
I called it.
Two weeks ago I was discussing the game with Peabo, and told him that the Saints would put the game away with a Pick 6. Granted, I said it would be Sharper, not Porter, but I am pretty happy about being right.
