Super Bowl post mortem (1 Viewer)

[JJP]

As a Colts fan, I have no trouble saying the better team won, and the better coached team won. While its hard to rip on a coach who wins his first 14 games, Caldwell clearly had the "deer in the headlights" look last night every time a CBS camera panned to him. Payton's onsides kick call was brilliant, and the Colts clearly were unprepared. And after the first 10-12 minutes of the first quarter, the Colts seemed to be tentative.

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

Getting back to the spread, its obvious too much weight was put on the Minnesota game; the Saints got dominated on the line of scrimmage getting massacred statistically in yardage and first downs but the +4 turnover edge for the Saints was the main factor. If you look at the Saints signature wins, they had some of the more impressive wins during the season and playoffs. The Monday Night throttling of the Patriots stands out. The final margin was 38-17 and the 3 TD differential was NOT misleading. An unbeaten Giants team came into NO in mid October, and got buried....once again by a 21 point margin. Granted, the Giants were NOT the team many thought they would be, but at the time it seemed impressive. HOw about week 2 going into Philly? The Saints went into Philly and hung up 48 on them. Pretty damned impressive. In the playoffs, the Saints absolutely murdered Arizona. It wasn't a surprise that their offense ran roughshod, but they limited the Cardinals offense. Along with Baltimore's win over the Pats, these were the two most dominant playoff performances.

The Colts signature wins were a pair of squeakers, a 35-34 win over the Patriots in which they came back from a 31-14 deficit and then going into Baltimore and prevailing 17-15. The Colts handled the Ravens much easier in the playoffs. But still, does that resume justify the difference in the spread?

Finally, just how good were the Vikings? I heard a thesis earlier in the week that the Saints would win because they beat the Vikings, who the writer claimed were the best team in the NFL.

 

[Sammy Traveller]

Who screwed up most? Peyton Manning. No interception, it would most likely have been a tie game and, given that Peyton's always clutch at the end of games, he would have made it.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Who screwed up most? Peyton Manning. No interception, it would most likely have been a tie game and, given that Peyton's always clutch at the end of games, he would have made it.

pretty sure that he wasnt clutch at the end of this game

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Garcon's drop on 3rd and 4 changed the game, IMO. It seemed to get in Peyton's head and he didn't go to Garcon again for awhile, which I'm sure was against the general game plan. Huge play.

 

[IDrinkyourMilkshake]

I think the Colts played way too timid. Saints were playing to win the game. Colts looked like they were playing not to lose the game.

 

[Football Critic]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball?

I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

 

[KingEl]

Who screwed up most? Peyton Manning. No interception, it would most likely have been a tie game and, given that Peyton's always clutch at the end of games, he would have made it.

As much as I like Manning- and while he's gotten better the past few years with "clutch" play- he is definatly not "always" clutch at the end.. In fact- over his whole carreer and I've seen most of his games- it's the weakest part of his play. He can overcome this, but the end of the game last night was more indictitive of Manning's carreer than some people realize.

 

[Canadian Content]

Garcon's drop on 3rd and 4 changed the game, IMO. It seemed to get in Peyton's head and he didn't go to Garcon again for awhile, which I'm sure was against the general game plan. Huge play.

This is what I really thought changed the game too! if the Colts aren't held off the field here and go down and score it might of been route.... really thought it changed the complection of the game.... both rookie WR's actually screwed up big time as Collie ran his bubble screen to the outside for some reason, in the third quater and it pushed Stover to a FG distance he couldn't make.... had alot blockers in front of him if he turned in like he was suppose too.....Saint's out exucted the Colts IMHO.... hard lose as a Colts fan.

 

[Football Critic]

Who screwed up most? Peyton Manning. No interception, it would most likely have been a tie game and, given that Peyton's always clutch at the end of games, he would have made it.

Are you certain?I'm shocked you still think that way, considering Peyton has choked more in the playoffs then he came through.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

I think the Colts played way too timid. Saints were playing to win the game. Colts looked like they were playing not to lose the game.

Agreed and this starts at the top - totally embodied in the decision to not go for 19-0.

 

[IDrinkyourMilkshake]

I think the Colts played way too timid. Saints were playing to win the game. Colts looked like they were playing not to lose the game.

Agreed and this starts at the top - totally embodied in the decision to not go for 19-0.

In the end, the team that tried to go 16-0 won the game.

 

[Moniker]

I think the Colts played way too timid. Saints were playing to win the game. Colts looked like they were playing not to lose the game.

Agreed and this starts at the top - totally embodied in the decision to not go for 19-0.

/agree also.This set the tone for the whole game and once Garcon dropped that pass it looked like a totally different Colts team out there.Porter had good coverage on Wayne all night, but Garcon was having his way with Greer every time the ball was snapped until this play and it was looking bleak for the Saints. After the drop - Garcon all but disappeared and the Colts' offense sputtered almost to a halt.

 

[conboy]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball? I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

Great post. I said the same thing. If you watch the replay, Wayne was very lazy in his break, and let Porter beat him to the ball. Peyton threw the ball where Wayne should have been coming out of his break, when you don't run your route properly, bad things happen.

 

[Football Critic]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball? I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

Great post. I said the same thing. If you watch the replay, Wayne was very lazy in his break, and let Porter beat him to the ball. Peyton threw the ball where Wayne should have been coming out of his break, when you don't run your route properly, bad things happen.

It looked to me as if his feet got tangled, but then again thats all part of that bad route. He knew the stride pattern I'm sure as Peyton said that is the routes they run most often.Either way, Reggie seemed to make the mistake...Peyton put it right where it should have been.

 

[Football Critic]

I dont think the big Peyton mistake was the pick.

I think it was his mismanagment of the time at the end of the first half, to tell me he did not have an option to do what he like, well we all know that not to be true...he's the OC.

3 straight runs when the saints had all 3 timeouts? Sheesh, thats not Peyton and we know it.

 

[Tanner9919]

can't talk about 'how great Peyton Manning is' for weeks on end, and not hear the other end of the story when it was he who lost this game for the Colts, plain and simple.

he wasn't particularly sharp, missing a Reggie Wayne pass down the sidelines, badly underthrowing him on 3rd and 11...missing guys in the endzone at the end of the game, etc..

I thought the game was over once I saw the 'Manning Pout' after Stover's missed FG..once you get Manning to toss towels and get that ticked-off look on his face, you know you've got him beat..

 

[ConstruxBoy]

I think the Colts played way too timid. Saints were playing to win the game. Colts looked like they were playing not to lose the game.

Agreed and this starts at the top - totally embodied in the decision to not go for 19-0.

/agree also.This set the tone for the whole game and once Garcon dropped that pass it looked like a totally different Colts team out there.Porter had good coverage on Wayne all night, but Garcon was having his way with Greer every time the ball was snapped until this play and it was looking bleak for the Saints. After the drop - Garcon all but disappeared and the Colts' offense sputtered almost to a halt.

Right. I'm sure the game plan was to go heavy on Garcon and I think that would have worked. But then he dropped an easy one and Peyton barely looked his way again until the end of the game. Now maybe that was the play calling, but I think Peyton was punishing him or lost confidence in him. I sort of put that on Peyton.

 

[zed2283]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball? I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

Great post. I said the same thing. If you watch the replay, Wayne was very lazy in his break, and let Porter beat him to the ball. Peyton threw the ball where Wayne should have been coming out of his break, when you don't run your route properly, bad things happen.

I saw the same thing. I didn't go back and watch it again, only the live replays. But it seemed like Wayne stopped short or something. Very strange considering how often they run that play. Did Porter's break on the route cause him to hesitate?Also agree that the Garcon drop changed the momentum.

 

[The Moz]

Decision to defend against the big play instead of straight up. I have never seen in a superbowl wr's as wide open over the middle as NoLa's were. Just a terrible defensive effort.

Garcon's drop was the biggest game changer though

 

[FUBAR]

I think the Colts played way too timid. Saints were playing to win the game. Colts looked like they were playing not to lose the game.

Agreed and this starts at the top - totally embodied in the decision to not go for 19-0.

/agree also.This set the tone for the whole game and once Garcon dropped that pass it looked like a totally different Colts team out there.Porter had good coverage on Wayne all night, but Garcon was having his way with Greer every time the ball was snapped until this play and it was looking bleak for the Saints. After the drop - Garcon all but disappeared and the Colts' offense sputtered almost to a halt.

SI honestly never thought about it as I can see the rationale for resting, but I think Bloom nailed it - it's not that it was a bad idea in and of itself, it's indicative of their overall philosophy. Sean Payton won himself a whole lot of fans this game, I always liked the guy but not any more so than most coaches, Payton is now up there in my book with Fisher and Tomlin.

 

[Football Critic]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball? I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

Great post. I said the same thing. If you watch the replay, Wayne was very lazy in his break, and let Porter beat him to the ball. Peyton threw the ball where Wayne should have been coming out of his break, when you don't run your route properly, bad things happen.

I saw the same thing. I didn't go back and watch it again, only the live replays. But it seemed like Wayne stopped short or something. Very strange considering how often they run that play. Did Porter's break on the route cause him to hesitate?Also agree that the Garcon drop changed the momentum.

I wouldnt say hesitate, I would say panic...you can see when he seen Porter react he turned quick as if to try to swat the ball. DVR is great!Also if you remember Reggie was injured Friday, they say it was minor. But could that have been a bigger factor into him making a bad route, or his non factor in the game period?

 

[Football Critic]

I understand the magnitude of the Garcons drop, but one play dont win it or lose it that early in the game. One play can do it late in the fourth however. And the bad play with 3:20 left in the game was the game changer. The game was 24-17 at that point. Pivotal plays happened for both teams up until then. Dropped passes, specificly Colstons in the 1st, but one dropped pass before halftime cant be the loss for the team. If you got that route. The missed FG by Stover was equally huge, no?

 

[comfortably numb]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Colts side.

 

[Football Critic]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?

Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Saints side.

How is that possible? The big spread led everyone to take the Saints as if it was a no brainer.To make it tighter, I think would have made more people favor the Colts.

 

[comfortably numb]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?

Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Saints side.

How is that possible? The big spread led everyone to take the Saints as if it was a no brainer.To make it tighter, I think would have made more people favor the Colts.

Whoops...Meant to say the Colts side.

 

[David Yudkin]

No disrespect to the Colts fans, but I didn't think that this year's Colts team was as good as several other squads from recent seasons. IMO, I think there were 2 or 3 other Colts teams that I thought were a cut above this one.

Injuries to Sanders, Freeney, and others weakened the defense, they did not run the ball very well, the offense was overall not explosive, they could have faced tougher opponents in the post season but didn't, and they got lucky to win a number of their games this year. They had 8 games they won by the skin of their teeth, and had things gone a little differently they could have only had 11 or 12 wins. (I realize that's not what actually happened and they pulled out a lot of close games this year and that's what counts.)

Clearly they played who they played and won a lot of games, but I never got the sense that this team was a powerhouse like in other seasons. I remember teams that could win by 3 or 4 touchdowns, and that didn't seem to be the case many times this year. They were a very good team, no doubt, but I never got the sense that they were as good as their record indicated. Certainly there is no shame in getting to and losing the Super Bowl, as 30 other teams would have welcomed the chance to get that far . . .

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

I thought the game was over once I saw the 'Manning Pout' after Stover's missed FG..once you get Manning to toss towels and get that ticked-off look on his face, you know you've got him beat..

Seeing that version of him show up is rarer since the 06/07 AFC title game, but emotionally fragile Peyton made an appearance yesterday.

 

[JJP]

Forget the "resting players" incident as having ANYTHING to do with the outcome last night. If they played poorly in the playoff opener against Baltimore, I could understand that. The bottom line is: this Colt team was nowhere as good as advertised. Compare this SB team to the 2006 team that played the Bears.

The Colts were 6 pt favorites in that game. They still had Marvin Harrison, Bob Sanders, Marlon Jackson and Freeney was healthy. They were playing a Bear team that would go 7-9 the following season and had Rex Grossman at QB. Contrast that to playing a Saint team who HAD A BETTER RESUME THAN THE COLTS HAD. Its true. I detailed the specifics in the initial post. Player for player, the Saints had better balance and more talent.

Ironically since 2004, IMO the strongest Colt teams were the 2004 and 2005 editions, followed by the 2006 Super Bowl winner. I'm not sure this years team was better than either the 2007 or 2008 teams.

 

[Football Critic]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?

Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Saints side.

How is that possible? The big spread led everyone to take the Saints as if it was a no brainer.To make it tighter, I think would have made more people favor the Colts.

Whoops...Meant to say the Colts side.

Noted, LOL

 

[Andrew74]

can't talk about 'how great Peyton Manning is' for weeks on end, and not hear the other end of the story when it was he who lost this game for the Colts, plain and simple.he wasn't particularly sharp, missing a Reggie Wayne pass down the sidelines, badly underthrowing him on 3rd and 11...missing guys in the endzone at the end of the game, etc..I thought the game was over once I saw the 'Manning Pout' after Stover's missed FG..once you get Manning to toss towels and get that ticked-off look on his face, you know you've got him beat..

I disagree somewhat here...yeah, he missed Wayne down the sideline and that almost INT in the end zone was bad at the end. But he hit Wayne in the hands on the 4th down; can't blame him for that. Or the Garcon drop.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Lost in the shuffle here is that Joseph Addai ran as hot as he has in his entire career. He and Donald Brown should be a lethal 1-2 punch in the running game and make this team even harder to defend.

This was also the first time I felt like the Colts defense really missed Bob Sanders energy, presence, and spark plug effect.

 

[stronger88]

I really don't get why Caldwell had Stover go for the 51 yard field goal when he hasn't hit a 50+ FG since 2006. They gave up some real good field position with the miss and it didn't help that the Colts let up a first down on the first play. The Saints had all the momentum after that. Maybe if the Colts pinned Brees down in his own territory things would have gone differently.

 

[Football Critic]

Lost in the shuffle here is that Joseph Addai ran as hot as he has in his entire career. He and Donald Brown should be a lethal 1-2 punch in the running game and make this team even harder to defend.This was also the first time I felt like the defense really missed Bob Sanders energy, presence, and spark plug effect.

I disagree, and the Saints were not as worried about the run game as mush as they were worried about Peyton, I'm certain.The big run also came on the Sharper botched ankle play. Without the 26 yard run, the run game looked average at best.Addai 13 for 77 (without the 26 yard miss tackle, 51 yards total)Brown 4 for 18

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Forget the "resting players" incident as having ANYTHING to do with the outcome last night. If they played poorly in the playoff opener against Baltimore, I could understand that. The bottom line is: this Colt team was nowhere as good as advertised. Compare this SB team to the 2006 team that played the Bears.The Colts were 6 pt favorites in that game. They still had Marvin Harrison, Bob Sanders, Marlon Jackson and Freeney was healthy. They were playing a Bear team that would go 7-9 the following season and had Rex Grossman at QB. Contrast that to playing a Saint team who HAD A BETTER RESUME THAN THE COLTS HAD. Its true. I detailed the specifics in the initial post. Player for player, the Saints had better balance and more talent. Ironically since 2004, IMO the strongest Colt teams were the 2004 and 2005 editions, followed by the 2006 Super Bowl winner. I'm not sure this years team was better than either the 2007 or 2008 teams.

Probably true and the evidence was wins by the hair on their chinny chin chin against NE, SF, BAL, MIA, and HOU. The team peaked early, with their signature wins being the massacre at Arizona and the back-breaking defeat handed to the Titans. They didn't have anything approaching a dominant performance in the second half of the season.

 

[JJP]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Colts side.

You are right and you are wrong. In most cases, the books want a balanced ledger and make their money on the juice. But in big games, especially the Super Bowl, they know they often get one sided action. Sometimes they DO take a stand. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they take it up the butt. In the Giants/Pats Super Bowl, they got destroyed. This year, the public was all over the Saints. The public doesn't really hunt out "value". They just bet. If you made the game pick em, or Colts -3, I suspect the public would've been largely unswayed and bet the game similarly. Granted, a line of even would've probably brought a large amount of "sharp" money on the Colts.Since Katrina, the Saints have become the "nations team" and Vegas should've lined the game with them having home field advantage, or at least partial HFA.I think a more logical line would've been Indy -1 1/2 or -2.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

I understand the magnitude of the Garcons drop, but one play dont win it or lose it that early in the game. One play can do it late in the fourth however. And the bad play with 3:20 left in the game was the game changer. The game was 24-17 at that point. Pivotal plays happened for both teams up until then. Dropped passes, specificly Colstons in the 1st, but one dropped pass before halftime cant be the loss for the team. If you got that route. The missed FG by Stover was equally huge, no?

I think the drop was huge and possibly did change the outcome because it obviously affected the Colts, and in particular Manning, a lot. He went into his "pout" mode and didn't look Garcon's way for most of the rest of the game. The playcalling also seemed to get more conservative after the drop. Now, I'm not saying that one drop should do that to a Super Bowl team. It shouldn't. But I think it did last night.

 

[Spin]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball? I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

Great post. I said the same thing. If you watch the replay, Wayne was very lazy in his break, and let Porter beat him to the ball. Peyton threw the ball where Wayne should have been coming out of his break, when you don't run your route properly, bad things happen.

It looked to me as if his feet got tangled, but then again thats all part of that bad route. He knew the stride pattern I'm sure as Peyton said that is the routes they run most often.Either way, Reggie seemed to make the mistake...Peyton put it right where it should have been.

Wayne was off his game. At the end of the game, on 4th down, he pulls up out of his route to avoid getting hit, I think he if runs hard through the ball, he catches it in stride and easily makes it into the endzone after the catch. He would have gotten murdered on the play, but it's a TD and they're down by 7 with a minute to go. Wayne just didn't seem right that game, and I haven't seen a player pull up to avoid a hit like that in awhile, and this is coming from a guy who has watched Vernon "Alligator Arms" Davis for awhile.

 

[Football Critic]

And I would also like to say...Since this is The SB P-Mortem....The advertisers screwed up a lot too, as I think the commercials were not that great as a whole.

.....which then led to the Colts fans to be unhappy, which then led to bad Colt Mojo on the couches across the world. J/K

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Lost in the shuffle here is that Joseph Addai ran as hot as he has in his entire career. He and Donald Brown should be a lethal 1-2 punch in the running game and make this team even harder to defend.This was also the first time I felt like the defense really missed Bob Sanders energy, presence, and spark plug effect.

I disagree, and the Saints were not as worried about the run game as mush as they were worried about Peyton, I'm certain.The big run also came on the Sharper botched ankle play. Without the 26 yard run, the run game looked average at best.Addai 13 for 77 (without the 26 yard miss tackle, 51 yards total)Brown 4 for 18

Its not about Addai's bottom line production or the Saints game plan, its the intensity he ran with - he wasn't tentative and finished his runs with great physicality.

 

[ATC1]

I understand the magnitude of the Garcons drop, but one play dont win it or lose it that early in the game. One play can do it late in the fourth however. And the bad play with 3:20 left in the game was the game changer. The game was 24-17 at that point. Pivotal plays happened for both teams up until then. Dropped passes, specificly Colstons in the 1st, but one dropped pass before halftime cant be the loss for the team. If you got that route. The missed FG by Stover was equally huge, no?

However, Colston's drop was on 3rd down as well. The Garcon drop was huge, but i figured it as a wash to Colston's drop. The Colts were up by 1, they probably should have pinned the Saints back. If they don't get negative yardage needing to go deep on 3rd down there, I think they go for it on 4th down as well. That was a huge signature drive for the Saints defense. I don't blame the play calling for the 3 run plays at the end of the half. Colts were moving the ball well. They had to think they can pick up a 3rd and one after two straight runs of 4 and 5 yards. However, this plays into the discussion that the Colts played timmed trying not to lose instead of win. I fully expected Peyton to drop back and pass on 3rd and 1.

 

[Football Critic]

Lost in the shuffle here is that Joseph Addai ran as hot as he has in his entire career. He and Donald Brown should be a lethal 1-2 punch in the running game and make this team even harder to defend.This was also the first time I felt like the defense really missed Bob Sanders energy, presence, and spark plug effect.

I disagree, and the Saints were not as worried about the run game as mush as they were worried about Peyton, I'm certain.The big run also came on the Sharper botched ankle play. Without the 26 yard run, the run game looked average at best.Addai 13 for 77 (without the 26 yard miss tackle, 51 yards total)Brown 4 for 18

Its not about Addai's bottom line production or the Saints game plan, its the intensity he ran with - he wasn't tentative and finished his runs with great physicality.

It really is about the bottom line production, but I will conceed to the point he ran hard, as I agree he did.

 

[ATC1]

Lost in the shuffle here is that Joseph Addai ran as hot as he has in his entire career. He and Donald Brown should be a lethal 1-2 punch in the running game and make this team even harder to defend.This was also the first time I felt like the defense really missed Bob Sanders energy, presence, and spark plug effect.

I disagree, and the Saints were not as worried about the run game as mush as they were worried about Peyton, I'm certain.The big run also came on the Sharper botched ankle play. Without the 26 yard run, the run game looked average at best.Addai 13 for 77 (without the 26 yard miss tackle, 51 yards total)Brown 4 for 18

The screens and quick dump offs as an extension of the run game really kept the Colts out of 3rd and long. The Saints were playing to not give up the big play and executed that plan well. They played as good as you can expect in covering Clark.

 

[Doug B]

Also if you remember Reggie was injured Friday, they say it was minor. But could that have been a bigger factor into him making a bad route, or his non factor in the game period?

By the 4th qtr, it might have been hurting to cut sharp on that knee ... might have led to a rounding off of the route.

 

[ATC1]

Ummmm, was it not Reggie Wayne who ran a bad route? and made a horrible attempt at the ball? I think Reggie knew he screwed up, you can see as soon as he seen Porter break for the pass.

Great post. I said the same thing. If you watch the replay, Wayne was very lazy in his break, and let Porter beat him to the ball. Peyton threw the ball where Wayne should have been coming out of his break, when you don't run your route properly, bad things happen.

It looked to me as if his feet got tangled, but then again thats all part of that bad route. He knew the stride pattern I'm sure as Peyton said that is the routes they run most often.Either way, Reggie seemed to make the mistake...Peyton put it right where it should have been.

Wayne was off his game. At the end of the game, on 4th down, he pulls up out of his route to avoid getting hit, I think he if runs hard through the ball, he catches it in stride and easily makes it into the endzone after the catch. He would have gotten murdered on the play, but it's a TD and they're down by 7 with a minute to go. Wayne just didn't seem right that game, and I haven't seen a player pull up to avoid a hit like that in awhile, and this is coming from a guy who has watched Vernon "Alligator Arms" Davis for awhile.

Malcolm Jenkins almost came down with an INT to Wayne earlier in the 4th. I'm surprised the Colts did not try test the DBs more down the field.

 

[Football Critic]

Lost in the shuffle here is that Joseph Addai ran as hot as he has in his entire career. He and Donald Brown should be a lethal 1-2 punch in the running game and make this team even harder to defend.This was also the first time I felt like the defense really missed Bob Sanders energy, presence, and spark plug effect.

I disagree, and the Saints were not as worried about the run game as mush as they were worried about Peyton, I'm certain.The big run also came on the Sharper botched ankle play. Without the 26 yard run, the run game looked average at best.Addai 13 for 77 (without the 26 yard miss tackle, 51 yards total)Brown 4 for 18

The screens and quick dump offs as an extension of the run game really kept the Colts out of 3rd and long. The Saints were playing to not give up the big play and executed that plan well. They played as good as you can expect in covering Clark.

Yes screens are an extension of the run game, when they are designed screens.Do you think Peyton wanted to drop of to Addai 7 times?The play where Brown got the 11 yards catch early on the 96 yard scoring drive was a planned screen. Other then that, I dont remember too many designed screens.

 

[gianmarco]

I understand the magnitude of the Garcons drop, but one play dont win it or lose it that early in the game. One play can do it late in the fourth however. And the bad play with 3:20 left in the game was the game changer. The game was 24-17 at that point. Pivotal plays happened for both teams up until then. Dropped passes, specificly Colstons in the 1st, but one dropped pass before halftime cant be the loss for the team. If you got that route. The missed FG by Stover was equally huge, no?

I think the drop was huge and possibly did change the outcome because it obviously affected the Colts, and in particular Manning, a lot. He went into his "pout" mode and didn't look Garcon's way for most of the rest of the game. The playcalling also seemed to get more conservative after the drop. Now, I'm not saying that one drop should do that to a Super Bowl team. It shouldn't. But I think it did last night.

I'm with you on this. That drop was easily the biggest play of the game to me in terms of giving us a chance to get back in it. On the flipside, Colston made that terrible drop but Brees never stopped going to his #1 guy. And Colston made some very big catches. Btw, the one guy not getting talked about a lot is Pierre Thomas. After Brees, he was easily my #2 choice for MVP. He's done it every game in the postseason. Love that guy.ETA--Also, where did Devery Henderson finally learn how to catch the ball? This guy's hands were absolutely terrible for the first few years of his career. This year, he's caught almost everything thrown his way, making tough catches and catches in key situations. Last night was no different. Complete transformation.

 

[comfortably numb]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Colts side.

You are right and you are wrong. In most cases, the books want a balanced ledger and make their money on the juice. But in big games, especially the Super Bowl, they know they often get one sided action. Sometimes they DO take a stand. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they take it up the butt. In the Giants/Pats Super Bowl, they got destroyed. This year, the public was all over the Saints. The public doesn't really hunt out "value". They just bet. If you made the game pick em, or Colts -3, I suspect the public would've been largely unswayed and bet the game similarly. Granted, a line of even would've probably brought a large amount of "sharp" money on the Colts.Since Katrina, the Saints have become the "nations team" and Vegas should've lined the game with them having home field advantage, or at least partial HFA.I think a more logical line would've been Indy -1 1/2 or -2.

We will disagree.I think a lot of people looked at the Colts as the better team, but even they realized the Colts did not really blow anyone out.Keeping the spread more that the FG, may have been the deciding factor for those who wanted the colts but thought they would win a close one.I have no clue, but I bet a 2 team teaser of Colts +1.5 and over 51.5 was very popular.I think they got destroyed in the Giants/Pats game, because many, MANY NY fans bet on their own team with a line THAT large, and even quite a few even dabbled in the money line.But outside NY, this was the GOAT Pats who were easily dropping 40 on any one.

 

[switz]

Colts were playing injured at a number of key positions - Addai, Freeney, Clark, Wayne were all injured. Their DBs are weak, due to injuries earlier in the season pushing pretty young players into the starting roles. Not getting a pass rush going killed the Colts, period. This loss was on the defense, which didn't cover well, and didn't rush Brees much at all.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

I understand the magnitude of the Garcons drop, but one play dont win it or lose it that early in the game. One play can do it late in the fourth however. And the bad play with 3:20 left in the game was the game changer. The game was 24-17 at that point. Pivotal plays happened for both teams up until then. Dropped passes, specificly Colstons in the 1st, but one dropped pass before halftime cant be the loss for the team. If you got that route. The missed FG by Stover was equally huge, no?

I think the drop was huge and possibly did change the outcome because it obviously affected the Colts, and in particular Manning, a lot. He went into his "pout" mode and didn't look Garcon's way for most of the rest of the game. The playcalling also seemed to get more conservative after the drop. Now, I'm not saying that one drop should do that to a Super Bowl team. It shouldn't. But I think it did last night.

I'm with you on this. That drop was easily the biggest play of the game to me in terms of giving us a chance to get back in it. On the flipside, Colston made that terrible drop but Brees never stopped going to his #1 guy. And Colston made some very big catches.

Right and that's why the drops aren't equal: Garcon's seemed to really affect the Colts while Colston's was no big deal to the Saints.

 

[JJP]

How bad did Las Vegas and offshores screw up? Bad. Big time. As a Colts fan, I didn't want to wager against them, but there's no way I could justify laying 4 1/2 or more (up to 5 1/2 at one point). They lined the game as if it was in Indianapolis, not on a neutral field. Which brings to mind the next question: was it really a neutral field? According to a couple friends I have who were in Miami for several days and at the game, the mood down there was basically about 5 to 1 with Saint backers/rooters outnumbering Colts fans.

What do you think the spread should have been?Keeping in mind that the whole point of the spread is to get the action as close to 50% on each side?Personally, I think if the Colts were favored by UNDER 3 the action would have swayed way too much to the Colts side.

You are right and you are wrong. In most cases, the books want a balanced ledger and make their money on the juice. But in big games, especially the Super Bowl, they know they often get one sided action. Sometimes they DO take a stand. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they take it up the butt. In the Giants/Pats Super Bowl, they got destroyed. This year, the public was all over the Saints. The public doesn't really hunt out "value". They just bet. If you made the game pick em, or Colts -3, I suspect the public would've been largely unswayed and bet the game similarly. Granted, a line of even would've probably brought a large amount of "sharp" money on the Colts.Since Katrina, the Saints have become the "nations team" and Vegas should've lined the game with them having home field advantage, or at least partial HFA.I think a more logical line would've been Indy -1 1/2 or -2.

We will disagree.I think a lot of people looked at the Colts as the better team, but even they realized the Colts did not really blow anyone out.Keeping the spread more that the FG, may have been the deciding factor for those who wanted the colts but thought they would win a close one.I have no clue, but I bet a 2 team teaser of Colts +1.5 and over 51.5 was very popular.I think they got destroyed in the Giants/Pats game, because many, MANY NY fans bet on their own team with a line THAT large, and even quite a few even dabbled in the money line.But outside NY, this was the GOAT Pats who were easily dropping 40 on any one.

That Patriot team looked like the best team ever for the first 8 games or so but clearly saw a drop off in performance later in the season. The margins of victory went way down, and the Giant team they would face almost beat them straight up in the season finale.