Super Bowl post mortem (1 Viewer)

[Breesisdaman]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

Most of that is utter bull ####. Your team just won the SB and you are still playing the "we don't get no respect" card. Give it a rest.

 

[Breesisdaman]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

Most of that is utter bull ####. Your team just won the SB and you are still playing the "we don't get no respect" card. Give it a rest.

Now we have respect. Before nothing. Anyway as far as who screwed up in the game goes I would have to say the Colts coaching staff. They should have been ready for anything including an on side kick to start the second half. They were not and they put their players at a disadvantage they never recovered from.

 

[DoubleG]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

Most of that is utter bull ####. Your team just won the SB and you are still playing the "we don't get no respect" card. Give it a rest.

(again - that's like two in a row. Good work today.) Maybe the Saints players used some of that "Us against the world" stuff to pump themselves up for the game (heck the Colts did the same thing with their "we know most people are pulling for the Saints" stuff), but to suggest that most people discounted the Saints is ridiculous. The Saints were the #1 seed in the NFC. For several weeks, people were talking about the possibility of two undefeated teams meeting in the Super Bowl (Colts and the Saints). Anyone who was "discounting" the Saints or "respecting" the #1 offense is either just a casual fan or lived in Indy. Just to differentiate here as well - picking the Colts to win the game would NOT be "discounting" or "disrespecting". Most people I know thought it was going to be a phenimenal game, with two great teams and two of the best QBs in the game today - and it was.

 

[Football Critic]

who screwed up most?

The ref who didn't call block in the back on the int return.

Peyton didnt even try, like he was gonna mke a tackle, they talked about this on ESPN....the refs prolly seen the over commit and decided not to call the penalty

 

[Football Critic]

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.

I agree. If Garcon doesn't drop that pass, Indy probably goes up 17-3 and forces the Saints to start playing desperate in the 2nd quarter.

This is truly a horrible post with all do respect.We should just not play the game and go off what you think, its much more accurate.LOL, these are the type of posts that do nothing for the board, it is just assumption on your part.What is your reasoning?

 

[Football Critic]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

Most of that is utter bull ####. Your team just won the SB and you are still playing the "we don't get no respect" card. Give it a rest.

Saints are and will get tons of respect, no need to cry for it.Saints earned the respect of millions of people as well as earned themselves some more fans, including me, considering I was already kind of a Saints fan.Infact time to trade in the Logo, just to show my respect for the Champs!Now if the Packers can win another I'd be all set!

 

[Breesisdaman]

who screwed up most?

The ref who didn't call block in the back on the int return.

Peyton didnt even try, like he was gonna mke a tackle, they talked about this on ESPN....the refs prolly seen the over commit and decided not to call the penalty

after what happened to Warner can you blame him.

 

[JJP]

All night I was wondering were Wayne was - and when he was there, he was playing tentative and looked old and slow. Now, much of it could have been due to the knee injury (which I think was much worse than the Colts lead us to beleive), but he still looked to be playing very soft.

a little credit to greer and the saints secondary might be in order here. the saints played warner, favre and manning to get the superbowl win. the WR1 for each team - fitzgerald, rice and wayne - all had underwhelming games against the saints. the only WR to have 100+ yards against the saints during this playoff run was berrian. the opposing QBs put up a lot of yardage but weren't able to take over the game.

That is a good point. To take down Warner, Favre and Manning in succession is very impressive. 3 certain Hall of Fame QBs. Doubt that has ever been done before.

 

[Breesisdaman]

All night I was wondering were Wayne was - and when he was there, he was playing tentative and looked old and slow. Now, much of it could have been due to the knee injury (which I think was much worse than the Colts lead us to beleive), but he still looked to be playing very soft.

a little credit to greer and the saints secondary might be in order here. the saints played warner, favre and manning to get the superbowl win. the WR1 for each team - fitzgerald, rice and wayne - all had underwhelming games against the saints. the only WR to have 100+ yards against the saints during this playoff run was berrian. the opposing QBs put up a lot of yardage but weren't able to take over the game.

That is a good point. To take down Warner, Favre and Manning in succession is very impressive. 3 certain Hall of Fame QBs. Doubt that has ever been done before.

And to be a little more specific the Saints defense allowed only two touchdown passes, while producing four interceptions against the 3 HOF QB's.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

To be fair, it was a pretty different way of getting those records. The Colts' starters didn't lose to anyone the whole season going into the Super Bowl. The Saints lost to the Cowboys and Buccaneers on successive weeks...at home. The records were more like 13-2 vs 14-0 in the regular season, with a two-game losing streak for the Saints. I think that's why many thought the Colts were taking the Colts. They were "undefeated" up until then.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

To be fair, it was a pretty different way of getting those records. The Colts' starters didn't lose to anyone the whole season going into the Super Bowl. The Saints lost to the Cowboys and Buccaneers on successive weeks...at home. The records were more like 13-2 vs 14-0 in the regular season, with a two-game losing streak for the Saints. I think that's why many were taking the Colts. They were "undefeated" up until then.

 

[Pabst Blue Ribbon]

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.

This was the critical error to me, on the 3rd down play Manning went deep for Collie and missed which set up the deep FG. Stover had been super shaky on anything over 40 much less 50, it just seemed like a low percentage play with a lot of downside risk. If they could have picked up 5-6 yards on 3rd down that could have made all the difference. Add Vinateri to the list of important Colts who were out/limited....he's only the most clutch kicker in the history of the SB.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

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.

Not to mention Wayne's drop of the ball in the endzone at the end of the game. I was really disappointed in Wayne, and Garcon and Collie, to a lesser extent. Still hate the conservative approach, too. (Not going for 19-0, trying to run the clock out at the end of the 1st half, and the rest of the non-aggressive decisions already pointed out.)

 

[Football Critic]

who screwed up most?

The ref who didn't call block in the back on the int return.

Peyton didnt even try, like he was gonna mke a tackle, they talked about this on ESPN....the refs prolly seen the over commit and decided not to call the penalty

after what happened to Warner can you blame him.

Ummmmmm, if its the differnce in the Superbowl, absolutly!

 

[ICON211]

Who screwed up the most? everyone who discounted the Saints chances in the game including everyone at ESPN and most other sports networks. All the talk was about the Vikings in the Championship game and most all the media attention went to the colts before this game. No one respected the Saints even though they had the #1 ranked offense, even though they lost just 1 more game than the colts during the regular season and had the same post season record. Why because of Manning. How fitting is it that the QB that was overlooked in all the analysis and in the MVP regular season was the QB to have a game for the ages and seal his name as the Super bowl 44 MVP.

Most of that is utter bull ####. Your team just won the SB and you are still playing the "we don't get no respect" card. Give it a rest.

Now we have respect. Before nothing. Anyway as far as who screwed up in the game goes I would have to say the Colts coaching staff. They should have been ready for anything including an on side kick to start the second half. They were not and they put their players at a disadvantage they never recovered from.

Am I the only one who saw Basket in a position to field the onside kick? Its not like the entire Colt team turned their backs and ran down the field before the ball was kicked. Give Payton credit for a great gamble, but the Colts coaching staff is taking too blame for this one IMO.

 

[massraider]

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.

The vast majority of public money was on the Colts and the over. If you think Vegas screwed up, I don't think you understand how wagering works.

 

[ICON211]

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.

The vast majority of public money was on the Colts and the over. If you think Vegas screwed up, I don't think you understand how wagering works.

Exactly. The line started at 4 and kept going up till it reached 5 1/2 because most of the money was being placed on the Colts.

 

[Debbie Downer]

I think I screwed up the most by not putting a dime on the under.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Did you hear about Pierre Garcon's new charity? Drops for Haiti

I think this is unfair. Garcon had a drop. So what? So did Colston. But Colston and the Saints rebounded from it. You could take Garcon out of the game and the Colts still had plenty of talent. Clark had an amazing game. Addai was running like a real running back. He was catching passes like in their previous Super Bowl. Receivers drop passes sometimes. The Saints didn't let Colston's drop derail their game plan. They kept going to him. That play changed the tempo of the game because the Colts let it change the tempo of the game. I know this was a joke, but I think Garcon is taking a bit too much heat for a drop.

 

[ATC1]

Did you hear about Pierre Garcon's new charity? Drops for Haiti

I think this is unfair. Garcon had a drop. So what? So did Colston. But Colston and the Saints rebounded from it. You could take Garcon out of the game and the Colts still had plenty of talent. Clark had an amazing game. Addai was running like a real running back. He was catching passes like in their previous Super Bowl. Receivers drop passes sometimes. The Saints didn't let Colston's drop derail their game plan. They kept going to him. That play changed the tempo of the game because the Colts let it change the tempo of the game. I know this was a joke, but I think Garcon is taking a bit too much heat for a drop.

Garcon made that TD catch. Sure it was a great throw, but it was not needed because Garcon avoided being jammed at the line with his quickness. Any type of jam and Roman Harper might of had enough time to cover the end zone. It was a 3rd down play as well, so the Colts would have settled for 3.

 

[jonmhend]

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?

In general I think that's true in that it was a 3rd down play in the early 2nd quarter. However, in a game where the Colts only had the ball 8 times that was a huge drop. At the time, they had dominated the stats putting up in the ballpark of 160 yards in the 1st quarter. The O was in sync and Manning hit him in stride. They looked different after that.I also think the dropped INT from Bethea was huge. I was there so I had limited replays, but it looked like it hit him in the hands. It would have been a great catch, but still one you should make. At that point, Brees was just hitting his stride and it probably would have shaken his confidence. Plus given the Colts another chance to extend the lead.

 

[Green and Gold]

who screwed up most?

The ref who didn't call block in the back on the int return.

Remember when the Colts did win the superbowl? They were assisted in beating the Pats in the AFC Championship game with a PI call in the endzone, by a rule that hadn't been in the books for 2 years. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it don't.

 

[IDrinkyourMilkshake]

Polian says OLINE deserves a lot of blame for the loss

I'm no expert (nor do I pretend to be) but I thought the OLINE did a pretty good job of picking up blitzes, giving Manning time and opening up some holes for the RB's.

 

[Breesisdaman]

I went back and watched the game without the nervous apprehension this time. I didn't realize that Manning and the Colts were held scoreless the entire 4th quarter. The same Manning who is known for coming back and finishing games late. The Same Manning that caused Bill Belichick to call that stupid 4th down call just to keep it out of Mannings hands in the Colts /Patriots game. Manning and the Colts were shut down in the 4th quarter from scoring a single point. There is the reason they lost, forget what I said about the onside kick because even after that play the Colts rebounded to a 17-13 lead on the next possession . Little did they know that scoring drive would be their last points of the ball game. Saints Defense took over and thats what sealed the deal.

 

[Doug B]

Polian says OLINE deserves a lot of blame for the loss

I'm no expert (nor do I pretend to be) but I thought the OLINE did a pretty good job of picking up blitzes, giving Manning time and opening up some holes for the RB's.

I can see where Polian is coming from. The Indy O-line's run blocking blew hot and cold. On one play, Addai smurfwalks to a first down. On another, Addai gets swarmed behind the line. While the Colts had on-paper success running the ball, there were also some poorly-timed negative-yardage plays.Also, the Colts never could get their bubble screens going ... Saints' defenders were consistently blowing that up. Could also put that on the Colts' O-line.

 

[Football Critic]

Polian says OLINE deserves a lot of blame for the loss

I'm no expert (nor do I pretend to be) but I thought the OLINE did a pretty good job of picking up blitzes, giving Manning time and opening up some holes for the RB's.

As I stated earlier, I think the OLine was the best part of the Colts game. I think this is fodder as Polian is looking to blame anyone but Manning, seeing as how he just recently said he was gonna make Peyton the highest paid player in football, he may need to justify himself at this time. Just my opinion.

 

[Football Critic]

Polian says OLINE deserves a lot of blame for the loss

I'm no expert (nor do I pretend to be) but I thought the OLINE did a pretty good job of picking up blitzes, giving Manning time and opening up some holes for the RB's.

I can see where Polian is coming from. The Indy O-line's run blocking blew hot and cold. On one play, Addai smurfwalks to a first down. On another, Addai gets swarmed behind the line. While the Colts had on-paper success running the ball, there were also some poorly-timed negative-yardage plays.Also, the Colts never could get their bubble screens going ... Saints' defenders were consistently blowing that up. Could also put that on the Colts' O-line.

Maybe Addai missed a few holes! But then again the OLine opened many and executed screens well. Thats why I said the OLine was the reason for Addais performance!

 

[Mark Wimer]

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.

I'm with Sigmund here. Either play to WIN or go home. In the end, the Colts went home empty handed. The Saints went for a perfect record, fell short, and then rebounded in the playoffs to win the championship. They experienced adversity at the end of the regular season, and the challenge of overcoming that adversity lifted their team.

So you are saying the Saints TRIED to win week 17 against Carolina, when Drew Brees did not start?

Dude, Brees and company didn't lose their first time in week 17. They lost the perfect season shot in week 15. Up until that loss, they (coach Sean Payton and Brees, among others) were very public with their intention to go for the perfect season if it was possible. As gianmarco has pointed out along with Sigmund and me, the mentality/spirit of the Saints' franchise has been all year and was in the Super Bowl to go for the win (like the fantastic and gutsy call to kick the onside kick to start the second half). They went full-bore and beat the Colts due to their superior attitude/effort, in my opinion.MW

 

[ICON211]

Polian says OLINE deserves a lot of blame for the loss

I'm no expert (nor do I pretend to be) but I thought the OLINE did a pretty good job of picking up blitzes, giving Manning time and opening up some holes for the RB's.

I can see where Polian is coming from. The Indy O-line's run blocking blew hot and cold. On one play, Addai smurfwalks to a first down. On another, Addai gets swarmed behind the line. While the Colts had on-paper success running the ball, there were also some poorly-timed negative-yardage plays.Also, the Colts never could get their bubble screens going ... Saints' defenders were consistently blowing that up. Could also put that on the Colts' O-line.

What does the OLine have to do with bubble screens? The QB takes the snap and almost immediatley throws to a WR. Manning was not sacked, did not take a lot of hits, and their run game was more than solid. Tough to lay the blame at the feet of the OLine.

 

[Gr00vus]

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.

32 completions given up and people are still hanging the loss on Manning?

 

[Football Critic]

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.

32 completions given up and people are still hanging the loss on Manning?

Was Manning not deemed "God" by most?He gets all the credit, cant give it all to him when they win...and then not make him own up to a horrible loss in the game that should of defined him!

 

[DropKick]

who screwed up most?

The ref who didn't call block in the back on the int return.

Peyton didnt even try, like he was gonna mke a tackle, they talked about this on ESPN....the refs prolly seen the over commit and decided not to call the penalty

My thoughts exactly; a good job of not over-officiating.Haven't seen much mention of Wayne's injury - not sure how bad the knee was...I think you have to knock Peyton. His head seemed to get out of it after the Garcon drop and being kept off the field. I actually predicted the pick 6 after seeing him scowl on the sideline.I think the 51 yard attempt was bone-headed too. Punt the ball with a 1 point lead and play field position. Too much risk in handing the Saints the ball at the 41.

 

[DropKick]

I went back and watched the game without the nervous apprehension this time. I didn't realize that Manning and the Colts were held scoreless the entire 4th quarter. The same Manning who is known for coming back and finishing games late. The Same Manning that caused Bill Belichick to call that stupid 4th down call just to keep it out of Mannings hands in the Colts /Patriots game. Manning and the Colts were shut down in the 4th quarter from scoring a single point. There is the reason they lost, forget what I said about the onside kick because even after that play the Colts rebounded to a 17-13 lead on the next possession . Little did they know that scoring drive would be their last points of the ball game. Saints Defense took over and thats what sealed the deal.

FWIW the Saints were hesitant to call time-out after 2nd down at the end of the 1st half even though the Colts were pinned deep in their own territory. This respect for Manning is the same thing the Patriot's did... by the way, they converted the 4th and 2. Horrible spot by the officiating crew.

 

[Breesisdaman]

I went back and watched the game without the nervous apprehension this time. I didn't realize that Manning and the Colts were held scoreless the entire 4th quarter. The same Manning who is known for coming back and finishing games late. The Same Manning that caused Bill Belichick to call that stupid 4th down call just to keep it out of Mannings hands in the Colts /Patriots game. Manning and the Colts were shut down in the 4th quarter from scoring a single point. There is the reason they lost, forget what I said about the onside kick because even after that play the Colts rebounded to a 17-13 lead on the next possession . Little did they know that scoring drive would be their last points of the ball game. Saints Defense took over and thats what sealed the deal.

FWIW the Saints were hesitant to call time-out after 2nd down at the end of the 1st half even though the Colts were pinned deep in their own territory. This respect for Manning is the same thing the Patriot's did... by the way, they converted the 4th and 2. Horrible spot by the officiating crew.

No they didnt

 

[Football Critic]

who screwed up most?

The ref who didn't call block in the back on the int return.

Peyton didnt even try, like he was gonna mke a tackle, they talked about this on ESPN....the refs prolly seen the over commit and decided not to call the penalty

My thoughts exactly; a good job of not over-officiating.Haven't seen much mention of Wayne's injury - not sure how bad the knee was...I think you have to knock Peyton. His head seemed to get out of it after the Garcon drop and being kept off the field. I actually predicted the pick 6 after seeing him scowl on the sideline.I think the 51 yard attempt was bone-headed too. Punt the ball with a 1 point lead and play field position. Too much risk in handing the Saints the ball at the 41.

Careful, there is a guy name JohnnyU going around being the Peyton police

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

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.

Who screwed up the most? The 12th guy in the huddle for the Vikings when they played the Saints which caused them a field goal winning attempt.I'm pretty confident that the best team this season was the Minnesota Vikings but nobody will remember that just like you don't really remember how great the Patriots were who LOST in the SB when they were undefeated.If I were a Vikings fan, I'd be sick to my stomach.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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.

Just compare:Brees had the same thing happen with Colston and he went back to him repeatedly. Garcon's a far stretch from Colston but Brees showed the same trust with Colston as an undrafted rookie, which is how Colston became Colston.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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.

I'm not sure I get this. Has Manning or Wayne conceded there was a bad route? Where does this come from?Manning described it as a bread and butter play, one they had run a thousand times during the season.Porter outstudied and out-thunk Manning there, that's what happened.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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.

Isn't Manning practically responsible for calling the plays? Isn't he the on-field coach?how about Manning checking off from run plays so often, which it looked like he was doing? Running the ball is how you beat the Saints - see the Cowboys and (almost) the Vikes for that. Could Manning just not allow that?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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..

Who does this, the pouting and throwing of towels thing when a fellow players 'disappoints' him?Brady?Warner?Favre?Brees?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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

That was the Colts' defensive strategy though.They were guarding against teh big play.You know what else that did? It allowed the Saints to control the field, the momentum and the clock (which after the 1st quarter they did very well).

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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.

Addai and Clark weren't limited at all. You can list them as "injured", but it's not as if the Saints were completely injury free and 100% healthy. Freeney was obviously very huge, but the fact that there was really only 1 major player on both teams that was hurt for a Super Bowl is great. Let's also not forget how Greer got hurt early on and on the subsequent play, Peyton burns Young for a TD. So the injury thing cuts both ways.While I agree with you that the Colts defense got no pass rush and it definitely hurt the Colts, they still held the NO offense to 24 pts. And, more importantly, the Colts offense scored 17 points. I think the Colts offense was more disappointing than their defense. Then again, the Saints underrated defense played a big factor in that.

I don't know about that.The Saints cored on 6 of their last 7 possessions. The one they missed on ended at the 1 yard line in the 4th down try that ended up netting them 3 points anyway. Brees finished 29 of 32, the lone misses being two drops and a spike. That's dominance.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

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.

I was not surprised by the line.First of all isn't that partly driven by where the betting was going?Look at the past SB newcomers who had failed: Cards, Seahawks, Falcons, Bears (well since 1985), Eagles, Panthers. They had all come, they had all fell short. The Colts were there 3 years before, had Manning and an all-Pro laden team, and had started 14-0.And then there was the press: with all the constant talk about Manning ascending to the throne ofall time great NFL QB that just had to drive the money toward the Colts somehow, some way, and that's what happened, the line went up.But my view on it was the Saints had gone through two really terrific QB's and offenses and a great all-round team in the Vikes. And the Saints had also had the toughest battle coming out of the Championships. and yet the reaction from the press and betting line seemed to be disappointment there would be no Favre/Manning matchup and a certain amount of deflation towards the Colts after that.Yes, I thought and still do think the Vikes are very, very good. Their defense is better than the Saints or the Colts and their line is fantastic. I thought that was an extremely impressive win.In terms of who desrves the blame:I would like to say Peyton Manning. It's all there right? The interception, the turning down of the rungame in favor of the passing game, the inability to connect with Wayne especially deep, etc. But why not the front office, Polian and Irsay? Because Childress got a load of criticism for letting Favre take over his offense at crucial times. And then people said, well, they got what they deserved, that's what Favre does. And yet with Manning the Colts have just surrendered altogether. - In terms of Manning, maybe it is too much for him. So he can run the offense on-field in his sleep, so he can be asked to make ridiculous comebacks and hit rookie and free agent WR's off the street in stride when called upon. It's too much. The man has produced 10 teams with 10 wins or more including two teams that started better than 13-0. He clearly is a great QB, but it is too much to ask him to drive a team through the playoffs, through a Championship/Super Bowl. Someone needs to call the plays. So Manning can check off out of plays better than anyone - well, should he be?Otherwise, watching the game I could not believe how the Colts defense was playing into the Saints hands. In the 2nd Quarter I said the Saints would win the game the way things were going. The Colts left receivers open underneath all night long; that is ridiculous, Brees does not miss. At all. The way to beat the Saints is take away the underneath stuff. Dallas did that. Take the chances with the big plays over the top, and if ANYONE could recover from that it would be Manning. It's almost like the Colts were the ones fearing a shootout. So I put that on Coyer.Gregg Williams deserves a game ball for coaching up schemes that would limit Peyton Manning to just 1 TD. I posted them before but in 4 out of the previous 6 games Williams faced Manning he limited him to just that, 1 TD, and this time Williams had the offense to back him up.After exploding for a 31-7 difference after the 1st quarter and after seeing Brees go 29/32 with no INT's, ot me there is no doubt that coaching was the difference. You cannot put that performance on any, one, single Colts player.

 

[Saints-Man]

....It's not the the benching of players 5 weeks ago had to do with how they played. It's the mentality of it. It's the letting off on the gas pedal. Payton and the Saints went full throttle from week 1 until yesterday. That mentality showed in his play calling. The letting off the gas pedal showed in the FG attempt and the trying to just run off the clock before halftime.

To be fair, the Saints did take off week 17 against Carolina.

 

[Saints-Man]

i think it all goes back to coach payton. he coached a great game, i thought. sure, he took chances when they were presented but also called some great plays, like the 2Q drive. i thought that drive calmed the SB jitters which all of the NO seemed to be experiencing. however, it was little things like the screen play to thomas for the TD or shifting to a short passing game to move the ball after it became clear the deep ball wasn't going to happen. the players certainly executed - offense, defense and special teams - as near to perfection as possible but the coach had a great plan and made some nice adjustments.

HC Payton did a fantastic job.

 

[T Love]

From the betting perspective, this thread me. Vegas did fine as more money was on Colts & Over than Saints & Under. Yes they could have potentially won more with a closer line, but if Manning doesn't throw that pick, Colts could have potentially won and covered.

Totally agree that Caldwell coached not to lose, just like pulling his starters. Saints went for the win and were rewarded for it.

 

[DropKick]

I went back and watched the game without the nervous apprehension this time. I didn't realize that Manning and the Colts were held scoreless the entire 4th quarter. The same Manning who is known for coming back and finishing games late. The Same Manning that caused Bill Belichick to call that stupid 4th down call just to keep it out of Mannings hands in the Colts /Patriots game. Manning and the Colts were shut down in the 4th quarter from scoring a single point. There is the reason they lost, forget what I said about the onside kick because even after that play the Colts rebounded to a 17-13 lead on the next possession . Little did they know that scoring drive would be their last points of the ball game. Saints Defense took over and thats what sealed the deal.

FWIW the Saints were hesitant to call time-out after 2nd down at the end of the 1st half even though the Colts were pinned deep in their own territory. This respect for Manning is the same thing the Patriot's did... by the way, they converted the 4th and 2. Horrible spot by the officiating crew.

No they didnt

I don't want to get off topic but watch the replay sometime. The ball was possessed across the 30 and the receiver thrown back. The official who spotted the ball was behind the receiver and had ZERO vision of the play. Situations like that really should be discussed by the crew.

 

[DropKick]

Who screwed up the most? The 12th guy in the huddle for the Vikings when they played the Saints which caused them a field goal winning attempt.I'm pretty confident that the best team this season was the Minnesota Vikings but nobody will remember that just like you don't really remember how great the Patriots were who LOST in the SB when they were undefeated.If I were a Vikings fan, I'd be sick to my stomach.

Any team that loses in the play-offs is probably a little sick - including the Cowboys.I also think the Vikings should have beat the Saints - however they managed to blow it when the moment got big. Maybe that's coaching... maybe it was Favre, maybe it was bad luck. I think the Saint's staff out coached the Colts. I'm not so sure Childress gets it done,

 

[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.

I'm not sure I get this. Has Manning or Wayne conceded there was a bad route? Where does this come from?Manning described it as a bread and butter play, one they had run a thousand times during the season.

Porter outstudied and out-thunk Manning there, that's what happened.

He out-thunk him so much, that it tangled Waynes feet....I disagree with your opinion.Did u see the replay, if you can tell me Wayne gave a 110% on the route, I will have to check to see if I really watched the right game on Sunday!