Rapid Super Bowl Reaction

The Saints needed to play a great offensive game and a little luck in order to win. They got both. I missed almost the entire first half, but heard the final 2 minutes of the second quarter on the radio. I loved the going for it on 4th and goal from the 1 with under two minutes remaining and the score 10-3. By going for it, Sean Peyton said to his team: "We are here to win."

Everyone knew the Saints were the underdog in this game. Even the Saints knew it. They were going to need a little bit of luck to win. Going for it on 4th down played into both the strength of the Saints and against the strengths of the Colts. If they went for the field goal, the score would be 10-6, the Colts would get the ball at the 30 yard line with just under two minutes and all their time outs and I'm sure Peyton drives down to get at least a field goal and, more importantly, the momentum. This is exactly what happened in the Jets game two weeks ago, Peyton drove down and scored a TD right before halftime. It was the key drive of the game.

As it worked out, the Saints got a little lucky and stopped the Colts 3 and out after turning the ball over on downs. Because the Colts started from their own 1, their incentive was to just get one first down and run out the clock for the half, rather than try to drive 99 yards in under two minutes. That is a tall order, even for Manning. The Saints got the ball back at midfield with about 25 seconds and were able to complete a few passes and get a big field goal at the end of the half to get it to 10-6.

Obviously the onside kick was a risky move, but it worked and paid off. If they lose that play, they probably lose the game. But such an unexpected play probably had a 40-60 chance of working and it did. From there, they played a super smart second half, limiting the number of times Peyton Manning got hold of the ball and you could see the pressure building on the Colts, feeling the need to score every time they had it. They got unlucky on the long field goal and the Saints were able to convert in the red zone on the next possession and get the two point conversion, all huge plays because they put big time pressure on the Colts. Finally, that offensive and clock-management pressure got to Manning and he made a bad throw on a blitz that got run back for a touchdown.

I am positive if either the onside kick failed or the 51 yard field go was made, the Colts win that game. But the Saints, through clever clock management, were able to pressure the Colts and finally force Manning into an uncharacteristic mistake. The Gods were on New Orleans side tonight and good as Manning is, he is still a mortal and unable to escape his fate.