Saints 31 Colts 17

Great game, you cannot ask for much more than that…

For those of you who saw the words of Phil Simms earlier Sunday in the pregame, wow did it help prep us for what we saw.  And Glenn was also not surprised by the Colts 32nd ranked running game, which kept the Saints off balance early.  Simms focused us on a very competitive Saints offense that he thought would be able to move the ball.  And his remarks about Sean Payton were there for everyone to hear…

“Payton is not afraid to put it out there.  You can never be afraid of going down in flames.  The Saints will go for it and do something special.” 

Phil Simms compared Sean Payton to Bill Parcells.  In everything.  You don’t think Payton’s time as Offensive Coordinator to Parcells when they were at Dallas had anything at all to do with the reason why the Saints won a title?!!!!!!!  Damn straight it did.  Payton laid it out there, he played to win.  Sometimes your gambles don’t work out.  Sometimes they do.  But his players play for him because they respect the aggressiveness.  Going for it at the goal line in Q2 is fine because the field position is still there, and you see the resulting FG he got one possession later.

The on-side kickoff for the start of Q3?!  STEEL B*LLS.  Good for him.  Get busy living or get busy dying.  The Saints were behind on tempo the entire first half and that play put them in a position to drive down the field and finally take the lead.

Did you notice that at 2nd and goal from the 2 in Q4, Payton did not make the same mistake twice and this time he went to the TE for the TD?!  You need the wide body in the redzone, not the YAC.  That is why we preach over and over again why you must use the TE consistently there, and why Gilbride suffers when he does not.

The challenge of the 2 point conversion was a layup.  Nothing to lose, except a timeout.  Plus it was properly overturned.

At the beginning of the game the Colts were rushing well up the middle, disrupting Brees as was noted on Friday.  But by Q2+, Brees had as much time (and space in front of him to step up and) to throw the ball as Peyton Manning, which meant the Saints were going to have an oppty if they just got tempo.  And that came on the onside kickoff.

I was not expecting Manning to make such a collosal error on the Porter INT.  I saw Manning getting a tie score, but obviously we know the rest.  Sure, we have seen Manning make boners before, but not like this. 

The fact that the Saints won does not surprise any of us here.  We called for a very competitive game with the Saints having a shot.  Kudos to Pete and Glenn who stepped out on the plank and called for the 5 point dog to win the game outright.  Peyton Manning is usually money, but the Saints defense played well after Q1, bending but not breaking.  That FG at the end of H1 to make it 10-6 was such a lift for the Saints.

I DID NOT LIKE THE FG CALL BY CALDWELL to send Stover, a 42 year old kicker, out for a 51 yarder.  BAD BAD BAD.  (1) He’s too old to likely have the leg for it (2) You take the ball out of Peyton Manning’s hands. (3) You give the ball back to the Saints at the 41 yard line.  The Saints used that great FG position to march down the field for the go ahead score.

Oh, one more thing… did that forever Super Bowl halftime (30 mins vs the normal 12) give Dwight Freeney’s ankle too much time to stiffen up/abandon him?  He disappeared figuratively and literally in the second half.  You think that made Brees and the Saints a little more effective?  It had to.    

Congrats Saints.