Saints March to Victory

The New Orleans Saints are your new Super bowl world champions. The Saints won their first championship and surprised the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts. Drew Brees was terrific and the Saints defense proved its resiliency. Terry Porter's 74 yard interception return for a touchdown picked took advantage of a rare Peyton Manning miscue. The Saints stunned the league after winning the Super Bowl following a season where they failed to make the playoffs.
The Colts, Super Bowl winners in 2007, were prepared for the electric atmosphere. The Saints, culprits of minor miscues early, appeared nervous and stunned in the early stages of the game. Marcos Colston dropped a perfect pass from Drew Brees eliminating a potential first down. The Colts scored the first 10 points of the game. The Saints got their usually high-octane offense moving soon after. The Colts were unable move the ball with ease as the game progressed. They experienced some tough dropped passes as well as defensive break downs. The biggest play ended up coming from Terry Porter who intercepted Manning and then ran it back for a score. The game became a double digit contest with 3 minutes left. The Colts could never recover. Let’s examine some of the reasons why the Colts lost.
What in the world happened to Peyton Manning? When the game mattered most and the Colts were in desperation to tie the game and perhaps the most reliable quarterback failed. However the results of the Super Bowl hardly fell independently on Peyton Manning’s shoulders. Instead we could always point a finger at Jim Caldwell for running the ball three times in a row in a horrible attempt to run the clock out at the end of the second quarter. Hey how about Pierre Garcon, must we remind you of the dropped pass which created a fourth down situation? If Garcon catches that, open field states more points would have been in order. Ohhh Reggie. I question whether Reggie Wayne truly is a number one Pro Bowl receiver but I keep my judgments inside, I’m sure Brandon Marshall would have made some of those tough grabs. Dropped passes, mistiming on routes, Mr. Wayne looked like the soft Colts receivers the Patriots ate for Sunday dinner a few years back. Dwight Freeney, his one sack in the first half certainly translated into a bum ankle in the second. His performance was valiant but it may have caused the defense to slow down. Drew Brees easily found each h receiver with ease. Let’s blame the Colts kicker good ol’ Matt Stover. What in the world are you doing pointing to the sky after a missed field goal? I guess at least one Colts player agreed it was God’s plan for the Saints to win. So let’s blame the Colts for their lack luster performance. The Colts that won the Super Bowl in 2007 were better and that’s why they won then. This year’s version played well through adversity but in the end lacked the big plays to finish with the championship.