Super Bowl thoughts

Well, I wish this was a post about the Bears, but the closest we got was a commercial redoing the '85 Bears shuffle. Anyway, this game was built up to be a battle of the QBs, Peyton vs. Brees, and it was. Many predicted that Indy would cruise to a victory. I didn't think so I thought that the Saints had a good shot at this game. The Colts seemed too often to be digging themselves out of a hole and although they may have missed a perfect season by one half of Peyton sitting on the bench, they never seemed to have the domination factor the Patriots did a couple season ago. But they had Peyton and a slew of unheralded, impressive receivers, similar to the Saints. Speaking of the Saints, I knew that Drew Brees was good for my fantasy team. I was impressed by how Brees could spread the ball out to so many receivers. I liked the toughness of Pierre Thomas, although I have some U of I bias. I also thought both teams defenses were underrated due to their strong offenses.

Dual of QBs Fates. This was a battle of the QBs in my mind. They combined for a Super bowl record 63 completions. Brees, the MVP, was an impressive 32 for 39 going 288 yards with 2 TD. Meanwhile, Peyton was 31 for 45 going 333 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception. Those may seem like ordinary numbers for those two QBs in a regular season game, but both QBs took what was given to them. Both either had a lot of time to throw of was able to locate a check down. Both teams passed about 70% of time (IND: 45 passes in 64 plays NO: 39 passes in 57 plays). The crucial stat was there was only 1 turnover. As the game progressed, I felt that which ever team made a mistake first was going to lose. In this case, Brees and the Saints stood firm while Peyton and the Colts blinked.

Saints outplayed Colts in all but 1st quarter. The Colts owned the 1st quarter, but the rest of the game was won by the Saints, starting with two Garrett Hartley field goals in the second, the onside kick to start the half in the third, and the Tracy Porter interception in the fourth.

Gutsy calls by Payton. Sean Payton made some gutsy calls in this game. Two that immediately come to mind are going for it on 4th down and goal near the end of the 1st half and of course the onside kick to start the 2nd half. Payton was definitely seemed like he was going to take the risks to try and get the reward. Luckily for him it worked. If the onside had not worked, the decision to go for it and give Peyton Manning the ball on his own 40 would have definitely been questioned. Especially after the Saints had just worked their way to a 10-6 margin.

Content to take whats underneath. Too many, the game seemed a little lackluster for such a close game. I think this is because of the way both teams approached each other. Both teams were afraid of a total aerial assault, so they were willing to give up the short plays. As a result there didn't seem to be too many huge plays for large gains. It was methodical drives down the field with each team gaining just enough to advance the ball.

Garrett Hartley, Pierre Thomas, and Joseph Addai. An impressive day for Garrett Hartley easily kicking field goals of 46, 44, and 47 yard, the first kicker to kick 3 40+ field goals in a Super bowl. Hartley not only put the ball right down the center, he kept the Saints from sliding out of the game in the early going, bring the halftime score to a 10-6 match. Although Pierre Thomas only went 9 carries for 30 yards and a TD, he was hard to bring down and was very impressive in his one TD. Ditto of Joseph Addai who bested Thomas with 13 carries for 77 yards and 1 TD. I was impressed at how Addai exploded through the hole. He also had 7 receptions for 58 yards.