Super Bowl XLIV- New Orleans Saints: 31, Indianapolis Colts: 17 (FINAL)
And there you have it, another stellar season ending to another stellar season. Yes, sir, the game had it all: two of the best teams in the league, two players named Pierre scoring touchdowns, a fourth down stop, a kicker making three 40+ yard field goals, the first onside kick in SB history not in the fourth quarter, the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, two great offenses, an epic pick six, and even the return of the legend that is the Peyton Manning face. There were $3 million commercials, a band that is as old as the Super Bowl itself performing for twelve minutes, and even a nationwide viewership of 106.7 million (the largest audience in American television history). But in the end, it was the Saints and the now enthusiastic city of New Orleans that ended up winning the Lombardi Trophy at days end.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, yet I tend to get a little angry every time I make a wrong prediction, especially in the playoffs. Not angry as in mad, but more like an upset type of angry. Usually the two things I get upset are at two things: myself, and for some reason, the team that won for not doing what they were supposed to do and lose. So, did that tradition continue for me on Sunday? Did I get upset at the Saints for winning this ballgame, losing me a sum of money, becoming my third incorrect Super Bowl pick ever, and embarrassing me especially after I made an over one thousand word piece as to why I thought the Colts would win?
The answer: no. And how could I? They were one of the best teams the entire season (with an 13-0 record at one point, if I might add) with one of the most exciting team to watch week in and week out for not just this past season, but for the last four years ever since they started playing in the Louisiana Superdome again. They have Drew Brees, who with this win has now cemented is place as one of the top five QBs of the decade (along with Manning, Brady, Roethlesberger and, in a tie, Favre and Warner) and the guy you always had to have on your fantasy team year in and year out (or at least for me, as he was the starter in my only championship team back in 2007 and a beast in producing points), as well as the offensive master and ballsiest coach in the league. They were also my second favorite team the last four years not located in Chicago.
The team has been one of the best symbols of hope in a city that was in living hell and really one of the few things that distracted them, if only for three hours every week, from the troubles that they can still see every week. They have turned the franchise around from one of the biggest laughinstocks year in and year out to a possible dynasty. And let's not forget that great relationship with the fans, which can only be matched with that of Pittsburgh and the Steelers as well as Green Bay and the Packers.
But enough about why the Saints are awesome, let's get into the game. Overall, I guess you can say it was the type of game that was thought of to be. In the beginning, most people were predicting either a Colts blowout or a match which would be an up-and-down, close battle that will mostly go down to which side will make the biggest plays And on Sunday, the latter scenario turned out to be the case. After the end of the first quarter, it appeared that the Colts, who were leading 10-0 (note: only one team in Super Bowl history before this game came back from a ten point or more deficit to win the big game) would go on to win the game, and big stories like how the Colts crushed New Orleans, the possibility of a dynasty ahead, how Manning is one of the greatest QBs of all time, etc., would be leading headlines across the country on Monday morning. But, for some reason, the Saints would not allow that to happen.
The reasons were simple: ballsy coaching moves by Sean Payton, a great second half offense and a well done job by the Saints passing defense. The first real example of this came in the end of the second quarter. With New Orleans down 10-3 and with the ball one yard away from the end zone, Sean Payton decided on going for it rather then trying for the easy three points. And even though Mike Bell's run was stopped beautifully by the Colts defense, it did prove to be a good thing for the team. Because a few plays after that happened, the Colts played conservative, deciding on three consecutive rushing plays that resulted in a fourth down and New Orleans football with less than a minute to play. The Saints then ended up getting good field position, and it all ended with Garrett Hartley making the long field to make the score after the first half 10-6 Colts.
After, things only got better for New Orleans. After a thirty minute break that featured a less than spectacular performance by The Who (we'll get to that later), the Saints were set to kick off to the Colts to start the second half. But Saints coach Sean Payton had other plans. Instead of kicking it off, he make a gutsy move (probably one of the gutsiest move in this game's 44 year history) by going for the ONSIDE FREAKIN' KICK (the first attempted onside kick in Super Bowl history that was not in the fourth quarter)... and succeeding! (all thanks to Hank Basket for not catching the ball). A few plays later, Drew Brees connects with Pierre Thomas for a Saints TD, giving them a 13-10 lead, their first lead of the Super Bowl. The Colts ended up right back in there by immediately getting a touchdown to lead 17-13. Unfortunately for Indianapolis, it was all Who Dat? nation from there on.
For starters, Drew Brees played like Terry Bradshaw from then on, having all but one pass thrown completed and finishing the game 32-39, an 82% completion percentage (second best all time in a Super Bowl. In a related note, Brees also broke the NFL record for best completion percentage with one that was nearly 71%. It's amazing that only two teams, the Saints and the Dolphins, wanted him when he was a free agent!), for 288 yards, 2 TDs and no INTs. Second, they only gave Peyton Manning and the Colts offense little time with the football. And when they did, it didn't finish well, one time with a missed field goal by Matt Stover, and the other with probably the play that put the game away.
With 4:20 to play in the game and the Saints up 24-17, the Colts had the football in Saints territory with a chance to tie the ballgame up. On 3rd & 5 Manning, who had a relatively great game up until this point, took a simple three step drop pass to Reggie Wayne, a play that they must have completed hundreds of time over the years. Now, whether it was Manning fault for throwing the ball too wide and/or too short, or whether it was Wayne for not being in the right spot will never be determined. Either way, Tracy Porter, one of the key players in that Saints secondary that led the league in INTs, made it to the ball, caught it, and ran it for the touchdown. Ballgame over, Super Bowl over, season over.
And so, here we are. The Saints aren't the 'Aints any longer, Mardi Gras in New Orleans just started a week early, and Drew Brees and Sean Payton are now gods in the minds of people all over the Bayou. As for the Colts, I don't want to say that this loss was worse than the Patriots going 18-1, but it's really darn close. After all, from the moment they stupidly and snobbishly benched their starters in week 16, (because it has worked SO WELL for them) they just sent a message out there that they were going to play for the Super Bowl. It's all about resting your starters, they said. We're going after the title, they said. Well, not only they didn't do this, but they also embarrassed themselves in the process by giving up a ten point lead, an onside kick, an INT in the drive they needed to score and many other embarrassments in the process. And now, instead of being known as the team that could have been 18-1 (which definitely would've happened), they will just be known as another year that solidifies their seat as the Atlanta Braves of the NFL.
Other stuff:
The Bridgestone Halftime Show (starring The Who)
All right, I'll admit that it wasn't TERRIBLE. The stage was well designed, the song choices were just right and the crowd seemed to be really into it (unlike previous Super Bowls). And the voice of Roger Daltry was all right. But it was still sub-par nonetheless. Also, it wasn't actually The Who, but more like the two remaining members of it. After all, if Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed in a show, would you consider it a performance by The Beatles? Of course not. But at least it was better than Carrie Underwood's performance of the national anthem. I'm not saying it was bad, but that was the only time that entire day my dad turned down the volume.
The Commercials:
Dear, God, did this year's slate of commercials suck. It was as if most of them were thought of by the advertisers two weeks before the game when they finally realized that they still didn't have an idea of an ad, and just took any random suggestion made by the people in charge (hence this year's Bud Light commercial). And they were unoriginal, too. In fact, I believe that more than half featured either the idea of either "Hey, guy, buy this product to restore your manhood now!" or featured football in it. In fact, I even made a top five of the worst commercials:
5. Bud Light- Autotuning
It's good that the folks over at Bud finally recognized the big craze of 2006 and address it, even though dozens of people have already made autotuning satire before them.
4. Sketchers Shape-Ups
Boring, and questionable. After all, if you're gonna have Joe Montana saying something about your product, you might as well actually show him in the commercial instead of paying him to read a scripted line for him to quote, right?
3. Bud Light- Asteroid
Predictable, crude and humorless. Geez, Bud, what happened to those funny commercials you used to make like the brilliant Magic Fridge and Rock, Paper Scissors One ones? Now, you just don't even care anymore.
2. Any Go Daddy.com commercial
Okay, this is what I don't get about GoDaddy.com: it's supposed to be a website where you can purchase a domain name for your website. So why do they make these commercials featuring attractive, well-breasted women? First of all, they're unfunny and boring, with the exception of the Super Bowl XXXIX one. Also, they don't show anything that offensive, so why do they not just play the commercials in it's entirety than put them on their website? Anyways, the commercials are a piece of you-know-what, and I'll leave it at that.
1. Boost Mobile's "Super Bowl Shuffle" remake
Holy crap, was this bad!
a. For one thing, the original video was bad in itself. So why even bother on remaking it?
b. Terrible performance by the players.
c. Not funny, which I think was the edge they were trying to go to
d. Sixty year old wearing a thong.
e. It's one of those "Go to our website to see the rest of the video" ad, which never works and is stupid.
There were still some good ones, though (thanfully). Here is a list of them (and unlike the worst, this isn't ranked, for some reason):
- The Coca-Cola "Hard Times" ad featuring The Simpsons
While I'm more of a Pepsi guy, I always find myself a sucker for all of those Coke commercials. And this one was a great example of that, featuring almost all of the most popular characters (and Spider Pig), and another good "lend a hand" message from the company.
- Hyundai's Brett Favre ad
You know, for a guy that has looked like one of the league's biggest drama queen the last two seasons, he does a good job at making fun of himself. First the Sears ad, and now this one.
- Flo TV's "Moments"
Well done from beginning to end, featuring some well crafted clips and a short, yet well shown message. Add in The Who's "My Generation" performed by will.i.am as well as the fact that it made up for the two other Flo TV ads, and you have yourself a winner.
- Snicker's Betty White ad
The funniest commercial of the night. Well done by Betty White, and it's a nice thing to know that Abe Vigoda isn't dead yet (though he might have after that hit).
- Google's "Search On"
I mentioned this before, but I still don't get why Google is advertising themselves on TV. It's not 1999, so we have heard of them before. Besides, it's not like the place isn't went on. Millions of people go on it everyday to search for stuff. That being said, it was sweet and touching without saying a word. It also restates how you can use Google for pretty much anything, so that's good, too.
- Budweiser's Clydesdale Friend
Not as good Clydesdale commercials of the past few years. But still... how can you not love the Clydesdales? Come on people, they're a freakin' American icon at this point! Also, unlike the Bud Light ads that tried to be funny, this commercial used the emotional way... and succeeded.
There were some other okay ones, but that was about it... okay.
Now, let's get to the big one: despite all of those, the one commercial that I definitely think stood out the most was not commercial. It was a short, 15 second promo for "The Late Show with David Letterman" featuring David Letterman watching the Super Bowl with Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno. That one had me shocked and mesmerized at the same time. It got me shocked obviously because of the whole Late Night War of '10 that happened a month ago and mesmerized because it terrifically captured both comedy, surprise and timing. I mean, who da thunk that this was going to happen before the game.
After all, you had David Letterman and Jay Leno in the same room (which must have been quite awkward during the shooting of it), two late night rivals that shared some bitter exchanges at each other last month, along with Oprah Winfrey, another previous "rival" of Dave's in the middle of it all. Not to mention that you had Jay promoting the show that will compete with his starting in March, which brings up many questions. Now, if they had just added Conan O'Brien in there, and it would have heads explode. And for that, I award it as my pick as the best commercial of the night, by far.
Miscellaneous:
- I don't know why people are congratulating Tom Benson and crediting as one of the main reasons the Saints won the game. The guy thought of moving the team to Los Angeles or San Antonio permanently after Katrina! But he just so happened to sign the checks of the players, and he's a mastermind? I don't get it. If there was any person in the Saints management who should have gotten the credit, it should have been his daughter, Rita.
- Some pregame signs as to why the Saints were going to win:
1. The Saints were the team wearing the white/road uniform. The team wearing the white/road uniform has won the last five Super Bowls before Sunday's game.
2. The guys in charge Madden NFL '10 simulated the game and it had the Saints on top. Before the game, they predicted five of the last six Super Bowls correctly.
3. The Saints have the "Who Dat?" slogan. The Who was playing in the Super Bowl halftime show.
- Back to the final drive by the Colts in the first half: Really? So, let me get this straight, the Colts have one of the greatest quarterbacks ever and an offense that was dominant in the first half, and they ended up running the ball? Did they not know that the Saints had all three timeouts left and would've had good field position had they gotten the ball back? (sighing)
- No camera shots of Kim Kardashian the entire game, CBS? The folks over at FOX are very angry at you.
- The highlight for me after the trophy presentation: reading the Internet comments from the blame it on everybody but the team Colts fans and the "Thank you so much. Colts fans are the worst fans in the world. And Peyton Manning is WAY overrated" Patriots fans. You know, for two fan bases that are hundreds of miles apart, they both are eerily similar.
- Serious question: What the hell is a Super Bowl halftime "report"? Do they show highlights from other games?
- On a scale of 1-10, how does the fact that the NFC has won the last 13 Super Bowl coin tosses rank among the most unbelievable streaks in sports? Considering how there is a 50/50 chance every year, I'd give it a Spinal Tap 11.
- That's it? This was the controversial Tim Tebow-Tim Tebow's mom pro-life ad?:
Wow. I don't know about you, but I expected something more than just some lady talking about her child and an unfunny tackle. Overall, if there was any example of media hype, that was a big one.
- After all that has happened, Drew Brees's signing with New Orleans in 2006 has to go down as one of the best free agent signing in NFL history. Not only did he lead the team to the Lombardi Trophy, he also was the leader to one of the league's best offenses the last four years, has taken a great amount of time helping the city of New Orleans rebuild in their post-Katrina world, become one of the city's most likable and most popular person and is basically the main reason why the Saints were relevant all these years, why free agents joined up here and why Sean Payton continued to keep his job. Not to mention that only two teams wanted him (the Saints and the Dolphins). If it's not the greatest, then it's pretty darn close.
And...that's that. So, congrats to Saints fans everywhere on their glorious victory. While it may not bring economic recovery to the city, you know that it has dramatically changed the city's mentality for a long time. And as for Colts fans... well, at least you're the favorite to win next year. And for everyone else, I hoped you enjoyed reading this and I will see you later on this week.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you want to suggest anything to mj15 on his next blog entry, e-mail him at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mail might be addressed on a future post
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