VJCPatriot

The NFL is a copycat league. Expect NFL GMs around the league, including our beloved evil genius BB, to be dissecting the gametape of the Superbowl and figuring out what works best to beat the Colts.

Some highlights on what the Saints did well in the Superbowl:

1. They did well on holding on to the football. Time of possession was key to victory in this game as Manning hardly saw the field in the 2nd quarter and continued to cool his heels in the 3rd quarter after the Saints gutsy onsides kick to start the second half worked.

2. Study what the Colts do best, then wait for your opportunity and counter it. Game preparation was key to Porter's interception of Peyton Manning for the TD. There are obviously a few 'go to plays' that the Colts like to run in key situations. The Saints identiefied some of them, worked on them in practice, and the preparation paid off with a game sealing INT for TD late in the 4th quarter.

3. Key on the pass rather than the run. Although Addai/Brown gashed the Saints on the ground for big chunks of yardage at a time. In the end, the Colts live and die by the pass. And they died by the pass in this game, only amassing 17 points with their passing attack. Saints defense keyed on the pass and did well enough to win the game. The yardage numbers given up weren't pretty, but the final score was probably the most you could ask for from any defense facing Peyton Manning and the Colts.

4. Attack and exploit the seams of the Colts' Cover 2 zone coverage. The Saints have mostly 'figured' out how to beat the Colts Zone 2 defense as evidenced by Brees' astounding 82% completion rate in the Superbowl. They spread out the Colt, and hit the seams as well as throwing timely RB screens that exploited the Colts D when they overpursued into the backfield area.

5. Have a balanced and DEEP offense so that the Colts D cannot concentrate on shutting down any one guy. The Saints offense is incredibly deep, Any wideout from 1-5 might be the target of a pass, any of the RBs from Bush to Thomas might catch a back out of the backfield.

They have just too many weapons to key on. We saw big plays from Colston yes, but also key catches from the likes of Lance Moore, Henderson, Meachem, Thomas, Shockey, etc. Just about everyone got their hands on the ball and in the end the Colts defense ended up on their heels as the Saints defense moved the ball AT WILL from the 2nd quarter onwards.

Thank you Saints, not only for denying Peyton Manning and the Colts another championship, but for giving the rest of the NFL a "blueprint" for making life very difficult for the Colts next season. Now it's going to be difficult to gather personnel to be able to accomplish what the Saints did in 2009, but the rest of the NFL now has a general guideline to work towards for defeating the Colts.

Thoughts on what we can try to take away from this Superbowl:

1. We need more depth on offense, particulary at WR, TE, and RBs who can catch the football.
2. We need to get an OC with Payton's balls who can call a game that attacks a defense's weaknesses rather than being predictable and sputtering out in the 4th quarter.
3. Although the Saints didn't sack Manning much in the SB, they put on enough pressure for him to throw early, and that was key to the Porter INT. We need to shore up the passrush.
4. We need some linebackers that can cover in space the inside route receivers and tight ends. The league is definitely going pass happy, and our defense needs to be able to key on and stop the pass on 3rd downs.

OOC: Was there something offensive somewhere in my previous post on this topic? Why was it removed? PM me please if that's the case and I'll fix whatever.

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KontradictioN

The blueprint to beating the Colts has always been T.O.P., pressure up the middle, and roughing up their WR's. The Saints did 2/3 and realistically won the game because Brees couldn't miss if he tried. On top of that, Manning has been fooled like that before (see Asante in the '06 AFCCG). Porter probably couldn't fool him like that again if he tried. However, the time of the game which it happened was the real backbreaker.

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CREDIT - Sicilian

Dr Pain

The single biggest key to victory was that the Refs did not call the obligatory 2 to 3 phantom PI calls against Colts opponents. I am not kidding about this either. I think the league got out of the Colts pocket after they wimped out in the last two games of the regular season and gave the entire NFL a black eye. Who knows if this will hold in the future.

If they put the Patriots Colts game as the last game regular season next year at Foxboro you know the Colts are still in it deep. I would love to see that.

BradyBranch39

Was thinking about this earlier today, mainly the parts about sitting on Manning's favorite routes and Brees being able to complete whatever he wanted to.

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HEY BRO! WHAT UP?

This is why the Pats went for it on 4th and 2. Why give Manning the ball when you can end the game in one play?

ayjackson

Yes. Make plays. That's how we used to beat them.

TommyBrady12

you can always beat the colts with a great passing game. i knew the colts would lose because they had never seen a passing attack like the Saints had. I mean they struggled against our passing game and the saints are much better than we are in that department. the jets and ravens were running teams which the colts easily dispatched with the speed they had on defense.

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"He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He goes from being a rookie that nobody is expecting anything from, to taking over with people saying he can’t do it, to winning three Super Bowls....It should already be obvious he’s the greatest quarterback to ever have played. "

- Steelers S Troy Polamalu on Tom Brady

Deus Irae

Same as it is for any timing offense. Knock the receivers off their routes, force Manning to find his second receiver. Combine with a pass rush that makes Manning move his feet sideways and throw before he's ready.


Sooner or later, and usually when the pressure is on, Manning will throw a pick.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

LasVegasPatsFan

The only blueprint I saw yesterday was the pick 6. Had it not been for that, Colts would have most likely scored. Saints could not stop the Colts from moving the ball. I hate the Colts as much as the next guy but I'm afraid the only blueprint is hoping Manning has an off day. Lets not fool ourselves but the Colts have been to the playoffs 8 years in a row and only lost 29 regular season games since 2002.

CGH TX PATS

I was surprised that the Saints didn't run the ball more against the Colts. I've often wondered what our game against the Colts would've been had we of had Freddy T available at the time.

I was so wowed by the way that the Saints covered us, I wonder if this would work against the colts. Having multiple db's that 'spy' a specific wr is genius I feel. But with all of this said, we beat their ass playing OUR style of football, we're a play or two away from using our own blueprint.