Sean Payton borrowed Bill Belichick's brass balls

[pheenix11]

My friends and I were all in agreement that outside of Brees, he was far and away the MVP of that game. Not bad for a guy that has only made 22FG in his career.

Yup, Hartley was totally money. When I went to pick my son up at my parents, first thing my Dad said was that the Saints wouldn't have been in the game if it weren't for their kicker. Those were not chip shots either. Kid came up huge.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Sanvara the only stats I could find on surprise onside kicks says that in 06 more than half were recovered by the kicking team. I am sure sean Payton would have known it was better than normal. I would hope that my guys would cover 10 yards with a running start faster than the front line of a kick off team would read react and cover 5 plus typically not such good hands. However the kick was a poor kick and went 15 yards and took a lucky bounce and some poor handling and it paid off.

Onside kicks usually fail if the receiving team expects it to happen, and usually succeed if they're caught unawares.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Ehhhh, here we go. I, for one, thought that the onside kick on the kickoff was not a good call. If the Saints had lost that kickoff (which they damn near did), they pretty much put Manning in striking range, that game shifts to the Colts, and they probably win it. Was it ballsy? Sure. However, it is only considered "ballsy" because it worked. If it didn't work, it would have been stupid. I, for one, am glad that it worked. However, it's not necessarily a call that I agree with.

I think a good point that you bring up is that the result doesn't change whether it was a good call or not. If it was a good call, then it was a good call whether or not it worked. Same with if it was a bad call. Personally, I disagree: I think that it was a good call. That said, I would still think that it was a good call if it hadn't worked (just as I thought 4th and 2 was a good call in of itself, although I didn't necessarily agree with the specifics of it).

 

[Joker]

if you are 5 point favorites and you claim to have the "greatest player in NFL history!!!!!" and you brag about how fast your players are and how rock solid your execution is and how supremely talented your coaching staff is, you DO NOT get "caught unaware", have the ball bounce off your hands,give up the possession and let the other team score...so maybe Toe-Knee Dungheap can fill us all in on what went so wrong as his snotty, haughty, dismissive prediction got shoved in his big mouth and down his arrogant throat.

 

[BradyFTW!]

My friends and I were all in agreement that outside of Brees, he was far and away the MVP of that game. Not bad for a guy that has only made 22FG in his career.

Top five players of the game:

Brees, Hartley, Porter, Addai, Roby.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Well that's true. When Iw as watching the pile up I was saying to my dad " still don't like the call" . Just because I said it's something out of Belichick's book doesn't always means it's right. It's like saying you have a friend whos got balls and can come through in some jams but doesn't always make the right choice. Payton is a very young coach who hasn't been around long enough, but we as Pats fans would know. Years from now one day someone will say he too has become arrogant, etc. with such calls. The world has a very short attention span

And when they say that, he'll still have a lombardi to point to and they still won't.

 

[Batman]

Top five players of the game:

Brees, Hartley, Porter, Addai, Roby.

I am not sure I would put Roby above Henderson or Colston They made a lot of grabs and getting blocks all game long

 

[SVN]

if you are 5 point favorites and you claim to have the "greatest player in NFL history!!!!!" and you brag about how fast your players are and how rock solid your execution is and how supremely talented your coaching staff is, you DO NOT get "caught unaware", have the ball bounce off your hands,give up the possession and let the other team score...so maybe Toe-Knee Dungheap can fill us all in on what went so wrong as his snotty, haughty, dismissive prediction got shoved in his big mouth and down his arrogant throat.

tony dungy was the head coach when the whole universe knew that the bigges offensive threat for the bears was devon hester and they colts kicked it to him and gave an opening kickoff TD !!!

 

[Patspsycho]

if you are 5 point favorites and you claim to have the "greatest player in NFL history!!!!!" and you brag about how fast your players are and how rock solid your execution is and how supremely talented your coaching staff is, you DO NOT get "caught unaware", have the ball bounce off your hands,give up the possession and let the other team score...so maybe Toe-Knee Dungheap can fill us all in on what went so wrong as his snotty, haughty, dismissive prediction got shoved in his big mouth and down his arrogant throat.

I like his new name. I'll make a note of it.

 

[Joker]

I apologize for being so rancorous.

I've been chafing and bristling as this season has wound down at all this pure unadulterated Manning crotch hugging going on ad nauseum.

Reality bites again...

 

[Boots Electric]

Top five players of the game:

Brees, Hartley, Porter, Addai, Roby.

I think you can say that most of the Saints were money tonight. Reggie Bush making some clutch catches. Pierre Thomas was money on that drive to start the 2nd half. Roby had a great game special teams wise. Lance Moore had two key catches. Colston had a quiet underrated game.

But yeah, Brees, Hartley, and Porter were MVPs last night. Not surprising that it deals with the three parts of the game: Offense, Defense, and Special Teams.

 

[mmasterkillah]

No Vilma, no victory. He is the Saints defense.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

I can't say I've seen every play in Every Super Bowl, but I can't see how there's another more ballsy call than that onside kick. I updated my Facebook status right after it happened to illustrate this point: "Sean Payton has a pair of Adamantium balls."

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

After last night, I may have Payton right behind BB as which HC I'd most want to have. Every decision I agreed with 100%. Even on the goal line stand, it still worked to NO's favor despite losing the 3 points. If you kick the FG, then give Manning the ball on the 20-25 yard line, you more than likely go into halftime down 13-6. So taking the risk of going into half down 10-3 was well worth it in going for 7. Then they end up going in at 10-6 which was even better.

Payton put on a clinic last night.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Not to mention that during one of the Saints practices this week,Payton had dressed up in a Belichick hoodie with the sleeves cut off and made a good impression of BB's scowl on the sidelines during the practice,the guys loved it.

I think Payton might be the biggest Belichick fan of all NFL head coaches.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

No Vilma, no victory. He is the Saints defense.

You know Vilma and his play last night reminded me of Mayo's FIRST season and how he played each game.

I hope he can get back to that next season.

 

[DonBlackmon55]

After last night, I may have Payton right behind BB as which HC I'd most want to have. Every decision I agreed with 100%. Even on the goal line stand, it still worked to NO's favor despite losing the 3 points. If you kick the FG, then give Manning the ball on the 20-25 yard line, you more than likely go into halftime down 13-6. So taking the risk of going into half down 10-3 was well worth it in going for 7. Then they end up going in at 10-6 which was even better.

Payton put on a clinic last night.

Simply put, the fewer the possesions colts have, the better your teams' chances to beat them.

Steve Young pointed this out...Colts had 8 possesions the whole game, vs typically a team averaging 12 possesions a game. So, Sean Payton's strategy worked brilliantly as he effectively reduced the Colts to having to do everything with only 67% of typical possessions per game they're used to.

Furthermore, by daring the Colts to run, he knew keeping Safeties deep, eventually Mannin would get flustered and chances increase for making a mistake. As it would turn out, the INT came at the best possible time

Clearly S. Payton and Williams completely outcoached the trio of Colts coaches (Caldwell, Moore, Manning)

 

[Zeus]

In the lexicon of the 21st century sportswriter, defying the conventional wisdom is considered to be arrogance or hubris. Unless it works - then it's gutsy.

The professional second guessers who have never had to make a decision under fire in their lives would do well to drop the arrogance/hubris thing. Payton did what he thought gave his team the best chance to win. There's nothing remotely arrogant about that. The onside kick took tremendous courage because we all know how Payton would have been ridiculed had it not worked out.

Guys like Payton and BB have the guts to take these sorts of risks. I think it's admirable but numbnutz like Chris Chase need to see how the play turns out to tell us whether it was smart or the result of some deep seated personality disorder on the part of the coach. That's just lame.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Onside kicks usually fail if the receiving team expects it to happen, and usually succeed if they're caught unawares.

Lancey Howard (Edward G. Robinson): Gets down to what it's all about, doesn't it? Making the wrong move at the right time.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Ehhhh, here we go. I, for one, thought that the onside kick on the kickoff was not a good call. If the Saints had lost that kickoff (which they damn near did), they pretty much put Manning in striking range, that game shifts to the Colts, and they probably win it. Was it ballsy? Sure. However, it is only considered "ballsy" because it worked. If it didn't work, it would have been stupid. I, for one, am glad that it worked. However, it's not necessarily a call that I agree with.

I disagree. I know outcomes are what we value most, but win or lose, I feel like he made the proper decisions based on the situation.

Indy was the better team, and deserved to be favoured. And Payton knew that. As the underdog, you can't play the game the same way the favourite does, or you'll usually lose. As the underdog, you're forced to take some extra chances to win the game. These decisions increase the odds of losing big, but they also increase your odds of winning the game (a higher variance), and Payton was obviously playing to win.

Payton made several gutsy calls in a row, from the 4th down attempt to calling timeouts late in the first half when Indy might have converted, and then the onside kick. Each of these decisions was made to increase the variance of winning. Had they all backfired, the Saints would have gotten killed. But I'd argue that had he not made them at all, the Saints still would have lost.

The conventional thing would have been to kick the field goal on 4th down. But then you're kicking off to Manning who gets the ball at least at his own 20-yard line and a few time-outs, and the opportunity to build up a huge lead going into halftime. Plus he gets the ball to start the second half, just in time to hammer the final nail in the coffin.

The Colts offense was rolling, and while the Saints offense was picking up steam, it still hadn't scored a single TD and had to settle for FGs. Payton altered the state of the game with his decisions, and whether they worked or not, it was the right choice because it changed the status quo, and the status quo would have meant a Colts victory.