The Official NFL Thread

[md1198p]

Did you guys hear the Favre said he probably wont play next year?

here we go again...espn, all favre, all the time.

[Snakespy]

Favre this Favre that blah blah blah GO SAINTS!

[fastitocalon]

Man that michelle tafoya reporter needs to lighten up, asking all these questions that have no place at the pro-bowl. Irritating the crap out of me.

[PowerCreep]

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz......

[Snakespy]

Yea baby! Who dat? Drew dat. Won $300 off of this game too

[gkline]

As a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, Congratulations to the new Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints.

Watched the entire game and really thought the Colts would run away with it in the first quarter, but that's why games are 60 minutes! The Saints hung in there and kept fighting back.

The Saints are young,tough,gutsy and SUPER BOWL CHAMPS.

Drew Brees, take a bow, what a performance.

[PowerCreep]

I just love the fact that the game was put out of reach by a Manning interception. Best moment of the night.

[md1198p]

Payton coached that game perfectly. Did not panic and did the unexpected at just the right moment. I did at the time however think that going for the TD on 4th down at the end of the half was going to cost them the game. But they rebounded nicely with the onside kick.

[Spank_Me_Hard]

I just love the fact that the game was put out of reach by a Manning interception. Best moment of the night.

+1

Loved that the NFL's golden boy ended up making the play that put the game out of reach.

Maybe was questionable that it was even his fault tho. Was reading today that Porter recognized that play and what was about to transpire from film. Guess that the Colts went to it many times in 3rd down situations on film. And he knew that he had Sharper backing him up if he guessed wrong. Maybe the coaches fault for calling a play that was just a little too predictable.

Watched the entire game and really thought the Colts would run away with it in the first quarter, but that's why games are 60 minutes! The Saints hung in there and kept fighting back.

Yea. When the Colts went up 10-0, I was thinking blowout. And then they pulled up the stat that the 'Skins were the only team to have ever come back from 10-0 in a Superbowl.

The Saints just didn't seem to have anything going on offense, and the Colts seemed to be moving the ball fairly consistently.

I guess that it just goes to show you how quickly a game can change from one part to the next. The Saints offense seemed to have rythm from the 2nd quarter on.

Payton coached that game perfectly. Did not panic and did the unexpected at just the right moment. I did at the time however think that going for the TD on 4th down at the end of the half was going to cost them the game. But they rebounded nicely with the onside kick.

Even though conventional wisdom is that you take them points when you can get them, I didn't mind the decision to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Colts goal line. I liked it. For a number of reasons.

1. I think in a game that big, against that good of an opponent, you have to think big. 1 yard to go for a TD is as best of a chance as you'll ever get to get a TD. The probabilities are good. And if you have confidence in your team, why not? And a TD is a momentum swing... it could be a statement that would play on the psyche of the Colts if you make it.

2. If you don't make it, the Colts get the ball back on their 1 yard line. They have to be thinking about gaining short yardage to get away from their own endzone. Give them some breathing room for a potential punt or not to have a holding call go against them in their own endzone. So they will probably play it conservatively, and they did. You could tell that the Colts were content just to let the clock run out of the first half, which given the time remaining was probably a wise choice. But the Saints weren't going to allow them and started using timeouts knowing that they'd get the ball back with a chance to get the fieldgoal that they gave up trying to get the TD.

3. The Saints got the ball back with time to gain a few yards and get that field goal back anyways. I don't think that given the circumstances that the lieklyhood of the Colts getting a score themselves was very likely.

The onside kick was pure riverboat gambler. I LOVED it! Gutsy call. And obviously a surprise. Onside kicks statistically are a longshot. But I wonder what the stats are when one is done when the other team isn't expecting it? Part of why it's such a longshot I think is because the vast majority of the time it's done when the other team is expecting it. That being said, it wasn't a decision that I would have made.

The genius of it was that by getting it, the Saints not only got the ball first because of the coin toss at the beginning of the game, but robbed the Colts from getting it for the start of the second half. The old strategy of keeping Manning on the sideline.

It's hard to pinpoint any one play during the course of the game that was the one that won the game, but that had to be damned close. The Saints ended up with a TD and Manning never got the ball. A double whammy.

I was cheering for the Saints. For everything that team has ever been through with the losing, and what that city has been through. People in New Orleans I think needed that win.

That and I still hate the Colts from their time as a divisional opponent of Miami's. And they had won one already just a few years ago. Manning being the NFL's golden boy. One of the glory teams of the NFL. The look of dejection on the faces of the Colts was priceless.

[md1198p]

+1

Loved that the NFL's golden boy ended up making the play that put the game out of reach.

Maybe was questionable that it was even his fault tho. Was reading today that Porter recognized that play and what was about to transpire from film. Guess that the Colts went to it many times in 3rd down situations on film. And he knew that he had Sharper backing him up if he guessed wrong. Maybe the coaches fault for calling a play that was just a little too predictable.



Yea. When the Colts went up 10-0, I was thinking blowout. And then they pulled up the stat that the 'Skins were the only team to have ever come back from 10-0 in a Superbowl.

The Saints just didn't seem to have anything going on offense, and the Colts seemed to be moving the ball fairly consistently.

I guess that it just goes to show you how quickly a game can change from one part to the next. The Saints offense seemed to have rythm from the 2nd quarter on.



Even though conventional wisdom is that you take them points when you can get them, I didn't mind the decision to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Colts goal line. I liked it. For a number of reasons.

1. I think in a game that big, against that good of an opponent, you have to think big. 1 yard to go for a TD is as best of a chance as you'll ever get to get a TD. The probabilities are good. And if you have confidence in your team, why not? And a TD is a momentum swing... it could be a statement that would play on the psyche of the Colts if you make it.

2. If you don't make it, the Colts get the ball back on their 1 yard line. They have to be thinking about gaining short yardage to get away from their own endzone. Give them some breathing room for a potential punt or not to have a holding call go against them in their own endzone. So they will probably play it conservatively, and they did. You could tell that the Colts were content just to let the clock run out of the first half, which given the time remaining was probably a wise choice. But the Saints weren't going to allow them and started using timeouts knowing that they'd get the ball back with a chance to get the fieldgoal that they gave up trying to get the TD.

3. The Saints got the ball back with time to gain a few yards and get that field goal back anyways. I don't think that given the circumstances that the lieklyhood of the Colts getting a score themselves was very likely.

The onside kick was pure riverboat gambler. I LOVED it! Gutsy call. And obviously a surprise. Onside kicks statistically are a longshot. But I wonder what the stats are when one is done when the other team isn't expecting it? Part of why it's such a longshot I think is because the vast majority of the time it's done when the other team is expecting it. That being said, it wasn't a decision that I would have made.

The genius of it was that by getting it, the Saints not only got the ball first because of the coin toss at the beginning of the game, but robbed the Colts from getting it for the start of the second half. The old strategy of keeping Manning on the sideline.

It's hard to pinpoint any one play during the course of the game that was the one that won the game, but that had to be damned close. The Saints ended up with a TD and Manning never got the ball. A double whammy.

I was cheering for the Saints. For everything that team has ever been through with the losing, and what that city has been through. People in New Orleans I think needed that win.

That and I still hate the Colts from their time as a divisional opponent of Miami's. And they had won one already just a few years ago. Manning being the NFL's golden boy. One of the glory teams of the NFL. The look of dejection on the faces of the Colts was priceless.

I did not think the decision was bad, but the fact that they did not get it was. Getting points before the half is always huge. And at the time, I thought that the momentum would shift because the Colts would get the ball first in the 2nd half. Losing 3, and then having to kick off and the Colts possibly scoring, would have been devastating. The onsides kick changed everything, but no one was expecting that (especially Hank Basket lol).


I was rooting for the Colts, only because Saints "fans" are the new Patriot fans. They hide for years, even going as far as wearing bags on their heads, and now because they are winning they are the best fans in the league. Its easy to be a fan when you team is winning.

[md1198p]

Also, between the end of the 1st half, halftime and the onsides kick, Manning had not thrown a pass for like 70 real time minutes or something like that. That was the game IMO.

[Soul Assassin]

I was rooting against the Saints because New Orleans is a disgusting city, although I do like most Saints players. I also enjoy watching Peyton play.

[r'aggro]

As a Hawks fan I've been more excited for the draft than anything else, but congrats to NO.

I actually kinda liked both teams this year, as opposed to last year when I hated both teams passionately.

[Snakespy]

As a Hawks fan I've been more excited for the draft than anything else, but congrats to NO.

I actually kinda liked both teams this year, as opposed to last year when I hated both teams passionately.

I am so sick of all the Hawks fans I know talking about how they have such a good draft thanks to the Broncos this year. I swear its like the biggest story I know.

[Boneycat]

I was just hoping for a good game and we got one. Hats off to the Saints. They just out coached the Colts. Definitely had some good games the last few years.