This is a tough one. Not at all what any of us Colts fans expected. The Colts out gained the Saints in total offense through the ground and through the air. But the Saints fought back and made the plays when they needed to the most. Despite what you hear, see, or read in the media Manning DID NOT choke the game away. Anyone who tells you differently needs to be ignored because it's simply not true.
Manning threw for 333 total yards and a touchdown. But the defense could not hold the Saints offense in check. The Colts defense was playing very loose trying to avoid the big play down field and were not taking any risks. And against a team like the Saints you have to play tighter defense or they will eat you up with short yard passes all game long. Because the defense was not getting the job done it put the pressure on Manning to try to make something happen down 24-17 with just over 5:00 of clock left. When this happens, the chances of turnovers gets higher and guess what? That's exactly what happened. On a pass intended for Reggie Wayne, Saints DB, Tracy Porter, made an excellent jump on Wayne's route and picked Peyton off. Porter ran the interception to the house for a touchdown, all but sealing the Saints victory.
Saints QB Drew Brees had a fantastic game despite the Saints run game being shut down. Brees finished with 288 yards and 2 touchdowns. Saints head coach Sean Payton out coached Colts coach Jim Caldwell. The onside kick to start the second half took balls of steel and Payton showed he had them. The Saints recovered and took a possession away from the Colts. If you wanna beat the Indianapolis Colts, you MUST keep Manning on the sideline and that's exactly what the Saints did.
Congratulations to the Super Bowl 44 champs New Orleans Saints. The team had a heck of year. This city hasn't had a championship in its 42 years of existence. But Colts fans fear not. This Colts team is only going to get better next year and after seeing how good they were this year should scare rest of the NFL.
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