Payton’s gambles doom Peyton

The New Orleans Saints played an exceptional game and fought for the city’s heart and soul as they brought home the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday.

Not enough can be said to credit the players of a championship team.

Drew Brees led a balanced attack and quarterbacked a nearly flawless game.

Cornerback Tracy Porter studied game film of Peyton Manning for hours trying to outsmart him, and when he got his chance, he executed for a pick-six.

Kicker Garrett Hartley nailed three 40-yard field goals, and punter Thomas Morstead dribbled the onside kick perfectly 10 yards down the field.

However, it was head coach Sean Payton’s calculated risk-analysis game plan that outsmarted Manning and seized control of the game.

Payton’s riverboat gambles were aimed at one thing and one thing only: taking the ball, and control of the game, away from Manning.

Manning builds off momentum, has a knack for scoring touchdowns late in halves and returning from halftimes with an unstoppable game plan.

Just look at how Manning drastically altered the AFC championship game by scoring the Indianapolis Colts' only touchdown in the first half with one minute to go.

Then, after the New York Jets were stopped on their first possession of the second half, Manning somehow found a way to break through the Jets’ defense that had stifled him in the first half with an easy 57-yard touchdown drive.

With one drive left to go in the first half, the Jets were dominating the Colts 17-6.

After the Colts' first drive in the second half, the Jets were down 20-17, gasping for air, trying to catch their breath as Manning worked his magic.

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Payton watched the AFC championship game and so many games throughout Manning's career, as teams looked baffled as they somehow lost control without knowing what in the world happened.

Payton found his Saints trailing 10-3 facing a fourth-and-one on the Colts' one-yard line with one minute, 55 seconds left in the first half, and three timeouts in his back pocket.

Many coaches would elect to call a timeout and get three points with the chip shot and not let the game get too far away from their grasp.

However, Payton realized that the combination of Manning, 1:55 left on the clock and two timeouts would have likely resulted in a touchdown.

If he let this happen, the Saints would have been trailing 17-6 going into halftime, with the Colts getting the ball first in the second half.

Even though running back Pierre Thomas was stopped short of the touchdown on the fourth-and-one, the Saints still forced Manning to play from his one-yard line.

The Colts played their possession carefully, not wanting to make a mistake while up by a touchdown.

The Saints stifled the Colts' three runs to force a punt. Three completions later, the Saints were back in field-goal range, and Hartley split the uprights.

The Saints were down by four, and they didn't let Manning steal the flow of the game.

Going into the game, Payton knew that if his team was in this situation, they would go for the onside kick.

Morstead had been practicing his fake onside kick all week.

Payton reminded Morstead that he would be kicking an onside kick at the beginning of halftime.

Morstead told ESPN, “For 20 minutes, I sat in my locker, terrified. Not worried, terrified.”

Morstead took a hitch in his gallop to the ball and booted it into the ground far enough for Chris Reis, and later Jonathan Casillas, to grab hold of the slippery pigskin.

The Saints drove down the field and took the lead. Once again, taking a big chance paid off for Payton and the Saints.

By making the decision to kick the onside kick, Payton proved to his players the tremendous trust and belief that he has in them.

“That gives us confidence when he does something like that because it shows us how much confidence he has in us,” linebacker Scott Fujita explained.

Payton’s gutsy moves instilled a sense of passion and fire in his players, and they were strategically thought-out to fit his game plan.

I am not one to make claims that span different eras in sports, like saying it was the best-coached Super Bowl in history. But Payton tactically used his aggressive in-game coaching style to beat the Colts the only way they can be beaten — by trying to seize control of the game from Manning.

Manning has revolutionized the way the quarterback position is played in the modern era with his no-huddle offense, millions of audibles and hot routes.

But on Sunday, the same way that Manning has left opposing coaches with their head in their hands after a mind-blowing loss, Payton’s risky calls left Manning wondering how the game got out of his hands.

And where is the Colts' head coach, Jim Caldwell? No, seriously, does anybody know where Jim Caldwell is?

Maybe is he is still back in New York, making the boneheaded decision to pull Peyton Manning out for the second half and giving up on a perfect season.

But nonetheless, Payton is going home with Lombardi, Drew Brees has an adorable baby, no one knows where Jim Caldwell is and Manning is left empty-handed.

Congratulations, New Orleans, you deserve it! Ain'ts no more.