Payton d. Peyton.*

* Can we all agree, once and for all, that Payton with an a is far superior to that with an e? On one side, you've got Walter and now Sean. On the other, a Southern debutante; I mean, really, doesn't that seem like a chick's name? I remain thoroughly convinced that if his name were Payton Manning, he'd have won five or six Super Bowls by now.

To me, more than anything else, I'll remember Super Bowl 40-whatever for the severe pantsing that fellow-Naperville Central Redskin Sean Payton gave Indy counterpart Jim Caldwell. The way the Colts came out to start the game, they clearly looked superior, talent-wise.

Of course, the onside second-half kickoff might have been the greatest call in Super Bowl history, so there's no need to laud Payton for that one -- it was sheer, irrefutable genius. Additionally, anyone can point to Garrett Hartley's trio of 40+ yard field goals, or Tracy Porter's game-clinching interception return as enormous components of New Orleans' championship. But I'd rather focus on several other plays that enabled the Saints comeback and ultimate domination. And I don't use the word domination lightly: sure the game was nip-and-tuck before Manning's pick-6, but after spotting the Colts a 10-point lead, Payton's crew outscored Indy 31-7.

Colts ball, scoreless tie, 7:37 Q1, 3rd-and-5-NO20
Manning pass incomplete to Pierre Garcon
While not a perfect pass, it was catchable for an NFL receiver, and would've been good for a first down. Manning looked annoyed as the Colts settled for a field goal and 3-0 lead.

Saints ball, trailing 10-0, 13:50 Q2, 2nd-and-2-NO34
Reggie Bush 1-yard run
Bush's short run was followed by an unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit (on Bush) by Philip Wheeler, so instead of facing a 3rd-and-1 -- remember, the Saints were not good in short yardage situations this year -- New Orleans got a first down at midfield. Not only was this kind of penalty very un-Colts-like (and an indication that maybe they weren't entirely on their game) but it was also the biggest play on the drive that led to New Orleans' first points, a Garrett Hartley field goal. Before this drive, I said "They have to score here," because to that point, the Saints had yet to score on two possessions, while the Colts had come away with points on both of theirs.

Colts ball, leading 10-3, 8:30 Q2, 3rd-and-4-IND28
Manning pass incomplete to Garcon
This time an open Garcon drops a perfectly thrown ball from Manning, one that hit him in-stride, right in the numbers and probably would've led to a gain to midfield at least. This was the key play in the game from a Manning-unraveling perspective, as he looked really frustrated coming off the field and wasn't quite the same afterwards; that is, he began to press as the performance of his teammates was not matching his own to that point. In other words, the old Peyton Manning -- the one I said would never win a championship -- re-emerged after this play. Plus it let the Saints offense, which had just completed an 11-play drive, come immediately back onto the field.

Saints ball, trailing 10-3, 4:29 Q2, 2nd-and-17-IND30
Drew Brees complete to Marcus Colston for 27 yards
After picking up two huge third-down conversions on the drive, Payton made a rare bad playcall (one of only two in the entire game, by my reckoning) on first down from the Indy 23, radioing in an end-around by Devery Henderson that resulted in a potentially-devastating 7-yard loss. But Brees and Colston made sure it was moot by connecting on the very next play.

Saints ball, trailing 10-3, 1:55 Q2, 4th-and-goal-IND1
Pierre Thomas no gain
I absolutely loved the call to go for it here, but did not like the play call. At all. If you are going to rush in that situation, you have to use some misdirection. On short yardage, the key is to get the defense to hesitate or move the wrong way; all the action of this play was to the right, and that's where the ball went. Gotta go with a counter or something similar instead. Or come out in a rush-heavy package and go play action. I think Payton guessed that the Colts would expect some sort of play-action, so he came out in a goalline passing formation and ran the ball. Which was an astute tactic; the play just needed some misdirection.

Having said that, going for it was a great call. It's all risk-reward. Going for the TD is worth it because it's an extra four points, and even if you miss you have Indy pinned to the goalline with less than two minutes to play. If you settle for the field goal, then kickoff, you put the Colts in much better position to score before the end of the half, canceling out your field goal or worse. After the failed try, Payton needed his defense to step up. Which it did.

Colts ball, leading 10-3, 0:51 Q2, 3rd-and-1-IND10
Mike Hart no gain
First off, why the Colts didn't rush Joseph Addai here is beyond me; it's as if Caldwell didn't grasp the significance of this play/series, as Hart's only two carries of the game came in this sequence. Addai, meanwhile, was extremely effective against the Saints D, gaining 77 yards on just 13 carries. If the Colts had used Addai more, they likely would've won the game.

As huge as the stuff of Hart was, I loved the way the Payton used his timeouts here. I've railed previously against calling timeouts on defense at the end of a half, but what Payton did was genius. After a four-yard rush by Hart on first down, he didn't burn a timeout. That brought the clock down to 1:06 for second down, with the Colts still 95 yards away from the end zone. This almost ensured another rush by Indy, as they were probably thinking "There's no need to be greedy; we're getting the second-half kickoff (ahem), so let's just get into the locker room with this 7-point lead." Had the Saints called timeout after the first down run (with about 1:40 remaining), the Colts likely would've gone into attack mode. Instead, they rushed again, with Addai's 5-yard gain setting up the 3rd-and-1. And yet again Payton did something brilliant: instead of immediately calling timeout, he let another 12 seconds run off the clock; given the respective field position, that time would be more important to the Colts if they converted than the Saints if they got the stop. Which they did. And starting from near midfield with 35 seconds left and a timeout remaining, they still had plenty of time to get the three points they would've gotten had Payton not gone for it on 4th-and-goal.

So that brings us to halftime, with the Colts up 10-6. Though the Saints hadn't taken the lead, they clearly had momentum; in the second quarter, they ran 27 plays to the Colts' 6.

A couple more first-half notes:

1. As the Saints began coming back, I realized I had made a huge tactical error in picking against them. Not because I should have known they'd win -- New Orleans' karma, my prevailing opinion of Manning, etc. -- but because a part of me wanted to have been right in picking the Colts. Instead of rooting for the Saints whole hog as I should've been -- I hate the Colts/Manning, the NCHS connection -- I was about 80% there, just because I'd committed it to the webosphere that the Colts would win. And it took a little of the enjoyment out of the outcome. So never again; from now on, I'm just picking who I want to win. It's not like anyone's using my picks to gamble. Or reading this blog, for that matter.

2. I've had an assful of the Go Daddy commercials at this point. Look, I know they're trying to skirt the censors, but their see-more-at campaign is one of the worst concepts in the history of advertising. Just show as much as you can on TV and be done with it.

But no. Instead, Go Daddy is asking me to do actual work. I'm supposed to get off my lazy ass, locate a computer, and go to their stupid site? I'm at a Super Bowl party; am I expected to ask my host to borrow their PC for a few minutes, and miss a few plays just to see Danica Patrick not get naked? This has to be the dumbest idea of all time. Yes, I realize that some people watch the game in the comfort of their own homes, with laptops at the ready. But what percentage of the Super Bowl audience would that be? 5%? 2%?

Clearly, Go Daddy believes that: A. Groups of men will leave the game to huddle around their host's PC after seeing the commercial, despite the fact that many people want to see every commercial, and most of these men will be watching the game with their disapproving wives/girlfriends; or B. After the game, people will remember to go to GoDaddy.com to see the rest of their stupid ad. But why in the world would anyone want to watch their PG-13 commercial on the internet when there's actual porn available? Go Daddy is aware there's such a thing as internet porn, right? Jesus Christ, this isn't the 1940s, where we had to hope someone got their hands on a stag film and a 8- or 16-mm projector if we wanted to glimpse the female form. We're in the Golden Age of Porn, for crying out loud. It's totally fucking ridiculous.

Anyway, as for the second half, obviously the onside kick was the turning point in the game; remember, the Colts scored on their first second-half possession, meaning they'd've been up 17-6 had Payton not shown some serious balls. I don't say that because the call was risky -- unexpected onside kicks succeed more than half the time -- but because of the criticism he would have endured had the gambit failed. As we saw with this incident, anytime a coach does something even mildly unconventional, he will be absolutely eviscerated by the mainstream media should it fail. Which is why, in the post-kick scrum for possession, I said, "It doesn't matter if they recover, that was a great fucking call. They had the chance to get it, and that's all the coach can do: put his players in a position to execute. Great call." Unfortunately, for most in the mainstream media, it was the outcome that made the call great. And that's a problem.

As for the rest of the second half:

Colts ball, leading 17-16, 11:33 Q3, 2nd-and-8-No30
Manning complete to Austin Collie for -3 yards
A gain of a few yards here puts the Colts more comfortably into field goal range and sets up a makeable 3rd down, but instead Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma made a huge play to stuff Collie. Now pushed to the absolute outer limit of 87-year-old kicker Matt Stover's range, on 3rd down Indy should've just tried to make a positive play, either to get more solidly into field goal range or by treating it as four-down territory. Instead, a now-clearly rattled Manning inexplicably threw deep to a well-covered Collie. Which after typing that makes his intended target sound like Lassie in a sweater.

The succeeding play -- Stover's all-too-foreseeable missed field goal from 51-yards -- was obviously enormous, as the Colts flubbed the chance to increase their lead and gave New Orleans highly-favorable field position.

Saints 2-point conversion attempt, leading 22-17, 5:46 Q4
Brees to Lance Moore
Although that stupid chart I hate says this is a must-go-for-2 situation, I think there was at least as much risk involved here as on the onside kick. Think about the negative: if the Saints kick it, they are up six; if the deuce fails, it's only 5. Up 5, two Indy field goals would beat them instead of forcing overtime; given the time remaining that was a distinct possibility. Also if the Colts had then scored a TD, they'd've gone for 2, and a successful try would've given them a 3-point lead. That would mean the Saints would've needed another field goal just to tie. Kick the extra point, and an ensuing New Orleans FG means the Colts would've needed two scores.

Having said that, going for 2 was the right call. It just wasn't quite the no-brainer that the chart claims it to be. Meanwhile, Payton's decision to challenge -- the pass was originally ruled incomplete on the field -- was a complete no-brainer, though for some reason it earned effusive praise from the guys in the booth. The 2 points in that situation -- in most situations, really -- are absolutely huge. In fact, he'd have been a fool not to have challenged. The risk of losing the timeout was certainly worth the difference between a 5- and 7-point lead.

I've heard a few pundits say that they don't understand how the referee could have called this a catch after it had been ruled incomplete on the field, but to me it was clearly, indisputably a grab. Moore had it, lost it as he hit the ground, but then regained full possession with complete bodily control (that is, he was no longer subject to the whims of gravity) before the defender ran by and knocked the ball out with his shin. Catch all the way, and kudos to referee Scott Green for reversing an error -- albeit an understandable one; without the benefit of slow-motion replay, I didn't think it was a catch either -- by one of his officials.

Saints challenge of 2-point conversion attempt, leading 22-17, 5:46 Q4
The Mentalist promo
I'm not positive that this is exactly where it happened, but it was sometime late in the game that I unsuspectingly saw my friend Matt -- who'd done a guest spot earlier this season on The Mentalist -- appear on-screen. With a mustache, no less. This was seriously the most shocking, thrilling part of the entire Super Bowl for me. First Payton, then Matt: Has there ever been a greater day for NCHS alums? The guy was on TV during the most watched program in the history of broadcast television. How cool is that? UPDATE 2/22: I have found Matt's commercial.

Colts ball, trailing 31-17, 1:33 Q4, 1st-and-goal-NO3
Garcon, offensive pass interference
This game was clearly not every-non-Heroes-fan's-favorite-Haitian's finest hour, and yes I realize that's one of the most confusing string of words ever written. But Garcon, who had been great all year, did not have a good day. Without this penalty, the Colts would've had a 2nd-and-goal from the 3 with just under a minute-and-a-half to play. If they score quickly, still holding all their timeouts they would've had the option of kicking deep instead of trying an unlikely-to-be-recovered onside kick. Garcon's play cost them precious yards and even-more-precious seconds.

Colts ball, trailing 31-17, 0:50 Q4, 4th-and-goal-NO5
Manning pass incomplete to Reggie Wayne
This Wayne drop of a pass right in the ol' bread basket was a fitting end to the Colts' day. Sure, there was under a minute left, and a score here only trims the lead to 7 points. But that means the Colts would've been a successful onside attempt (at this point they had spent one of their TO's, plus lost an additional 40 seconds from the game clock) away from having a chance to tie. Granted, expected onside kicks are only recovered about 10% of the time, but still. Indy would've had a chance.

Coincidentally, one of the first things I said during this game was, "This season has served as a tribute to the fact that Marvin Harrison will be the most undeserving Hall of Famer of all time. And he'll probably go first-ballot. Manning makes anyone good. It's like Duper and Clayton; as soon as they left Marino, they were terrible."

Taking it a little further, we then got into a discussion about the marginal guys (Robert Brooks, Antonio Freeman, Donald Driver, etc.) Brett Favre made look good, and I said that receivers are exceptionally difficult to gauge because their numbers are so quarterback-dependent. Now there are some receivers who are so talented that they make a mediocre quarterback look good -- think Randy Moss in his Minnesota days, with Daunte Culpepper -- but many put up strong numbers solely because they're playing with a great quarterback.

The point is, later in the game I said, "I don't know how good Reggie Wayne is, but the guy has great hands." This came after a nifty snag of a low Manning sideline pass. I then went on to say, "I've seen him make a ton of amazing catches. I don't know how good he'd be without Manning, but the guy catches everything."

So add that to the (very long) list of things I was wrong about in Super Bowl 44.