When the Saints Came Marching In

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I truly have lived to see some astonishing things in my life.

Man walked on the moon for the first time when I was but a boy. A president resigned in disgrace; another was put through the impeachment process because of an improper relationship with a White House intern.

In my life, I have seen telephones evolve from gadgets that were tied to locations to gadgets that could go anywhere — and take photos to prove it.

When I was working on my master's degree and I had to do research, I would probably spend at least one weekend — most likely more — going through the card catalog at the campus library. Today, I could do much of my research in a few minutes on my computer. That sure would have made writing term papers easier.

I've seen a lot of amazing things in sports, not the least of which was what happened in Miami five years ago today. The New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts in Miami.

If you're under a certain age, that may not impress you. The Saints may have always been a strong team in your memory. But you must understand. I'm old enough to remember when the Saints were called the "Ain'ts" and their fans wore paper bags over their heads to home games. Maybe they had fans who wore bags to the road games, too, although it is hard to imagine the Saints having either New Orleans–based fans who would travel to see the Saints get hammered or fan clubs in other NFL cities back in those days.

But five years ago today, they stood atop the football world. No one was wearing a paper bag that day, and there were pockets of Saints fans to be found across the country.

In the first quarter, it didn't look like the Saints would win. The Colts got off to a 10–0 lead, scoring on their first two possessions, and they made the lead hold up at intermission. They didn't score in the second quarter, but they held the Saints to a couple of field goals.

At halftime, it looked like Peyton Manning might win his second Super Bowl. He led the Colts to a victory over the Chicago Bears three years earlier in Super Bowl XLI.

His brother matched him the following season in the New York Giants' amazing upset of the unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Five years ago today, Peyton Manning had the chance to go one up on his younger brother.

And the Colts continued to lead after three quarters — although the Saints did take the lead for about five minutes after Drew Brees completed a 16–yard scoring strike to Pierre Thomas on the first possession of the second half.

But Manning directed a 10–play, 76–yard scoring drive, and the Colts reclaimed the lead, 17–13. New Orleans got a field goal before the quarter ended with Indianapolis clinging to a 17–16 lead.

Indianapolis would not score again, and through about two–thirds of the final period, it looked like the Saints wouldn't score, either.

But New Orleans scored twice.

Brees completed a pass to Jeremy Shockey for a touchdown, then hooked up with Lance Moore for a two–point conversion and a seven–point lead.

On the following possession, Manning and the Colts were driving in New Orleans territory when Tracy Porter picked off a pass and ran it back for a touchdown and a commanding 31–17 lead for New Orleans.

A little over three minutes remained. The Colts did manage to drive into New Orleans territory, but it took them too long to do so, and they turned it over on downs on the Saints' 5 with only seconds to play.

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Brees, who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns, was named the game's MVP.

Since that day, Eli Manning won another Super Bowl, and Peyton made it back to the big game, too, only to lose in a big way. Now, it is uncertain whether Peyton will come back for another season. They say he will announce his plans by the end of this month.

Tom Brady's Third Triumph

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Last weekend, Tom Brady joined the most elite of NFL quarterback groups, the QBs who won four Super Bowls in their careers. Brady was the third to achieve that feat.

The other two are Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana.

There were plenty of times in the last decade when Brady must have wondered if he would ever win his fourth Super Bowl ring. In fact, he did get a couple of opportunities in the last 10 years, but the Patriots lost both to the New York Giants.

Brady has now played in six Super Bowls, more than any other quarterback. But the gap between his most recent victory and his triumph last Sunday was almost exactly 10 years.

Ten years ago today, the Patriots took on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX in Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. It was New England's third appearance in four years.

The Eagles were playing in a Super Bowl for the first time in a quarter of a century. The Patriots were back after being absent from the big game the year before.

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Brady had a good game, completing 23 of 33 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns, but he wasn't named the MVP. That went to receiver Deion Branch, who caught 11 of those passes for 133 yards.

It may have been the most consistently close Super Bowl ever played. Neither team scored in the first quarter, and both teams managed to score a touchdown in the second and third quarters. Heading into the fourth quarter, it was 14–14.

The fourth quarter began with the Patriots marching downfield. The drive began at their own 34 with 3:35 left in the third quarter and concluded at the 13:49 mark of the fourth quarter with Corey Dillon scoring a touchdown from two yards out. Dillon was in his first season with the Patriots after seven fruitless years in Cincinnati, and he led all rushers in this, his only Super Bowl appearance, on this day 10 years ago.

New England padded the lead a few minutes later with Adam Vinatieri's 22–yard field goal. Nearly midway through the final period, one of the teams finally had a two–score lead, but it wouldn't last. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb led Philadelphia downfield for a touchdown with just under two minutes to play, and the Eagles were within a field goal of tying the game and sending it to overtime.

But New England recovered the onside kick and went on to claim its third Super Bowl title.

Dillon was on the winning side, and that is almost always where you'll find the Super Bowl MVPs. (Chuck Howley of the Dallas Cowboys took home the MVP in spite of losing Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts, but he is the only exception to the rule.)

That being the case, it is only natural to wonder who would have been the MVP if the Eagles had won.

McNabb is as likely a candidate as any. He completed almost as many passes as Brady did (30 of 51) for 357 yards and three touchdowns. But he also threw three interceptions, two of which came on New England's side of the field.

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Try as he might, McNabb just couldn't lift the Eagles past the Patriots. They lost by three points — just as the Rams and Panthers did before them. By comparison, last Sunday's four–point win over the Seahawks was a breeze.

Actually, in the Tom Brady era, the Patriots have played in six Super Bowls, and each was decided by less than a touchdown. New England's two losses to the New York Giants were by four points or less.

That Was a Boneheaded Call

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Sunday's Super Bowl had no real attraction for me — which is ironic, I suppose, since the overnight numbers indicate that it was the highest–rated Super Bowl ever. Obviously, it had an attraction for some people.

But I was a disinterested observer, watching only because there really was nothing else to watch. That is one of the things I remember from my days on the sports copy desk. Super Bowl Sunday was all about the Super Bowl. There might be a few basketball games earlier in the day, but they were just to fill the time. Once the Super Bowl began, nothing else was happening.

I also discovered that nothing competes with the Super Bowl on TV, either. Maybe there was a time in the last 50 years when the networks tried to compete with whichever one had the broadcast rights, but they must have learned quickly that was pointless. People throw parties on Super Bowl Sunday. You can't compete with that.

Once video recorders became a part of American households, it was possible to have quality options. Before that, though, it was the Super Bowl or nothing. On the sports desk, ever mindful of our deadlines, we kept one eye on the game and the other eye on the clock.

I stopped working on sports desks several years ago, and Super Bowl Sunday means something entirely different to me now. Sometimes the Super Bowl has had great meaning for me — like when the Green Bay Packers are playing in it. Most of the time, though, to borrow an expression I heard often when I was growing up, I haven't had a dog in that hunt.

That was the situation in which I found myself Sunday. I didn't really care for either team so I was able to watch with a complete sense of detachment. Being a Packer fan, my attitude would have been entirely different if the Packers had beaten the Seahawks in the NFC championship game. But they didn't so I was free to be just a football fan. That was kind of nice. It meant I could second–guess strategy — which I guess I can do anyway, but it is different when the Packers are playing. I always feel like I am being disloyal if I second–guess the coach's strategy. After all, he works with the players every day. He knows their strengths and weaknesses better than I do — even though I like to tell myself that I know those things, too.

When I have no emotional stake in the outcome, it is easier in some ways to watch the game and more difficult in others.

But I don't have a problem with calling 'em the way I see 'em — and that was a boneheaded call by Seattle's Pete Carroll.

One yard from the end zone. Seattle needed a touchdown to win the game. Carroll has, perhaps, the most punishing running back in the NFL today on his roster, a man who is certainly capable of picking up a single yard. And if he doesn't get it, you've still got time and a timeout to use. You can try again.

Sure, it's playing the odds. Sure, it's predictable. It's even boring — except that it probably would have worked. The Seahawks had the top–rated rushing game in the NFL this season. New England had the ninth–best run defense in the entire NFL — good but not great. How can it be great when the New York Jets were rated ahead of the Patriots in run defense?

Fact is, the Patriots were worse against the pass than they were against the run. They ranked 17th in the NFL. But when you're talking about the passing game, New England's pass defense has the edge against Seattle's pass offense, which ranked 27th in the entire NFL.

"You dance with who brung you," Darrell Royal used to say. The Seahawks relinquished their NFL title because they forgot to dance with who brung 'em.