Saints March Right Through the Door

MIAMI -- The brash and bold attitude the freshly anointed New Orleans Saints displayed on Sunday night is a trait they have flaunted all season. There was nothing fluke or lucky or miraculous about what the Saints did to the Indianapolis Colts here well before "The Who'' appeared at halftime and well after the Colts wondered "Who Dat stole our thunder?''

You bet, the seeds for this whipping -- a 31-17 victory in Super Bowl XLIV that began with the Colts scoring the game's first 10 points and then being blitzed 31-7 -- were planted when Sean Payton walked through the door at the Saints complex four years ago.

Instantly, he began whacking and whittling. Cutting wheat from chaff. Carving out whatever remnants of sulking, sorry losing mentality that remained, traits that had long helped strangle the franchise. Dumping grouchy players and lax coaches and overhauling the systems.

Payton had a hammer in one hand and a blueprint in the other.

Payton brought in his guys and looked for more new guys to fit his mold. He kept building attitude on both sides of the ball. He was going to play it fast and he was going to play it loose. He wanted risk-takers, gamblers, players and coaches who like playing the game of football on the edge. This focused coach is just this side of nuts when it comes to cooking up juicy offensive plays and artistic game plans.
(Sean Payton) likes to play psychiatrist with his players, likes to needle them and juke them when he feels required, but more than that, he wanted players, a team, that was not afraid to win.
He likes to play psychiatrist with his players, likes to needle them and juke them when he feels required, but more than that, he wanted players, a team, that was not afraid to win. Not afraid to be great.

And that is how it unfolded here in Sun Life Stadium. Saints attitude everywhere.

Trailing 10-3 near halftime and at the Indianapolis 1-yard line, Payton went for it on fourth down. The rushing play failed, but his defense got the ball back and the Saints managed a field goal to trail 10-6 at halftime.

The Saints had won the toss and grabbed the ball to start the game. It would be Colts ball to start the second half. Uh-uh. Onside kick converted.

What a risk with a hot Peyton Manning licking his lips and his fingers on the sidelines, ready to rip. And what if the kick had failed and Manning had started the opening second-half drive inside Saints territory? Risk. Reward. Payton saw reward. He
got it.

So did the Saints receivers, who spread the Colts defense thin with hooks and curls and outs and ins. The Cover-2 defense that the Colts employed was not going to allow the Saints to burn them over the top. Drew Brees and his receivers set about playing four quarters of underneath stuff of prick, prick, prick, prick until the Colts defense bled. It was like a faucet dripping.

Brees and the Saints receivers killed them softly. Seven different Saints receivers caught at least two passes and only two had catches of more than 20 yards.

And give it up for this Saints defense, which followed suit. It took the attitude Payton sought to a higher level. It smacked the Saints offense around in practices all summer and all season under new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. It made the Saints offense tougher, more brash, more bold. And then it rolled through the season with a penchant for producing turnovers and snuffing quarterbacks. In the playoffs, it defeated Kurt Warner. Next came Brett Favre. Now Manning. That is three consecutive previous Super Bowl winners.

No Super Bowl champion has ever accomplished that.

Williams, during a timeout with a little more than three minutes left and the Saints ahead 24-17, talked it over with his defense. The Colts were at the New Orleans 31 facing third-and-five. Remember, Williams had said before this game that he wanted his defense to give Manning some "remember-me'' hits. How about a remember-me pick right then, right there? That is serious attitude.

SUPER BOWL COVERAGE

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Mariotti: MVP Brees Worth Praise
Whitley: Right Time for Gutsy Call
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Moore: Peyton Doesn't Get Job Done
Graziano: Porter Makes Play of Year
Gay: Addai Shines in Defeat
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Cornerback Tracy Porter once again rose and dominated. This little Saint made a heavenly play of anticipation and of cat-like quickness. He saw it, he read it, laid low and then pounced on the Manning pass meant for receiver Reggie Wayne. It was 74 yards later when Porter finally stopped running, a pick and a score and the game was over. Even Manning -- who helped craft seven victories this season when his team trailed in the fourth quarter -- was not going to pull that magic again, not overcome the Saints' stiff attitude.

Porter also made the pick on Favre at the end of regulation in the NFC championship bout that forced that game into overtime. Now, rather than salvage the game, he capped it. He silenced Manning. He buried the Colts. Only one turnover in the game and not a surprise at all which team got it. Not a shock at all that they scored on it. The Saints defense made that routine all season long.

This was all about affirmation for the Saints. All about recovery for a franchise in its 43rd season and celebration for a city that deserved a fresh jolt of Mardi Gras-like cheer after the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina.

The Big Easy put Naptown to sleep.

The Saints put a hold on the Colts claims of dynasty and on Manning's charge to football immortality.

It required a persistent, confident, aggressive attitude to do that. The Saints took the aw-shucks out of this Super Bowl and turned the place into their playpen. You beat a team by two touchdowns that was supposed to run away with this thing and you have turned a corner. The futile Saints are so yesterday.

These Saints marched right through the front door. There was nothing backdoor about this performance. And they left the place the same way, without tip-toeing around anyone or anything.

They showed the Colts and the NFL and everyone watching how an attitude check can lead to a championship. They reflect their leadership. They mirror their city. Tough in the clutch. Attitude front and center.