homegame

Fortune Favors the Brave

At bottom, football is a sport built on aggression. They won't come any more aggressive than Sean Payton yesterday at the Super Bowl.

Forget the statistical analysis of Payton's major decisions during the game, going for it on fourth and goal and opening the second half with an onsides kick. For one thing, Payton had a high degree of belief they'd both work, what with the Saints having the league's highest scoring offense AND having game planned an onside kick well before he called it. What mattered in both calls is that they represented a coach doing his very utmost to seize the initiative, to hit first and keep on hitting.

Neither call really won the game by itself, or together. The Colts regained the lead on their next possession after the Saints recovered the onside kick and scored, after all. But the further the game went on, the more New Orleans became the aggressor. It had the initiative, hit first, and dared the Colts to respond. Which, thanks to Terry Porter, they couldn't.

I know that had I been a Saint, going out for the second half knowing we were opening with an onsides kick in the Super Bowl, I'd have had all the energy my system could take and more.

I'd have had faith, because my leader was showing faith in me.

posted by Michael Gee @ 12:21 PM