The Super Bowl experience: Three up, three down, three in between

Three Up:

The Saints: This is an obvious one, but still a good one. The Colts were favored by 5.5 and nearly every expert on Espn predicted that they would win. The Saints recovered an onside that to start the second half and that completely changed the game. After a Jeremy Shockey touchdown gave the Saints the lead, Tracy Porter picked off Peyton Manning to seal the game.

The offensive lines: It’s about time both offensive lines got some love after the Super Bowl. Brees and Manning were seemingly untouched except for a Dwight Freeney sack on Brees early in the first quarter. Other than that, both quarterbacks were able to sit back in the pocket. The Colts O-line also allowed their running backs to average 5.2 yards per carry.

Sean Payton: After the game, the Saints coach is being called a genius for his role in the Super bowl win. Payton called for the surprise onside kick to start the second half. He was lucky as the Saints recovered and completely changed the momentum in the game. If the Saints didn’t recover we’d probably be calling him things other than a genius right now.

Three Down:

Commercials: Every year it seems there are a few commercials that stick out as the funniest of the year. This year is an exception because no commercials stick out to me as hysterical. Sure, the Bud Lights were decent, but there were a lot more busts. A few commercials that went too far were the talking babies (which got old fast) and Charles Barkley’s Taco Bell commercial.

Tony Dungy: Ex-Colts coach Tony Dungy still has a lot of confidence in his former team, but maybe a little too much. Before the game, he told the New York Times, “I think they’re going to be so far ahead that people are going to say, ‘Oh, ho-hum, (Peyton Manning) played a good game, they won by two scores, the Colts won their second championship’”.  Too bad the Saints won by two scores.

Reggie Bush: The Saints only star that did not have a really good game. He had just 25 yards rushing and 38 yards receiving in the game. Bush also only returned one punt for four yards. He did do well earlier in the playoffs against the Cardinals and Vikings.

Three In Between:

Peyton Manning: The Colts quarterback was not as good as expected, but was not bad. He was 31/45 for 333 yards and one touchdown and an interception. The interception was the biggest of his career as it effectively ended the Colts chances of another Super Bowl, but it is ridiculous to judge his legacy by one pas. His rating of 88.5 was just average.

The Who: They played as good as what can be expected from 65-year old men, but that does not mean they were very good. The Who sounded a little off-key, but they are old and cannot be expected to play like they did when they were 30. The songs they played were good, but the execution was not.

Colts and Saints offenses: Neither offense was as good as advertised in this battle of two All-Pro quarterbacks. It wasn’t a defense struggle, but certainly not a shoot-out. The final score was 31-17, and one of the Saints’ touchdowns was a defensive score. Predictions had the two teams combining for at least 65 points, so 48 points was a bit of a letdown.