In one of the most boring "classic" Super Bowl games every played, the New Orleans Saints provided one of the more memorable upsets, and are now Super Bowl Champions. Congrats to them, former Spare Bear Sean Payton, and what's left of their original fanbase.The game itself while not stagnant, was also not spectacular. Both teams ran efficient offenses for the most part. Neither team's defense was particularly interested in tackling anybody. Tracy Porter's pick 6 joins the likes of other Super Bowl pick 6ers such as Willie Brown, Jack Squirek, and Reggie Phillips to name a few. There was only 1 sack in the contest, which was made by the remarkable Dwight Freeney. There was only one play that went for more than 30 yards the entire game, and that was Austin Collie's 40 yard grab in the 4th quarter. Some other key stats included both teams essentially splitting the Time Of Possession (N.O. 30:11 IND 29:49), both teams punting only twice, neither team had a running back run for over 100 yards, and neither team had a fumble the entire contest. The most remarkable stat really is that the Saints defense gave up 432 total yards, and STILL won the game! So much for defense wins championships in today's NFL.
So what does this say for the rest of the league? One thing's for sure is that the NFL is as much of a passing man's league than ever before. Unfairly or not, Peyton Manning did show that he can lose a game like any other quarterback in a pressure situation. Reggie Bush, while in many ways continues to be a bust, still made significant contributions to a championship season. When the 2010 season starts, we can expect several teams to run a similar offensive scheme as the Saints. Drew Brees likely has made huge strides this season to Hall Of Fame election.
Most of all though, we saw that Upsets and Underdogs still make for great television as this Super Bowl was the highest rated television program in the history of television.
"Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez"!
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