Colts have to acknowledge they were out-coached

MIAMI -- Priorities can change, and for the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints underscored a weakness on their sideline that needs to be addressed.

Colts owner Jim Irsay made a big splash early in Super Bowl week saying his off-season priority is to make quarterback Peyton Manning the NFL's highest-paid player. Fine, no issue there, but he's got another mess on his hands, and that's his coaching staff.

The Colts were thoroughly out-coached in the Super Bowl and now face the retirements of two key staffers in offensive co-ordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive co-ordinator Greg Williams were aggressive and creative while Colts boss Jim Caldwell came off as conservative and at times, frozen.

The Saints were the team that reacted and changed, matching the Colts in many areas and staying one step ahead of them in others. While Drew Brees was named the MVP, Payton had every bit as much to do with New Orleans winning this game.

New Orleans was an underdog for a reason and they had to weigh risks and rewards while taking a number of calculated gambles to upset the Colts' balance. Caldwell was afraid to make mistakes, and in the end his patience cost him as the Saints zipped past the Colts in the final quarter.

Payton's call to go for it on fourth down and goal to go late in the first half was typical of that risk-vs.-reward strategy. The decision temporarily backfired when the Colts defence made a play, leaving the Saints with no points at the end of a solid drive.

But Caldwell and Moore cooked up three conservative run plays and immediately handed the ball back to Brees with time left on the clock. It was a gift Payton and the Saints gladly accepted. Their drive to end the half resulted in three points for the underdogs and allowed them to hold serve in the momentum department.

Payton walked off the field at halftime knowing Manning would get the ball in his hands next and have an opportunity after making adjustments. The Colts have made a living through adjustments during their run as one of the NFL's elite teams. The Saints coach did his best to flip that confidence.

Telling his team they needed, "to make me look right on this one," Payton ordered an onside kick to start the second half. When the Saints came up with the ball and quickly took it down the field for a score, this game had gone from David vs. Goliath to Ali vs. Frazier. The Saints were no longer underdogs. It was an even-up slugfest.

Caldwell still had Manning at the controls and his patience might have paid off but for the brilliant game-planning of Williams. The best coach in the NFL not currently running his own team was this year's version of Buddy Ryan.

Ryan was carried off the field by his Chicago Bears defence following the 1985 Super Bowl and Williams deserved similar treatment. He schemed and tweaked and pushed his defence to hold Manning and the Colts to just 17 points. No small feat considering the prolific capability of the Indy offence.

That offence found its rhythm on a number of occasions but couldn't sustain it throughout the night. Credit to Williams who devised different defences to use throughout the game. The Saints showed one package to begin the game, another for the third quarter and finally a fresh scheme for the fourth.

Much was made last week of the Saints and their inexperience at the Super Bowl, and while they looked every part the first-timer during the pre-game warm-ups with all their high school rah-rah crap, they were organized and on cue all game.

Conversely, the Colts were all over the place on defence, blowing coverages on key plays and repeatedly not having the right personnel in the game. Add to this the fact the Colts failed to prepare for a crowd that was pro-Saints and made this more like a road game despite its neutral appearance.

Manning struggled at the line of scrimmage when going about his patented audibles as the Saints fans created a din that made hearing on the field difficult for the Colts.

The Colts looked unprepared and that falls on the coaching staff. New Orleans held an edge in special teams and football people often say the biggest contributor to that facet of the game is preparation.

Caldwell was a rookie head coach this season and despite his sparkling 14-2 regular-season record and two playoff wins en route to the Super Bowl, he looked it on Sunday.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Gary Lawless, Winnipeg Free Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 9, 2010 C6