Aint's No More: Super Bowl Recap

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At the end of the day, we're going to reiterate what we've said all along: Offense wins games, but Defense. Wins. Championships.

Yes, Drew Brees and the offense deserve all the credit in the world for battling back from down 10-0 and punching it in the end zone and giving the Saints a lead. Sean Payton did one of the best coaching jobs we've seen in a long time.

However, after the end of the first quarter, the Saints defense held Peyton Manning to 7 points. But the turning point in the game? The 3-and-out the Saints defense produced. Then, with the game on the line and Peyton Manning driving down the field, the Saints defense steps up with Tracy Porter undercutting an in-route and taking it back to the house, giving the Saints a 2-score lead.

Brees had a great game, don't get us wrong. He definitely deserves the MVP. Completing 32 passes with an 80% completion percentage is unreal. The entire Chargers organization is crapping themselves after letting Drew Brees and Eli Manning slip out of their grasps. How's that Philip Rivers thing working out for you?

We really can't say enough about Sean Payton's coaching job.

From the Indy side, you really can't place any blame on Matt Stover for missing that 51-yarder. That's no easy kick, and he gave it enough distance to get there. If the Colts had won, Manning would have won the MVP. However, if they had won, it should have gone to Joseph Addai. We absolutely love seeing Manning cry.

From Twitter:

rnstrong: I wonder which are more life-fulfilling: #manningtears or #tebowtears

Just to remind everyone:

• Ben Roethlisberger still has the same number of Super Bowl rings as the whole Manning family.
• Peyton Manning is 9-9 in the playoffs, 1-1 in Super Bowls. Big Ben is 8-2 in the playoffs, 2-0 in Super Bowls in 6 less years in the league.

We're not sure what was worse: the Who's halftime show or the commercials. Back to Twitter for some of the quotes of the night:

FSBigBob: The Who Is The Most Shameful Halftime Show Ever-I Understand Why Terrorists Hate America

PensFan2166: Apparently only American women destroy men's lives. French women & Google make them happy.

rnstrong: CBS: Commercial for a site where gay people can meet & be happy? NO. Commercial full of misogynistic hate? AWESOME! HILARIOUS!

Not sure what else we can say about the commercials. There were a lot that were just downright awful. On the whole, the Doritos ads were probably the best. Bud Light's were terrible, and FloTV's were without a doubt the worst. We lost a lot of respect for Jim Nantz for the FloTV ad.

At the end, what a coaching job by Sean Payton. Not only to make the onsides kick call at the beginning of the second half, but challenging the 2-point conversion call and the overall offensive play-calling that he did the whole game. Yes, he made some bad calls during the game, such as the reverse that lost 10 yards. But he also did a great job mixing and matching his players. He rotated Thomas, Bush, and Bell at running back and Thomas and Bush both came up with effective runs throughout the game. Going for it on 4th and goal? Love the call. It could have backfired if the Colts had scored on the ensuing drive, but the defense held strong on 2 short-yardage runs and the Saints were able to get the ball back and put some big points on the board.

The Saints won this game on the field in all three aspects of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. No one can say they didn't deserve this victory. Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, a well-won championship.

The city of New Orleans and Saints fans everywhere get to enjoy this victory, not only for the summer, but until February 6, 2011.

And thus ends the 2009 NFL Season. With the Pro Bowl moved up, the Saints have the full attention of the NFL and football fans all the way up until the Combine when we all get into full pre-draft mode. Thanks to our readers for sticking with us through the highs and lows of this season: from the loss in Cleveland to the Mike Wallace catch against Green Bay. We'll still be here throughout the offseason. We've still got some of our "Decade in Review" series to finish. We'll be giving detailed updates on the players the Steelers are looking at in Free Agency and the NFL Draft. We'll also be giving some coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics, which start on Friday. We'll be following the Pens as they gear up for another playoff run and we'll be keeping an eye on College Basketball and provide some March Madness coverage. Thanks to everyone who has commented, talked with us on Twitter, and e-mailed us throughout the season, we hope you'll stick around for the off-season!

As always, Go Steelers!