Saints follow the lead of their leader: Payton

The kid from Naperville sure did grow up to be one bold dude.

Saints head coach Sean Payton also became a Super Bowl champion Sunday night with a 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Many analysts believed the only way New Orleans could celebrate a championship was if their team played the game aggressively, so that's what the Saints did.

"I'm sure they're having a good time on Bourbon Street," Payton said.

The Colts were favored. They had Peyton Manning. The Saints couldn't leave anything to chance. They had to take chances and let the points fall where they may.

So with Indianapolis leading 10-6 and eager to start the second half on offense, Payton called for an onside kick.

"We talked about being aggressive coming into this game," Payton said. Then he added about the daring call, "I told our guys, 'You have to make me look good - let's go make a play.'"

The Saints executed it, the Colts botched it, and the tone was set.

How unconventional was that start of the second half? It was the first onside kick attempted before the fourth quarter of any Super Bowl.

"We thought during the week that we had more than a 60 or 70 percent chance of recovery," Payton said of the risk/reward factor.

The Saints immediately fed off their coach's audacity. On first down Pierre Thomas caught a screen pass, ran through a defender, twisted and skipped 12 yards to a first down.

A couple of plays later, tight end Jeremy Shockey pushed Colts defensive back Antoine Bethea from behind right at, or maybe just after, the whistle.

Finally, Thomas took a pass 15 yards for a touchdown that signaled to the Colts that this was going to be one tough football fight to the finish.

The Saints kept pressuring the Colts to the point that Manning, down the stretch with the game in the balance, threw an interception for a Saints TD and a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone.

Game, set, celebrate!

So much for the talk about Manning being the NFL's best quarterback ever. Saints counterpart Drew Brees was elected the game's MVP.

More important, for one night Sean Payton might have been the NFL's best head coach ever.

OK, that's an exaggeration, but Payton did coach one great game. Even when something didn't work, it worked out.

Like, Payton went for a touchdown instead of a field goal on fourth down near the end of the first half and the Colts stuffed the running play.

But the Saints' defense held the Colts and wound up kicking a field goal on the final play before halftime.

That's a great way to end one half. Recovering an onside kick to start the next half is even better. Those consecutive successes made the difference in the Super Bowl.

"Our head coach is unbelievable," Brees said. "There's nobody I wanted to win this championship for more than Sean Payton."

The coach's reward included the obligatory Gatorade shower. He rode on his players' shoulders. He pumped a fistful of visor up toward Saints fans in Sun Life Stadium.

Yes, folks, the bold dude sure has come a long way from Naperville.

mimrem@dailyherald.com