New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton breaks down the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl
Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune
As the confetti poured down on the world champion New Orleans Saints, fresh off their thrilling 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, coach Sean Payton had one more play that he wanted to call.
He asked whether he could be the one to hand off the coveted Lombardi Trophy to quarterback Drew Brees on the stage at midfield and officially introduce him as the game's MVP.
After being given the green light, Payton took the microphone and said simply, "I want to hand this trophy to the MVP of the Super Bowl and the MVP of our league, Drew Brees."
No one could argue with that statement at that moment.
Although Brees had spent the past four years emerging as one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks, he was still hovering a notch below that upper echelon reserved for mega-stars Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
Then in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV, a nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive that lasted four minutes and 57 seconds pushed him over the top.
Brees completed all eight of his passes to eight different receivers on the drive, including the 2-point conversion, to give the Saints a 24-17 lead over the favored Colts with 5:42 remaining.
Payton broke down that unforgettable drive in detail as he sat down with The Times-Picayune recently for a play-by-play recap of the Super Bowl. He used his coach's clicker to point out the intricate details of the game while offering a sort of director's commentary on his team's performance.
Running the show
The Saints began the drive at their own 41-yard line, sensational field position thanks to a questionable decision by Colts coach Jim Caldwell to attempt a 51-yard field goal with 42-year-old kicker Matt Stover, who hadn't made a kick that long in more than three years.
On the first play, Payton wanted to use tailback Reggie Bush, who was fresh after a light workload in the third quarter. He also wanted to try to use the running game to eat some clock.
So the coach conferred with running game coordinator Aaron Kromer, and they dialed up a shotgun run off left tackle that gained 12 yards.
"We had been really a heavy pass team all season with the gun, so we put in a couple gun runs late in the year. And we ended up having success with both gun runs we ran (in the Super Bowl), " said Payton, who pointed out a nice downfield block by receiver Devery Henderson, who he said had a very underrated performance.
The next play was intended to be a pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey, but it was well-covered, so Brees had to settle for a dump-off throw to tailback Pierre Thomas that went for five yards. Payton said it was an impressive throw for Brees, who had to get the ball out quickly against his body from an awkward position.
The next throw was a six-yard pass to Henderson -- "Devery again," Payton said. Then came an eight-yard gain on an underneath throw to Bush against Indy linebacker Gary Brackett.
It was an option route for Bush, who could break inside or outside based on Brackett's coverage. Earlier in the game, Bush had cut inside on the same route, but this time he turned outside while Brackett was sitting back more in coverage.
At that point, Payton the play-caller and Brees the quarterback were both staying very patient despite trailing 17-16 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the biggest game of their lives.
"We're starting to realize the throws are coming underneath and we're going to have to complete seven or eight. We're not going to have big chunks, " Payton explained. "We took a few shots, like on third down (and short) when we knew it wasn't zone coverage and we could get behind the coverage. But they're a hard team to get behind in base (defense), and they're very disciplined with their drops."
Shockey way
Now at second-and-2 from the Colts' 28-yard line, the Saints called a run play, but Brees changed it at the line of scrimmage when he saw that only one safety was lined up deep instead of the two-deep zone the Saints expected. He completed an 8-yard pass to receiver Marques Colston.
Payton said defenses will often try to disguise what they're doing at the line of scrimmage -- "they'll sugar it sometimes, " as he put it. But he said the Colts weren't able to disguise their alignments because the Saints' tempo from play to play was so quick.
The next play was also supposed to be a run, but Brees again decided to change it up. This time, instead of calling an audible at the line, he decided to make a quick throw out to receiver Robert Meachem on the far right side of the field, a "smoke" option that was built into the play.
It actually might have been the wrong decision. Payton pointed out that there appeared to be a decent hole available for the run. But Meachem did a great job of fighting off an early tackle and turning the play into a six-yard gain.
The next play was a "simple stick route" to tight end David Thomas on the left side, a nine-yard gain that gave the Saints first-and-goal from the 5-yard line.
"They're coming, but not in chunks here, " Payton said again.
The next play was a three-yard run by Pierre Thomas that did exactly what it was designed to do: get the Saints down closer to the goal line. Payton had already called the next play even before Thomas ran the ball. It was a quick pass designed for Shockey if he got the right matchup.
And sure enough, the Saints got the matchup they wanted. Shockey was lined up outside, and the Colts opted for zone coverage with cornerback Jacob Lacey directly across from him.
"If you listen to the audio, you'll hear me say, 'He's going to throw to Shockey here, '" said Payton, who indeed predicted the touchdown before the ball was snapped, according to the raw footage from NFL Films, which had put a microphone on the coach for the game.
"If this corner, who's short, matches up on Shockey and we feel like Shockey can get inside technique, which Drew sees right now" Payton explained as he highlighted the key players with his coach's clicker. "We've got just what we want. Soft coverage and the big athlete on the small corner. Shockey's just going to run what we call a bullet, and Drew will take one step and he's going to throw this.
"It's just a big player on a small player. The corner didn't play it badly at all. It's like an inbound on a basketball court."
Two-point confusion
The next play, the 2-point conversion pass to receiver Lance Moore, didn't go quite as smoothly. Payton called a run play, but Brees had the option to switch it to a pass play if he saw the Colts were blitzing, which he did.
He threw a quick pass out to Moore in the right flat, but Moore hesitated with his first step and was still short of the goal line as the ball arrived. Moore landed on his back as he reached the ball across the goal line, and he bobbled it for a second, but he had a firm grip on it before Lacey kicked the ball out of his hands.
The action happened so fast, though, that the officials signaled it incomplete.
Payton didn't have a good angle at the play from the sideline, so he initially assumed that was the right call. But with a long TV timeout before the next kickoff, his staff had plenty of time to study the replays and determine that Moore had possession beyond the goal line. Moore also came up to Payton to insist he caught it before the ball was kicked out of his hands.
Payton was impatient while the coaches deliberated, demanding to know whether he caught the ball or not. At one point on the NFL Films footage, Payton raised his arms and yelled, "Touchdown!" after he heard one thing, then pulled his arms down with a confused look and said, "What? Did he keep it, though? What?"
Then as the coach was discussing his possible challenge with the officials, receivers coach Curtis Johnson came over and yelled at him to throw the challenge flag.
After winning the challenge, the Saints had a seven-point lead. But it was hardly a comfortable edge.
Porter's big play
Now it was Manning's turn with 5:42 remaining, and Payton warned his team that there was "a lot of football" left to be played.
When Moore came over to Payton on the sideline, smiling and saying, "I told ya, " Payton didn't like the giddiness, and he warned Moore and a handful of offensive players to be ready for another drive.
He told the guys on kickoff coverage, "Somebody be a ball-out hero!"
And he told a group of defensive players, "Let's go! It's what we live for! Sack-fumble, sack-fumble!"
Ironically, one of those players was cornerback Tracy Porter, who didn't exactly follow his coach's order on the seventh play of the drive. Instead of a sack-fumble, he stepped in front of receiver Reggie Wayne for an interception and returned it 74 yards for the most celebrated touchdown in Saints history.
Payton's arms shot up in celebration after the pick, then he broke into a dead sprint down the sideline, smiling the entire way and avoiding a handful of players in his path. He finished with an emphatic, over-the-top fist pump and yelled, "Yes!"
But just as quickly, Payton was heading back down the sideline and yelling at the inactive players to get back.
"Let's be smart now, " he said into his headset, with the Saints leading 31-17 with 3:12 remaining. "This is an eternity for their offense."
"I was the last one (to celebrate), " Payton said last week. "In fact, there's a point on that mic'd-up version where we're taking a knee, and I'm still trying to make sure, 'Can we take a knee?' and (linebackers coach Joe) Vitt said something to me like, 'Hey, I'm trying to hug you.' And I look at him like, 'What?' And he says, 'We just won a world championship.'"
"Then you finally "aaah, " Payton said, mimicking a deep sigh.
Sea of faces
That peaceful moment didn't last long before chaos erupted on the Saints' sideline. Payton said that any attempt to keep the cameras and boom microphones back completely vanished in those final minutes as everyone jockeyed for position for the celebration shots.
"Pretty soon, I'm looking around, and I'm like, 'I can't fight this battle right now.' They're everywhere," Payton said.
He got hit with the Gatorade, and then he was lifted up on his players' shoulders and onto the field into a sea of bodies.
Immediately, Payton started looking for his wife, Beth, and his children, Meghan and Connor, but it was a hopeless search.
He found Caldwell, the Colts' coach, for a quick handshake and pat on the back. Then he wandered aimlessly on the field, once nearly crashing into the Sir Saint mascot.
He stopped repeatedly for hugs and victory yells and brief conversations with whatever assistant coach, player or celebrity landed in his path: Vitt, Gregg Williams, Dan Dalrymple, Jabari Greer, Reggie Bush, Jeremy Shockey and his mother, Kim Kardashian and her mother, Harry Connick Jr., Avery Johnson, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. All the while Payton kept asking whether anyone had seen his wife and children.
"Listen, we just won the Super Bowl, and I'm starting to get pissed now. How hard is it?" said Payton, who said it was so chaotic on the field that he thinks the criticism Manning received for walking off the field without congratulating Brees was off-base.
After maybe 10 minutes, Payton finally had the reunion with his family up on the stage that was erected at midfield. They exchanged big hugs before he started waving championship towels and the stadium edition of The Times-Picayune to the crowd around the stage.
He also shared moments with owner Tom Benson and his wife Gayle, with Saints Vice President Rita Benson LeBlanc and General Manager Mickey Loomis.
Then Brees came up to the stage and met up with his coach for the first time since the game ended. They hugged and exchanged shouts of "I love ya!" and "I love you, too!"
"We won the Super Bowl!" Payton shouted. "You won the Super Bowl!"
"You did too!" Brees shouted back before shaking his head while he soaked in the scene around him.
"Unbelievable, " Brees said. "Just take in this moment, huh?"
Mike Triplett can be reached at
mtriplett@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3405.
, thinking "how the hell did he know that was coming?". Impressive stuff.
