Super Bowl XLIV

That’s really all you need to see.

I don’t care what GRRM has to say, it was an incredible game. I was really worried after the end of the first quarter, because Manning and the Colts made those 10 points look really easy. If there was anything there from the Saints, it was the way they halted that second drive and forced the Colts to kick for three. Three 40+ yard field goals later (isn’t that a record for a Super Bowl game?), and a touchdown for both sides, and the Colts just stopped.

Really the game to me was about some of the choices the Saints offense made: that onside kick to start off the second half; the brilliant 2 point conversion. And then there was that 74 yard interception return that even had Dena shouting. (She shouted at the onside kick and resulting dogpile, but that’s because she didn’t know what was going on.) It was an exciting, tense game.

Way better than the game against the Vikings two weeks ago, which was riddled with turnovers and penalties. Brees tied for most completions in a Super Bowl (with Tom Brady from a few years back). Everyone played a good game, and the Saints just wanted it more, and played like they were the smart guys in the room and had nothing to lose. At one point Manning spent the last portion of the second quarter, all of halftime, and a good chunk of the third quarter on the bench – about an hour of real time.

It was a great game to watch, and I’ll be feeling good about it for a while. I remember going to Saints games as a kid and expecting them to lose but still hoping something special might happen. Now I’m glad I it did and that I got to see it, even if from 3000 miles away.