Did the Saints change the NFL blueprint on how to beat consistant winning teams?

I'm wondering if the Saints coaching staff just raised the bar, and changed the landscape on what it takes to win the NFL.

A few seconds before Manning got picked off to seal the game, Phil Simms was saying how the Saints coaches planned on showing Manning something in the first quarter, something different in the second quarter, and the third, and then they saved something for the fourth quarter.

It also seems like they made adjustments after their first three and outs. They started hitting their WRs in the middle of the field and on outs to move the chains. They stopped looking for the home run hitter they had hit all year. They hit their RBs out of the backfield.They controlled the clock and kept Manning from touching a football for over 70 minutes.

They had practiced the onside kick all week long, and the players knew it would come in the 2nd or 3rd quarter .

Is this just an instance of out coaching the Colts with 2 weeks to prepare? Or will teams catch on and start devising game plans for each quarter, not just the first 20 plays of the game and go from there?

Only time will tell.

No.

The Saints did what teams have been doing for years: they gameplanned to beat that specific team. Their strategy for the Colts was to show them something different every quarter.

Dude got lucky on an onside, Payton missed a 4th and goal, all they did right was keep Manning off the field and make him go crazy on the sidelines.


If Singletary would onside, or go for a fourth and goal and miss in the S.B., you guys couldn't handle it.

Originally posted by TonyStarks:
Dude got lucky on an onside, Payton missed a 4th and goal, all they did right was keep Manning off the field and make him go crazy on the sidelines.


If Singletary would onside, or go for a fourth and goal and miss in the S.B., you guys couldn't handle it.

Did you read the article about how the rookie kicker felt after Payton announced they were going to try to onside kick in the locker room?? The poor guy had to sweat it out while the Who were preforming. No wonder he was jumping up and down when they finally ruled it Saints ball.

Originally posted by global_nomad:

Originally posted by TonyStarks:
Dude got lucky on an onside, Payton missed a 4th and goal, all they did right was keep Manning off the field and make him go crazy on the sidelines.


If Singletary would onside, or go for a fourth and goal and miss in the S.B., you guys couldn't handle it.

Did you read the article about how the rookie kicker felt after Payton announced they were going to try to onside kick in the locker room?? The poor guy had to sweat it out while the Who were preforming. No wonder he was jumping up and down when they finally ruled it Saints ball.

That ball could've gone either way IMO

IIRC the Saints didn't even score on that onside?

Originally posted by TonyStarks:

Originally posted by global_nomad:

Originally posted by TonyStarks:
Dude got lucky on an onside, Payton missed a 4th and goal, all they did right was keep Manning off the field and make him go crazy on the sidelines.


If Singletary would onside, or go for a fourth and goal and miss in the S.B., you guys couldn't handle it.

Did you read the article about how the rookie kicker felt after Payton announced they were going to try to onside kick in the locker room?? The poor guy had to sweat it out while the Who were preforming. No wonder he was jumping up and down when they finally ruled it Saints ball.

That ball could've gone either way IMO

IIRC the Saints didn't even score on that onside?

yes the screen pass to Thomas came on that drive. The colts marched right back after that to regain the lead 17-13, but never scored after that. Meaning the Saints outscored them 31-7 after the 1st quarter.

Originally posted by global_nomad:

Originally posted by TonyStarks:

Originally posted by global_nomad:

Originally posted by TonyStarks:
Dude got lucky on an onside, Payton missed a 4th and goal, all they did right was keep Manning off the field and make him go crazy on the sidelines.


If Singletary would onside, or go for a fourth and goal and miss in the S.B., you guys couldn't handle it.

Did you read the article about how the rookie kicker felt after Payton announced they were going to try to onside kick in the locker room?? The poor guy had to sweat it out while the Who were preforming. No wonder he was jumping up and down when they finally ruled it Saints ball.

That ball could've gone either way IMO

IIRC the Saints didn't even score on that onside?

yes the screen pass to Thomas came on that drive. The colts marched right back after that to regain the lead 17-13, but never scored after that. Meaning the Saints outscored them 31-7 after the 1st quarter.

Wow that is pretty crazy. Not many people would have thought the Colts would score 20 or less.

I'm sure every team has tried to make minor changes to their defense throughout the game to keep Manning off balance, but the Saints didn't just make minor adjustments. They actually switched to a 3-4 defense in certain situations and alternated coverages in the secondary quite often.

They probably spent every bit of the 2 weeks leading up to this game preparing to implement a defensive game plan that complicated. I can't see any team replicating it during the regular season.

Originally posted by Overkill:
I'm sure every team has tried to make minor changes to their defense throughout the game to keep Manning off balance, but the Saints didn't just make minor adjustments. They actually switched to a 3-4 defense in certain situations and alternated coverages in the secondary quite often.

They probably spent every bit of the 2 weeks leading up to this game preparing to implement a defensive game plan that complicated. I can't see any team replicating it during the regular season.

They kept an umbrella over the top throughout the game for no big plays and mixed coverages underneath as the game went on. As long as they didn't give up anything big, they knew Manning would take what's given but changing the underneath coverage up finally caught Manning. Of course, when one throws 40+ times, an INT is inevitable for the most part.