Did Manning lose the game, or poor game plan?

[DILLIGAFF]

I really think that too much emphasis was place on Peyton throwing the ball, early in the game I think Joseph Addai was on the brink of taking over the game on the ground. He had 7 runs for 60 yards, then they stopped giving him the ball, putting all the pressure on Manning.

Then again I know Manning runs that offense and makes a lot of the play calls himself.

Just wondered if the Colts coach has any regrets about giving Manning too much responsibility and that back fired. IMO if they would have stuck to the running game they would have won, Addai was a man on a mission.

[AllouezPackerFan]

Manning has had that team on his shoulders for the last ten years. Without him they don't make the playoffs this year. They have an average running attack and average defense. I think the Colts were way over-hyped going into the Super Bowl.

[DILLIGAFF]

Originally Posted by AllouezPackerFan

Manning has had that team on his shoulders for the last ten years. Without him they don't make the playoffs this year. They have an average running attack and average defense. I think the Colts were way over-hyped going into the Super Bowl.

I agree with you, but any given Sunday you go with the hot hand. I just think it is significant that they went away from Addai who was doing so well, I really think that Dungy would have come out at half time and given Addai some more opportunities.

I guess as a Packer fan watching the game I was trying to guess who would be the MVP of the game besides the QBs, early on I thought Addai was going to be a candidate.

[angryguy77]

Originally Posted by DILLIGAFF

I really think that too much emphasis was place on Peyton throwing the ball, early in the game I think Joseph Addai was on the brink of taking over the game on the ground. He had 7 runs for 60 yards, then they stopped giving him the ball, putting all the pressure on Manning.

Then again I know Manning runs that offense and makes a lot of the play calls himself.

Just wondered if the Colts coach has any regrets about giving Manning too much responsibility and that back fired. IMO if they would have stuck to the running game they would have won, Addai was a man on a mission.

I was thinking that too. I thought the coaching staff forgot they had addai on the team with the way they stopped running. The saints do not have a good run d and it surprises the hell out of me that went away from the run.

[Murgen]

It's like the Colts panicked and got away from their game plan.

Manning sure didn't help em throwing that "Farve" in the 4th.

[Forget Favre]

If your QB has great protection and a great arm, why take that away?

New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts - Recap - February 07, 2010 - ESPN
The Colts are perceived as a one-man team, and the fact that their running game was ranked dead last in the NFL this season only underlines their dependence on Manning.

[tfrentz]

If anyone didn't notice the Saints came out hitting anyone that had the ball really hard, so I think the Colts should have returned the favor and play more smash-mouth running up the middle on the Saint and tiring the D out. Saints took control in the second half and Colts never had an answer for it.

[PackersRS]

Depends.

What costed them the game, by one point, was the D. Their D overachieved the whole year, and without Freeney 100% and Sanders, it hurted them against an elite QB (not Flacco or Sanchez).

But when you consider that the whole team is build so that it can give Manning the chance to win the game, and not win the game by themselves, then you have to credit the loss to Payton.

The fact is he was ok. The forementioned Flacco could've had that performance with the Colts' offense.

While Brees was stellar.

[NYPacker]

Originally Posted by PackersRS

Depends.

What costed them the game, by one point, was the D. Their D overachieved the whole year, and without Freeney 100% and Sanders, it hurted them against an elite QB (not Flacco or Sanchez).

But when you consider that the whole team is build so that it can give Manning the chance to win the game, and not win the game by themselves, then you have to credit the loss to Payton.

The fact is he was ok. The forementioned Flacco could've had that performance with the Colts' offense.

While Brees was stellar.

THANK YOU! I've been trying to make a point like this in the past. The Colts defense was banged up for sure however the reason why they haven't gotten credit isn't because of the injuries but it's because they didn't face a formidable qb ALL SEASON. Kurt Warner and Brady were the only exceptions. Their defense did a good job against Warner but if Brady had executed that 4th down play better then they would've lost to him too. It was only a matter a time before their secondary was battle tested. I think they learned the same lesson that our secondary did in the wild card game.

[NYPacker]

Originally Posted by DILLIGAFF

I really think that too much emphasis was place on Peyton throwing the ball, early in the game I think Joseph Addai was on the brink of taking over the game on the ground. He had 7 runs for 60 yards, then they stopped giving him the ball, putting all the pressure on Manning.

Then again I know Manning runs that offense and makes a lot of the play calls himself.

Just wondered if the Colts coach has any regrets about giving Manning too much responsibility and that back fired. IMO if they would have stuck to the running game they would have won, Addai was a man on a mission.

I don't know if running the ball was really their strength. The colts were up 17-16 and instead of trying to the score on that drive they ran it on all three downs and punted the ball away. After that all hell broke loose on the saints side and they ran away with the victory. I think the running game actually screwed them over. If they had been more passive in that drive it would've culminated into a score and the pressure would've been back on the saints. I'm just trying to figure out who was responsible for the running calls, Peyton or the coaches?