The Saints certainly came marching in to begin the second half with arguably the gutsiest call in Super Bowl history going for an onside kick and successfully recovering. That being said, the game itself was actually rather tight and quite cerebral in nature which really begs that question of whether or not last night’s Super Bowl came down to coaching.

Obviously Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell made no glaring blunders to lose the game for his squad, but the complete disregard for the consequences of his actions shown by the New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton makes him the determining factor in the game. Knocking on the door of the goal line nearing the end of the opening half, Payton chose to keep his offense on the field and go for the touchdown rather than take the safe three points to close the half. After the Colts made the stop many would have put a fork in the Saints at that point, but Payton’s confidence in his defense paid off as they forced a three and out of their own and ended up getting those three points anyway to close the half.

As if that wasn’t enough intestinal fortitude for one night, Payton’s onside kick call to open the second half just allowed the Saints to really take control of their own destiny. Those two minutes of game time from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the third gave the Saints the confidence necessary to pull off the unthinkable. Defensive adjustments after being down 10-0 after one quarter of play have to factor in to the coaching differential as well with Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams shuffling the cards just right to surrender only seven points over the next three quarters of football from that point on.

This wasn’t Caldwell’s first rodeo with the Colts as he had already been to a Super Bowl as an assistant under Tony Dungy, but it seems like a fair question to ask whether or not coaching decided last night’s showdown in Miami.

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