drew brees and sonnice saints cheerleadersdrew brees kissing wifetracy porter the heroLeft to right: Pick-six hero Tracy Porter shaved the Dome onto the back of his head, Drew Brees kisses his wife, Saints cheerleaders are giddy, and Drew Brees hoists his kid into the confetti-strewn air.

Sean Payton coached a brilliant game. He said he came up with the idea for the onside kick at halftime. Wonder if this is something he’d been planning for two weeks. A reach? Perhaps. Hear us out:

1) Payton took the ball first. The Ravens and Jets, which have better defenses, gave Indy the ball first. If you come into the game thinking you might drop an onside kick to open the 2nd half, you obviously take the ball first.

2) Late in the first half, Payton went for it on 4th and goal. Initially, we thought it was a bad idea, but upon further review, it was the right call. Why kick and give Manning the ball back with plenty of time on the clock? In a similar spot in the AFC title game, trailing the Jets 17-6, Peyton Manning put on a clinic and Indy drew within 17-13 at the half. A worst case scenario yesterday: kick the field goal, Manning gets a TD, and you’re looking at a 17-6 halftime deficit plus the Colts get the ball first in the 2nd half. In that spot, would the Colts maybe have been guarding against an onside kick?

Either way, should this 4th down decision by Payton have set off an alarm? They do not want us to get the ball under any circumstances. We should maybe watch for a trick here.

The onside kick has to be one of the two most gutsy plays in Super Bowl history. Probably in the top five. CBS said that no team in the Super Bowl had ever attempted an onside kick prior to the 4th quarter.

We’ll get to the Peyton Manning discussion shortly, but consider this: Today, few people are getting on Manning’s case for that pick-six. Was it Wayne’s fault? Did Porter just make a great play? It is open to debate. That being said – how many QBs would be getting ripped mercilessly today for costing his team a shot at the tie and perhaps overtime? How many QBs would be labeled a choke artist for that pick? A couple names to ponder: Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre.