Sir Psycho Sexy

LOVE IT!!

from Peter King's MMQB:

"Ambush,'' Payton said cavalierly, almost diffidently, as he walked by kickoff man Thomas Morstead in the Saints locker room at halftime Sunday night.

Perfect. Ambush. That's the name of the Saints' onside kick, the one that continued the Colts' downfall in Super Bowl 44. The reason it's so perfect is that it's right for Payton, and right for this derring-do team with the cocky defensive coordinator and the only slightly less cocky head coach and players and fans who have yearned for so long to deserve to be cocky. In this case, Ambush was so mind-blowing because:

a. Morstead never attempted an onside kick in a game before Sunday night in his life.

b. Morstead never practiced onside-kicking until 12 days ago.

c. Morstead can be a bundle of nerves.

And so Payton walked by Morstead's locker and dropped that little bomb on him, and he told the rest of the special-teams leaders, and 25 minutes still were left before the start of the second half. Morstead sat at his locker, looked straight ahead and tried to keep his heart from pounding out of his chest.

"I wasn't worried,'' Morstead said later. "I was terrified. He dropped it on me near the start of halftime, not near the end, and it's such a long halftime. All I could think of was how stupid I'd look if the kick doesn't go 10 yards, or if I blow it.''

When the Saints looked at the Colts on tape, they saw two up-men on the front line of the Indy kick-return team cheating. That is, when the kicker approached the ball, two guys on the right of the kick-return unit -- as the kickoff team looked ahead, to the left -- turned and began retreating to set up their blocks for a return just before the ball was kicked. So when Payton saw this, he figured the Saints would definitely try an onside kick at some point of the game.

In each of their three practices last week, the Saints worked on the onside kick five times. They christened it "Ambush'' for the element of surprise, obviously. And they practiced it the same way every time: with Morstead, the neophyte, approaching the ball from the left, as right-footed soccer-style kickers do, and kicking the ball almost across his body to the left, to the exact spot where the Saints thought the two Colts would be leaving early. Payton knew he wouldn't try the kick early in the game; he wanted time to set the Colts up. Before the game, he made a point to talk to ref Scott Green and his crew to be on the lookout for it so they wouldn't be surprised, and so they'd be ready to determine possession in the inevitable scrum.

"May God have mercy on those who doubted his Saints."

OldMaid

Iread that. I have to read it again.
Amazing. Amazing it worked.

We are all Monday Morning QB's to POINT.
Even for people who had family play football, it is like any other job. You really don't know it unless you work in it.

Choupique

Sean Payton is a freakin football genius with brass cajones.

JoanieNTX

I was terrified and thrilled at the same time! He definitely has quevos lagrande!

lumm0x

Ballsiest play call in history. He risked the entire game on that hunch and the Lombardi was his reward. Historic moment in sports.

OldMaid

It could have gone either way. Football is not safe. There is not just one way to make a turnover or turning point.

Payton is young and doesn't play nice and safe like some coaches we have had: Bum Philips, Mora.

QBREES9

That Sean Payton, man that took Balls of Steel.

neugey

"Ambush", right on the heels of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Gotta love it.

RailBoss

Midway through the first half Coach Payton had that Fungo look in his eyes when the camera zoomed in on him. When I saw that I knew he was leaving nothing sacred in the playbook. Yeah you have to admit he's got guts!
Also the ref's were pretty much a non factor, they worked a good game.

Sir Psycho Sexy

agreed. it was a clean game and the refs let football be played.