Steel City Jim

For many years, Super Bowls were ho-hum affairs, very one-sided and boring. But you can't say that about the last two. Last year's was thrilling, whether you are a Steeler fan or not, when Roethlisberger connected to Holmes for a TD to ice the game. Last night's game was a humdinger, particularly when the favorites took what seemed to be an easy 10-0 lead in the first quarter. At that point I thought that Manning and Company had the game well in hand and that it would be smooth sailing for them.

But I discounted Sean Payton's grit and game plan. Who would have risked an onside kick to start the second half? Tomlin tried it during the season. It failed, and he took a lot of heat for it. But being underdogs, Payton had to take some chances and he did. He also went for a 4th and 1 at the end of the first half. It failed. But Cowher rightly pointed out that by calling for the play, he signaled his team that he was going all out to win the game. It worked. It wasn't as if Payton and the Saints were awed by being in the game, a problem for first-time Super Bowlers in the past. He and his team were focused on winning. It was obviously the right attitude.

Last week the articles abounded with comments that it takes Peyton Manning a couple of offensive series to figure out what the defense is throwing at him. Then he adjusts and calls a great game. I, even I, thought to myself after reading and hearing this all week, why don't they give him one look one time, another look another time, etc., thereby not allowing him to get comfortable. Use as many schemes as you possibly can against him. Last night the commentators stated that Sean Payton had prepared different defenses for the first quarter, the second quarter, etc. So, I sort of took credit for this in my own mind. Hey, it worked. Manning never seemed to get the offense going consistently after the first quarter. In fact, the second quarter was all Saints. And with the onside kick going to Saints' way, resulting in a touchdown for them, Manning and his group never did much.

You'll excuse some Steelers' reminiscing at one point last night. I refer to when Manning morphed into Neil O'Donnell near the end of the game. In Super Bowl XXX, the Steelers played the Cowboys. Near the end of the game the Steelers trailed by less than a touchdown and they were marching. But Neil O'Donnell threw a pass directly to a Dallas guy named Larry Brown who took it to the house and dashed any hope of a win. Not that you can compare O'Donnell, pretty much of a journeyman who ended up with Tennessee, with Manning. Manning will go down as one of the greats of all time. But for one fleeting second he misread Porter who jumped a pass and ran it in for a touchdown. Guess what? Manning is human after all.

A couple of things impressed me. Both quarterbacks last night have an uncanny ability of getting the ball off quickly. It's one, two, three and out. Both also can look over the field and back-pedal to buy a few more seconds. Both did this and were successful. Caldwell, the Colts' coach, is a class guy.

OK, the Super Bowl is behind us. Now, let's concentrate on the draft and avoiding a lockout. The latter may be an impossibility. But if it happens, it stinks.