A Super Disappointment?

In the spirit and style of my favorite Football columnist, Sports Illustrated's Peter King, here are my Top 10 'I thinks' from a disappointed Colts fan.

1- I think the Saints won this Super Bowl because they were the better team. I don't buy the excuse that the Colts played poorly... the Saints just played better.

2- I think the Colts greatest strength also happens to be their greatest weakness- Reliance on timing and precision offense. This strategy is indefensible in 95% of Colts games... it's the 5% that knock out the Colts rhythm- Unfortunately it seems to happen in the playoffs.

3- I think Peyton Manning is a machine! He is undoubtedly the smartest quarterback in the game- The only problem is Peyton as the calculating machine makes the rest of the league is mere humans, and humans are often more resilient. (Peyton threw the pick-6 because the numbers said it would work not because the player was open) Every week Peyton is studying the rest of the league... every week the rest of the league is studying Peyton. 1 vs. 100 eventually the odds catch up- They did last night.

4- I think the Colts decision to avoid perfection, however ridiculous and misguided, had NOTHING to do with last night's loss. The Saints also rested their players and won. And I do not buy the argument that the Colts would have played harder with a chance at perfection. If a team cannot get motivated to win the Super Bowl- odds are they wouldn't be playing in the game to begin with.

5- I think that last night's game was filled with irony at its finest. The Colts should have employed a strategy that most teams use against them... keep Brees off the field -aka RUN THE BALL MORE. On the flip side, the Saints beat the Colts using a bend but don't break defense the Colts have become known for the last few years.

6- I think Drew Brees just punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame and we should get used to hearing his name in conversations including Manning and Brady.

7- I think New Orleans deserved a title for living 40+ years in the cellar of Pro Football NOT for having gone through Hurricane Katrina. That 'logic' is akin to Pat Robertson's idiotic idea that God sent the storm to wipe out the voodoo in reverse. Just because an idea has an opposite conclusion doesn't mean it is operating under alternate premise, in this case very mystical. Give the Saints players credit for the win... not a storm that happened 5 years ago.

8- I think it was a much easier pill to swallow- loosing to the Saints- than losing to Brett 'Bigger than the Game' Favre. Guys like Favre and Clemens make me sick. Drew Brees makes me feel inspired. Enough said.

9- I think that Jim Caldwell became a better coach for losing this game, than if he would have won it. Now he moves outside of Dungy's shadow and Dungy's team. Classy to the end. Sean Payton, on the other hand, became a great coach for winning. If he would have lost, he would still be thought of as a great schemer.

10- I think the Focus on the Family ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mother was blown way out of proportion. If the pro choice crowd would have kept mum it would have been 30 seconds of free speech. Instead THEY made it headline news.

Finally, I want to take a line to mock the San Diego Chargers. Who have not won or participated in a Super Bowl since 94. Although GM A.J. Smith would never admit it- they took a step down when they parted with Hall of Famer Drew Brees for cocky Phillip Rivers. Now they are loosing LT, the best player (including Fouts) to ever don the lightning bolt. Maybe it is less the presence of Marty Shottenheimer and Norv Turner and more the lack of Drew Brees that is keeping your team from the Super Bowl Charger Fan?

I am disappointed... but the future is bright for the Indianapolis Colts... until next season- Boiler Up.