Saints' Onsides Kick Dirty, Per reerun

[Skyy God]

Any contrarians willing to step up and defend this guy's position?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3...was-dirty-pool

Ah, what could take away the joy of watching two great quarterbacks duel it out in a Super Bowl, having a snack at half-time anticipating seeing Peyton Manning and the Colts drive down field with the first second-half possession after making their usual adept adjustments during the break?

Dirty pool by Sean Payton, in the form of an onside kick to start the second half, could take away that joy.

When the Saints won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game, they made their choice. The other team gets to receive the ball to start the second half, but the Colts never received the ball. It was stolen from them on a cheap and dirty onside kick.

Although it was a legal play by existing NFL rules, there has always been an unwritten rule, a gentleman's rule that you do not attempt an onside kick to start a half.

At any other time on a kickoff, fine, but when you win the coin toss, you only get to receive the ball to start a half once. You don't get to break the rack in nine-ball 2 times in a row.

That would be greedy.

While many see Sean Payton's gamble as a tribute to his genius and will hail him for his aggressiveness, I see it as blemish on an otherwise respectable game between two evenly-matched teams.

To be a true champion, you play the game between the lines. There is no need to resort to cheap tricks. Let there be no mistake: the Saints outplayed the Colts and deserved to win for the most part.

I say for "the most part" because the game was in the balance until late in the fourth quarter. During Sean Payton's Monday morning news conference on NFL network, he appeared humble.

Perhaps he felt somewhere inside that his decision did not need to be made to win, but since it had been made, a lot of people will forever associate this game and him as a coach with that play.

As I see it, the play did not determine the ultimate outcome. It could be argued by some that it greatly affected the outcome.

If the Colts had received a regular kickoff, and they had scored a TD, it would have been 17-6 Colts rather than the 13-10 Saints that it did indeed become when the Saints drove the field.

That does not mean that the Colts would have won.

The Saints could have mounted a comeback. After all, they showed that they had the greater will to win, the greater hunger to lift the Lombardi trophy.

Was it really a gamble by Payton?

With the Colts adeptness at making half-time adjustments, it was looming pretty large that they were going to drive for a touchdown on their first second-half possession.

If the Colts were likely to score anyway, gambling on an onside kick that could have given the Colts the ball at the Saints own 40-yard line didn't really have that much downside anyway.

Finally, there is the question of who actually recovered the ball. The ball bounced around a few times and led to one of the ugliest and worst regulated scrums in NFL history.

The officials did very little to pull players off the pile. Small fights were breaking out at the sides without flags being thrown. The last we saw of the ball on replays it was between the legs of one prone Saints player and Hank Baskett was diving on top of it.

Is this what we want in a Super Bowl?

To throw scraps of food into the air of a courtyard and watch wild dogs go at it. The onside was not only a blemish on the game for being a cheap and dirty parlor trick. It was also a blemish because it was not a clean play. It was not a clean recovery of a live ball. Is that what we wish to see in the NFL on its greatest stage?

I think not.

My proposal then is that the NFL needs to make a rule change to prevent what happened in Sunday's Super Bowl between the Colts and the Saints from ever occurring again.

Starting next season, an onside kick may be attempted on any kickoff except for those starting a half. There's no point in having a coin toss if the team that wins it can decide, "Screw it! We are going to take the ball to start the second half too."

[Earthling]

Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl

Cheap tricks:

Like your offense snapping the ball for the sole purpose of getting a penalty called on the defense cuz one of their guys 50 yards away is trying to get off the field but still has one foot inbounds when the ball is snapped?

Like intentionally using the officials as screens for your receivers when they go over the middle in the short passing game?

Like being such crybabies you alone sway the competition committee into changing the rules against receivers to better suit your offense?

Like being such a crybaby there are one set of rules for your quarterback and his BF buddy Brady, and a different set of rules for everybody else?

fuck the colts and any beta pillowbiter who wants to cry or make excuses for them. They're already the cheapest most rule manipulative team around and have been for ages.

This..lol Didn't see you post when i posted mine. But same sentiment

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

It's like KnowShit wrote that.

[RJ]

I read an interview with Baskett in the local paper this morning. He says he heard a whistle and a ref say "Blue ball" (no, not blueballs). Said he thought the play was over. Guess he shouldn't be thinking.

I'm pretty sure that "gentleman's agreement" bullshit is just that.

[InChiefsHeaven]

What a friggin' wuss this guy is. Obviously, he thinks that a half back pass is just bad form, after all the defense was all set for you to run the ball, then you go ahead and throw it? What the hell kind of sportsmanship is that? I won't even GO into the inherent dishonestly that is found in the reverse or worse yet, the shovel pass.

This guy is a complete moron. Can't believe somebody allowed him to even post that crap...

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl

Cheap tricks:

Like your offense snapping the ball for the sole purpose of getting a penalty called on the defense cuz one of their guys 50 yards away is trying to get off the field but still has one foot inbounds when the ball is snapped?

Like intentionally using the officials as screens for your receivers when they go over the middle in the short passing game?

Like being such crybabies you alone sway the competition committee into changing the rules against receivers to better suit your offense?

Like being such a crybaby there are one set of rules for your quarterback and his BF buddy Brady, and a different set of rules for everybody else?

fuck the colts and any beta pillowbiter who wants to cry or make excuses for them. They're already the cheapest most rule manipulative team around and have been for ages.

That is probably your first post ever on here that I agree with. Nice. :thumbs:

[morphius]

It was a brilliant move, the Colts had spent the entire second quarter on the bench, keeping Manning off the field longer is always a good game plan.

[rockymtnchief]

No where in the rules does it say that the Colts couldn't kick onside to start the first half. It's a coaches decision and the players job to execute/defend the play.

The writer needs to stop whining.

[chefsos]

I don't think your average Colts Homer would even resort to whining about a "dirty" onside kick, so:

Originally Posted by BTAU

Sounds like somebody is bitter about losing a chunk of change on the Colts.

This.

[GoHuge]

This is as silly as Bob Knight scolding K State fans for making fun of Texas towards the end of the game. I believe he was saying something to the affect of they should be chanting "great effort or thank you." All reeruned.......you lost no excuses. I sure as hell don't want to hear about bad form and gentlemen's agreements being talked about while a team is trying to win a football game. They saw a weakness and exploited it. That is what good coaches do.

[Frazod]

I remember when the Eagles did this to us to start a half a few years ago. I sure didn't like it, but it's a legal play.

What a puss.

[journeyscarab]

I thought the saying was "You play to win the game"?

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl

Cheap tricks:

Like your offense snapping the ball for the sole purpose of getting a penalty called on the defense cuz one of their guys 50 yards away is trying to get off the field but still has one foot inbounds when the ball is snapped?

Like intentionally using the officials as screens for your receivers when they go over the middle in the short passing game?

Like being such crybabies you alone sway the competition committee into changing the rules against receivers to better suit your offense?

Like being such a crybaby there are one set of rules for your quarterback and his BF buddy Brady, and a different set of rules for everybody else?

fuck the colts and any beta pillowbiter who wants to cry or make excuses for them. They're already the cheapest most rule manipulative team around and have been for ages.

Esto.

[-King-]

Does he also think that all games should end in ties so that no one feels like a loser?
Posted via Mobile Device

[journeyscarab]

Originally Posted by KcChiefsKing

Does he also think that all games should end in ties so that no one feels like a loser?
Posted via Mobile Device

Maybe we could give everyone ribbons for participating!

[mikey23545]

This has got to be TIC, right?