PAUR REPORT
Studs and Duds: Super Bowl
So that gives us three very good Super Bowls in a row. You can't ask for much more than that. Well, you could if you were a Colts fan. But allegiances aside, this was a great game for the casual fan.
We saw arguably the top two quarterbacks in the game going head to head, making plays and proving why they are at the top of their games. Peyton Manning made one bad throw, which resulted in the back-breaking score for the Saints. This will be remembered by most fans, but Manning played very well before that play. He made some unreal throws throughout the game.
And how about Sean Payton. That guy takes risk taker to a new level. His onside kick call to begin the second half gave the Saints all sorts of momentum for the rest of the game. And Payton set the tone early by going for it on fourth and goal in the second quarter. The Saints didn't make it, but Payton showed he wasn't going to take the foot off the gas - even in the Super Bowl. He called the game like the Saints played all season.
In the end, we saw a great game. So if the NFL is reading, please get your labor situation figured out soon. This league doesn't need a work stoppage with the momentum it has right now. But that is a discussion for another day. Enjoy the offseason! And remember, we'll continue to give you articles and notes throughout the offseason, so keep checking in.
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REALTIME WIRE
Can NFL kill the golden goose?
The New Orleans Saints hadn't even begun to properly celebrate their storybook run to a Super Bowl championship when bookmakers installed the team they had just beaten as the favorites to win it all next year. No disrespect for the Saints, but the wise guys in Las Vegas probably figured they would still be suffering from the biggest party hangover ever.
They should be partying in NFL headquarters in New York, too. Not only did the Saints give the league a heartwarming story but the Super Bowl was watched by more people than any program in television history. Not just more than any football game but more than any television program ever, knocking the 1983 finale of ``M-A-S-H'' out of the top spot.
That capped a strong season which saw mostly full stadiums everywhere except Jacksonville, despite the lingering effects of a brutal recession. Baseball may be America's pastime, but football is America's sport and if anyone had any doubt about that, Jerry Jones has a $1.2 billion stadium in Texas he'd like you to see - for a small fee, of course.
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