National Football League

Onside kick pays big dividends for Saints

Published Feb. 7, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

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According to New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, it wasn't a matter of if, but when.

It was never a question of why, but rather why not?

It marked the first time in Super Bowl history that a team had attempted an onside kick before the fourth quarter. But for Payton, the gutsy call to start the second half was simply a case of everything going according to plan.

And it's as good a reason as any why the Saints are Super Bowl champions today.

"All week long we practiced that onside kick," Payton said. "At halftime I just told those guys, 'You got to make me look right here.' "

If Payton had been wrong, the results could have been disastrous. With his team already down 10-6, Payton would have been handing Peyton Manning a short field and an excellent opportunity to take a two-possession lead. And coming off a failed 4th-and-goal attempt late in the second quarter, an over-aggressive Payton would have been opening himself up for a long offseason of second-guessing.

But in this case, fortune truly did favor the bold. Thomas Morstead bounced the ball perfectly off the Colts' Hank Baskett and Chris Reis emerged from the ensuing scrum with both the football and all the momentum his team would need to roll to the 31-17 win.

Just like Payton planned it.

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