A Baskett of problems

It did. But surprisingly it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I don't hate the Saints and Drew Brees seems like a decent guy. I am wondering if the Colts wish they might have given Courtney Roby another shot when he played for us in the 2007/08 seasons but that's neither here nor there.

To make a long story short, we got outplayed. Plain and simple they played better then us. They were aggressive on defense and once they got warmed up, Brees became a master of efficiency at running the offense. I was not happy to hear a lot of talk about how the interception was the turning point of the game. Throwing an interception is never good and the ensuing touchdown certainly didn't help but there were other things that I felt hurt us a lot worse before that happened.

There were a couple of dropped passes by Garcon and Collie that certainly did not help. If I remember correctly both of them came on 3rd downs and would have extended the Colts drives.

The tackling was atrocious!! How many times did they get to the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage only to let him slip by as they simply hit him time and time again rather then wrapping him up and tackling? I did not play football in school, although I really wish I would have, but even I know wrapping up is basic fundamental tackling. There is something to be said for leading with the helmet to try and force a turnover but we were not playing the Raiders here. This is a team that up until a few weeks ago was undefeated just like we were. Grab the guy and get him to the ground, don't just hit him and hope he falls down.

I did not understand play calling at the end of the 2nd quarter. The Colts had made a huge goal line stand and I was expecting them to ride the momentum and make an attempt to score but they seemed content with riding out the remainder of the quarter since they were to receive the ball first to start the second half. If we score then, even a field goal, it would have lessened the impact of the on-side kick that was to come.

The on-side kick call by Sean Payton was genius and perfectly executed but the handling of the play by Hank Baskett was not what you should expect from a guy who is paid to CATCH THINGS!! Acquired in week two of the 2009 season to fill in for the injured Anthony Gonzalez, he did not make a catch until Week 7. He never saw the ball again until week 15 during the Jets game and that came from maligned QB Curtis Painter. The reason he was not playing was, I believe, two fold. The first was the unexpected emergence of Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon making it not really necessary to have Baskett other then for back up purposes. The second was that he couldn't seem to catch! I don't think he could catch a cold in a free clinic. Baskett dropped several passes, which did nothing to earn the confidence of Manning. I honestly thought they had dropped him until I saw him again in the Jets game and then again last night. I do not consider myself a football genius but isn't front and far left on the kick return team the same as being told your going to be in right field on your little league team. I find it very ironic that a guy with the last name of Baskett needs one to catch!

The Saints have a very good team. Drew Brees is Hall of Fame bound, their secondary does an outstanding job of covering the receiver and Reggie Bush can be amazing when he is on. They were definitely the better team last night, I just think that mistakes we made cost the chance to be in it at the end. I knew it was going to be close and I even called 35-31...I just had no idea the Saint would hit 31 but the Colts would not hit 35.

Seven straight 12+ win seasons and one Super Bowl to show for it. There is no doubt that the Colts are one of the best regular season teams the NFL has ever seen. This Super Bowl would have gone a long way towards solidifying their legacy as one of the best teams ever but instead turned into another heartbreaker. I just worry that in the big picture they will not be remembered as being great but only as being good and maybe it is just the fan in me talking but I believe they are so much better then that

Oh well, the season is over for a few months and I guess its time to take the Christmas tree down and get back to life after football. I can tell you one thing for sure. I will not be letting Hank Baskett help me put away the ornaments. I have a few that are kind of valuable and I do not want him dropping them but if he wants to send Kendra over that would be fine.

I am not sure what I will talk about now. I guess I could start trying to figure out this touch lamp.