Trailing Indianapolis 10-6 at halftime of Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night, Saints head coach Sean Payton wanted to take control starting with a shift in momentum. So he called an onside kick. Kicker Thomas Morstead got the right bounce with his kick, and after it deflected off Indianapolis receiver Hank Baskett, New Orleans’ Chris Reis was on the bottom of the pile with the ball at the Saints’ 42. Six plays later New Orleans scored a touchdown for a 12-10 lead seizing momentum of the game, which they ultimately won 31-17.
As the refs made the call signaling that Reis had indeed come up with the loose ball I couldn’t help but think of how Payton became the type of coach to make such a bold move. The next thought that popped into my head was of another gutsy postseason call, one made by Bill Parcells in the 1990 NFC Championship game; a 30-yard run by Giants linebacker Gary Reasons on a fake punt against the two-time defending champion 49ers.
Reasons, the signal-caller on punt formation, took a direct snap in front of punter Sean Landeta and veered right. It was wide open for him. Moments before, Reasons was given the green light by Parcells, the Giants coach.
The daring move set up Bahr's fourth of five field goals, a 38-yarder with 5:47 remaining, and the Giants were down 13-12. They would go on to win 15-13 and win Super Bowl XXV against the Bills.
Parcells is known for taking risks in big games. In Super Bowl XXI against the Broncos, the Giants had fourth-and-1 from their own 46 on their first possession of the third quarter, trailing 10-9. Backup quarterback Jeff Rutledge moved up behind center and ran a sneak for two yards and the first down. Five plays later, Phil Simms threw a touchdown pass to Mark Bavaro and the Giants took the lead in route to a 39-20 victory.
It was Parcells, Dolphins Executive Vice President of Football Operations who hired Payton to his Dallas staff as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach from 2003-05. Payton said he had a "number of conversations" with Parcells leading up to the Super Bowl. "You are going to have to have guts to win this game," Parcells told the Daily News Monday. "You can't coach scared in the big games. You've got to try to win."
Parcells has become a father figure to Payton whose own father passed away. After the game he received a phone call from Bill congratulating him on the big win. “He was proud” said Payton, “just proud.” "He taught me so much." "Just about people and about teaching and about evaluation and about preparation. I'm better having had a chance to work with him."
Payton became the third member of the legendary Parcells coaching tree to lead his team to a Super Bowl championship, joining Bill Belichick with the Patriots and Tom Coughlin with the Giants. All together they’ve won five of the last nine Super Bowl titles.
Written by Eric Doppelt
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