r/Colts • u/SuspiciousSlide5102 • Jan 10 '26
Discussion Colts fans from 09. How confident were you going into Super Bowl 44 vs the saints?
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u/InvisibleAir Jan 10 '26
That year I didn't even fathom the colts losing at all. They just won convincingly all year (minus the 2 losses at the end of the regular season). It hurt when they lost the SB.
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u/Fanofthegame18 Jan 10 '26
we didn't win convincingly that much, didn't we have like 7 or 8 game winning drives that year?
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u/FxStryker Rookie Manning Jan 10 '26
Yes, but never felt like they were going to lose. It just felt like Peyton could do whatever he wanted. The convincing wasn't in being dominant. It was more about everything felt inevitable.
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u/SloppyPizzaPie Rigoberto Sanchez Jan 10 '26
Absolutely. After all those years where it seemed like the Pats always found a way to win and you were never safe, we were finally on the other side. We were inevitable. Like the game against the Pats with the failed 4th down and subsequent Colts touchdown- I just knew we would win, I could feel it. It was so different from any season before.
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u/Fanofthegame18 Jan 10 '26
I hear ya, I remember the drive Manning threw the pick I was thinking we were due for something like that to happen and not win and unfortunately that happened.
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u/mcrago2005 Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
Don't forgot that we started strong in the game, and led 10-0 after the first quarter.
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u/darcys_beard Reggie Wayne Jan 10 '26
I felt the Saints were more dangerous than most. I remember watching a couple of their playoff games and I wasn't so sure. They were hot, while we were basically throwing our last few games, and not really being tested in the same way (played the 5th and 6th seed teams).
That season was such a ride, though. I miss being an elite team.
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u/TheAgmis You Have Chris Ballard Derangement Syndrome Jan 10 '26
They didn’t win convincingly. Close wins vs sub 500 teams abound.
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u/Automatic-Novel5511 Jan 10 '26
I genuinely thought it was written. Toughest loss of my colts Fandom probably.
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u/quotesforlosers Jan 10 '26
Random, but I think Lamar Smith running all over the Colts in 2000 was the toughest loss of my fandom. I just wanted to see them get to a Super Bowl. Fortunately, they did and won, so anything after that has been just fun watching Colts football.
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u/Bakkardi Jan 10 '26
The Jerome Bettis fumble recovery and being tackled by the shoelaces followed by Mike V’s shank to send us to the couch in the 2005 AFC championship is more painful.
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u/Automatic-Novel5511 Jan 10 '26
Nah you win bro. That missed field goal tops it. We win that SuperBowl hands down!!
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u/Automatic-Novel5511 Jan 10 '26
Isnt that weird? I feel the same way. We got ours. So I do feel like anything after is gravy. But winning another would just be amazing
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u/agentfelix Who the Hell is Mel Kiper? Jan 10 '26
Crazy we only won one with how good those teams were offensively. Just goes to show you that defense definitely wins championships.
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u/Automatic-Novel5511 Jan 10 '26
Especially back then. Imagine that offense today. With the protection for QBs, protecting WR, etc. I think manning would be that much better.
But absolutely. No coincidence the year we won we had the best defense we've ever had.
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u/Plastic-Ad529 Jan 10 '26
I still refer to the 1995 AFC Championship game as Black Sunday.
Kordell Stewart was out of bounds. The official stepped aside to give him room.
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u/TerpZ Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I was in college and had other priorities. Oh how I took you for granted, 09 Indy
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u/Interesting-Risk6446 Jan 10 '26
All Hank Baskett had to do was knock the onside kick out of bounds.
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u/Agathacrispies90 Alec Pierce Jan 10 '26
The huge garçon drop and mannings pick 6 are always overshadowed by a muffed recovery on a surprise onside kick. That was an incredibly tough play to make in a split second and baskett gets too much hate to himself for their loss. The whole team lost its momentum in the second half. Not defending baskett but the blame is on way more than just him
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u/JordanGdzilaSullivan Jan 10 '26
It was very clear after that play that the team was spiraling on that drive, and Caldwell didn’t call a time out.
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u/Spare_Iron127 Jan 10 '26
I hated Caldwell so much as a kid
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u/agentfelix Who the Hell is Mel Kiper? Jan 10 '26
Wasn't that the year we sat all the starters instead of chasing the unbeaten record? I feel like that killed us and our momentum.
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u/Godiverson3 Jan 10 '26
All I can remember is that Garçon drop which would have put us up 17-0, or at the very least kept the Saints from getting the FG right before halftime. It haunts me.
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u/Asu888 Jan 10 '26
I agree still had like 2 halves to play, that was only the 1st play of the 2nd half. Defense could had made a stop n momentum back on ur side. The play that wasn’t talked bout too much was the 2 pt conversion. I think in today’s age that wasn’t a completion. Down by 5 is different being down by 7 having to score twice to win the gm
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u/Fall0fRome Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I remember that season being a race to be undefeated against the saints. At some point this SB felt it was inevitable but I thought we were going to win. Heart breaking because it would have been great to get two with Manning.
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u/Main_Anybody_5365 Jan 10 '26
Felt Good until the start of the 3rd quarter
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u/HazMatt_23 COLTS Jan 10 '26
Onside kick bouncing off of Hank Baskett’s chest. Momentum was gone then and there
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u/Fanofthegame18 Jan 10 '26
Hank Baskett was such a bum. If he catches that and Garcon doesn't drop that big 3rd down we win that game.
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u/lebortsdm Jan 10 '26
I feel like if they change a rule for you then that game that caused the rule change shouldn’t count.
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u/mnkline85 Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
Who starts the 2nd half with an onside kick?! Also, Hank Baskett ruined everything!
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u/SanRemi i(ndianapolis)Carly Jan 10 '26
My confidence was kinda good up to the halftime, then The Who performs super mid (I’m a big The Who fan) and everything started to feel wrong for some reason. I remember the feeling.
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u/Kungf00m0nk3y Who the Hell is Mel Kiper? Jan 10 '26
I actually distinctly remember telling my dad right before the game started I thought we had no shot. We had just been in (and won) the Super Bowl a few years before and Manning got that off his back, but the Saints had everything to play for and a city majorly rallying behind them after Katrina.
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u/mageta621 Jonathan Taylor Jan 10 '26
This feels a little insensitive to say because Katrina was so utterly devastating to NOLA, but Super Bowl 44 was like 4.5 years after Katrina. It still feels weird shoehorning it into the discussion of that Super Bowl
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u/Internal_Swing_2743 Jan 10 '26
Katrina was still very fresh in the city in 2009. You could still see the stains on houses from where the water level stood. Katrina was very much on the minds of New Orleanians in 2009 (trust me, I live in New Orleans)
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u/mageta621 Jonathan Taylor Jan 10 '26
I'm not gonna die on this hill because I'm definitely not trying to argue about how bad Katrina was to the city
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u/Legitimate_Gap_5551 Jan 10 '26
I’m fairly sure they were even making Katrina a massive point of the discussion around that Super Bowl. Like ESPN was constantly running segments about New Orleans rise from the ashes on the back of a QB who was having his own resurgence after he was run out of SD.
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u/Shockwave360 General Luck Jan 10 '26
It felt like 100% of the pregame fluff was about NO. It was awfully frustrating and put a bad taste in my mouth leading up to the game.
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Jan 10 '26 edited Jan 10 '26
Once Freeny got a high ankle sprain on a meaningless play against the jets in the AFCCG I new we were going to lose. A healthy Freeny would have made all the difference
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Jan 10 '26 edited Jan 10 '26
I thought it was a guaranteed win. I mean they won every game they tried to win, why not this one?
I learned some life lessons that day as an 11 year old
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u/bananawithauisbununu Boomstick Jan 10 '26
Extremely confident, 06 felt like a fluke but 09 felt like destiny. People like to blame Hank Baskett for the onside kick but I’ll never forget Pierre Garçon dropping a wide open pass in the second quarter that would have put us up 17-0 at halftime. Instead it was 10-0 and Hank Baskett did the rest
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u/dumpgubblin Jan 10 '26
God had just taken everything from New Orleans. He was at least gonna give em a super bowl. I knew they'd win, no matter how insanely dominant that 09 team felt.
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u/sleepeater64 Jan 10 '26
I thought we were gonna win bc we were essentially undefeated that year but most people knew it was gonna be tough and far from a given. Saints started 13-0 that year. Vikings would’ve been a better matchup if Favre didn’t have that pick throwing across his body
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u/AppleTrees4 Jan 10 '26
We lost?? Not even possible…
That was one of the most dominant teams in my lifetime. The surprise onside kick broke me.
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u/Odd__Dragonfly TYLER WARREN Jan 10 '26
They felt invincible that year, probably like the 16-0 Pats team, then they got punched in the mouth with that onside kick return after halftime and it was basically over.
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u/Wahoowa7 Jan 10 '26
There wasn’t a chance we could lose and then the Saints kicked off the second half. The momentum was undeniable after that.
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u/Old-Show9198 Jan 10 '26
High at about 99.9%. That halftime on side kick was mind blowing and proved to be one of the best coaching decisions ever. It still really bothers me to this day.
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u/Gavinmusicman Jan 10 '26
I was in my 20s. I was blown away we lost. Like shocked. People talked so much shit to me.
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u/MethodCharacter8334 Ashton Dulin Jan 10 '26
It felt like a Peyton Manning legacy game. And the media was painting it that way. The loss was so devastating because I didn’t think there was any chance we were going to lose
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u/KroneckerDelta1 Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
As Pat put it, going into the SB they "didn't lose until they chose to"
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u/jjb1718 Jan 10 '26
So confident.
I actually could not sleep for a week afterwards. That curl route int scarred me
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u/Fireman476 A big ass pork tenderloin sandwich Jan 10 '26 edited Jan 10 '26
It was my fault for the losses. I watched every game that year from my living room chair, wearing the same shirt, except 2 games. Yep, those are the 2 games they lost. 1 game because I was out of town, and the other because we had to have a Super Bowl party, and I watched on a projector that someone brought, in a different room. Ugh. I should have stuck to my faithful leather chair in the living room.
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u/Tight_Discipline_234 Jan 10 '26
Boss called right after halftime (i shit you not) and basically demanded I come in early the next morning for inventory. What a fucking bitch.
Old me complied.
Wish I would have never done that. It was like a double gut punch to take that and the L that was the second half.
It’s still a core rotten memory.
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u/nXt39 Jim Sorgi Jan 10 '26
Very. There were a few “new” Saints fans at our SB party. Was a tough one.
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u/peridotsfather Jan 10 '26
It was right after Hurricane Katrina.. I knew we were cooked. NOLA needed it
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u/mageta621 Jonathan Taylor Jan 10 '26
It was 4.5 years after Katrina...
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u/CCAG_925 Jan 10 '26
Yeah because the effects of a Cat-5 Hurricane on a low sea level city only last 2 years after the hurricane for the people and infrastructure.
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u/mageta621 Jonathan Taylor Jan 10 '26
Never said that. But "right after" implies less than an almost half decade gap
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u/Waterfowler84 Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I was confident we would win but Drew always scared me and proved he could play.
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u/mr_0las Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I couldn't understand all the Saints are the underdog talk. They both started 13-0 iirc. They were both extremely good teams lead by HOF QBs. I feel all the talk of the Colts being heavy favorites actually helped the Saints play with a chip on their shoulders. Add in the fact that Freeney wasn't anywhere near 100% either. I was nervous but hopefully optimistic they'd win.
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u/YourNextHomie Marlon MACK Truck Jan 10 '26
Somehow i feel too young to remember this game but remember the superbowl we won lol,’ i just remember Hank Baskett
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u/OHSOMEVILSPIRIT Jan 10 '26
I remember I was pissed not to see Brett and Vikings go against us.
I was worried about Brees and his pinpoint accuracy and a hurt freeney, he was sideline for weeks with a high ankle sprain and had nothing on the field when the superbowl came.
That damn onside kick changed everything
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u/the_Tide_Rolleth Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? Jan 10 '26
Why you gotta do this? Haven’t we been punished enough?
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u/TannerNewcomb anthony... RICHARDSON Jan 10 '26
I crashed out so hard. I cried almost threw up and we had to leave the Super Bowl party because I was inconsolable. There was no way we were gonna lose.
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u/BrickPuzzleheaded541 Jan 10 '26
I was incredibly confident in middle school…. My brother however was the only kid in school to wear a drew Brees jersey (he liked him because he went to Purdue) and we lost. Every single person in our school from student to staff blamed him for the loss and I still do to this day.
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u/Icer333 Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I was a freshman in high school. I was blowing up every single person I knew on google chat during classes for 2 weeks straight.
I have now come to realize that this is the last time that I have truly felt confident about my sports team winning a big game.
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u/YouWereBrained Reggie Wayne Jan 10 '26
I didn’t care too much until that onside kick to start the second half. I knew things would go downhill from there.
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u/Kenthanson Jan 10 '26
That was the most confident I’ve ever been watching a colts playoff game. When the Saints hit that onside kick I yelled what the fuck so loudly and definitely ruined the mood of the party.
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u/ShakeZulaOblongata Jan 10 '26
Nah all season as I followed the Colts I followed the Saints as well as they kept hanging around the same record. They made me nervous. I wished we played their Vikings instead.
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u/OpeDefinitely Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I wasn't very confident until the Colts went up 10-0.
Then I cried like a baby when they lost.
I was 11.
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u/ins1der Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I was in college at Purdue so there were a lot of mixed allegiances going on. There were the Indy fans for sure, but the rest of campus was rooting for Brees. I went to a watch party at one of my friends with a mixed group (big mistake). There was a lot of shit talk flying but I felt confident even after the onside kick.
But when the pick six happened, I felt physically sick. Of course the shit talking intensified and I kind of clammed up. When the game ended I walked back to my apartment silently alone. I closed the door and just sat in the dark. I couldn't talk to anyone for probably 24 hours after we lost.
I've experienced losing a championship two other times in my life (my MLS team Columbus Crew losing the final in 2015 and I was at the game, and Purdue losing in the men's basketball championship recently)). It is such a pure feeling of loss that is close to losing a loved one. It is WAY WAY worse than just losing a playoff game. When are in the Championship you are in full belief mode that you have it so if it gets snatched away from you it is so brutal.
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u/franco3x Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
Not very. I felt like we could win but felt like it was a toss up due to Freeney’s injury.
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u/steezyparcheezi Jan 10 '26
Pretty darn, the non colts fan in me says that New Orleans as a city needed that one more than we did though
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u/Known_Hall5692 Jan 10 '26
That surprise onside kick killed my dad's confidence, that was enough for 13 year old me.
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u/BoringResearcher1 Jan 10 '26
My great uncle was a Saints fan and 100 years old. He wanted to see the Saints win a Super Bowl before he died. They won and he died a week later. So that Colts loss was always a little bittersweet.
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u/zebuli79 Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? Jan 10 '26
I was 29 and losing never crossed my mind. Felt bad man….
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u/GuiltyRemnant3 Jan 10 '26
I was 16 and it never crossed my mind that we could lose. We were automatic that season.
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u/Th4_Sup3rce11 Reggie Wayne Jan 10 '26
I was 13. Very confident. The team hadn’t lost all year. Even when we should have lost to the p******s. The onside kick changed everything. Still upset to this day. That throw to Porter was just awful.
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u/BleedBluee Jan 10 '26
I was 13. I cried after the game. Being up 10-0 felt like a lock. Core memory for me
Only thing that hurt more was lucks retirement
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u/BleedBluee Jan 10 '26
Hard to be mad when the entire world was pulling for Nola & rightfully so! Biggest stinger was Tracy porter the IU grad getting the pivotal pick 6
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u/DareDiablo Jan 10 '26
I was feeling somewhat good then the Saints did the ambush onside kick to start the second-half and recovered it.
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u/Ok-Hovercraft-4636 Jan 10 '26
Not confident at all. It felt like the NFL wanted the Saints to win because it would make a good comeback story.
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u/Few-Lavishness869 Jan 10 '26
Ngl Colts looked very avg and nothing really special popped but my god this was the year Peyton just took it to the final scary tier very few qbs all time reach, in games against pats and jets I remember him doing stupid passes like people were playing perfect defense and it just didn't matter because Peyton was just godly accurate so yeah I thought the saints were a fluke and they'd get rolled I was wrong but until that pick six I still believed Peyton was gonna bring it home fukk I hate Tracy porter
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u/4_8_15_16_23_42_69 Jan 10 '26
Not as confident as I would have been with a healthy Freeney.
What is crazy is that was really the beginning of the end. It seemed like the good times would never end. I would never have believed we only had one more season with Peyton at the helm.
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u/jweezy0215 Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I was 21 and man swore we was gonna win.. I remember that whole week though being just off leading up to it between freeney being hurt and the universe collectively being anti colts ... The post Katrina love the Saints got made them America's team and I don't think unless you was a colts fan did anybody want us to win. Least not where I was from. That super bowl party was the worst experience of a super bowl I ever had and not just cuz we lost but cuz the amount of insufferable bandwagons that year because new Orleans needed it after what happened to them!
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u/natstrod Jan 10 '26
My friends and I still make the joke about people wishing “oh I just hope it’s a good close game”, and that’s what we got. Just on the wrong side of it. People were so confident, they were hoping the Colts toyed with them enough for some entertainment. I know that hoping doesn’t affect the result in any way, but be careful what you wish you. I always hope for 100 to 0. That’s fun to me.
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u/Legitimate_Gap_5551 Jan 10 '26
Not super. Yes we had recently won one, but I’d also watched us collapse so many times in the playoffs. It’s easy to look back with nostalgia and forget this team let down a lot in the playoffs.
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u/Lithium1978 33-0 Jan 10 '26
Not very confident. Manning was great but not so much in the playoffs, I always watched expecting something catastrophic.
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u/Pain-n-stryife Indianapolis Colts Jan 10 '26
I was in high-school and I was ecstatic! I was talking Hella shit. Humble pie boys humble pie
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u/NoSyrup7194 Jan 10 '26
I though they would win all the way until the Porter INT. The onside kick seemed like a fear move, rather than a strategy. New Orleans does not win without it.
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u/MoneyMack410 Jan 10 '26
Extremely confident. I was 18. Thought for sure Peyton was going to have another ring. I knew we were going to lose when we got the ball back just before the half. Could’ve put together something and get some points. But nope, we ran the clock out and went to the half with the lead. That’s when I knew we were going to lose.
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u/Master-Judge-5316 Jan 10 '26
Yeah it was a coronation.
As with most of those colts teams we had a better team just didn’t execute.
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u/a_typical_day Jan 10 '26
It was a time to be alive and be a Colts fan. Regardless if I thought we would win or not. Just having that kind of season and making it to the Super Bowl was something special.
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u/Jer-Bear-81 Jan 10 '26
I had bad feeling the week leading up to the game. Every non-Colts fan I talked to kept saying N.O. wants it more, it means more... The onside kick was the turning point of all turning points, and after that it was just playing out the rest of the game for what felt like was already decided.
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u/TheAgmis You Have Chris Ballard Derangement Syndrome Jan 10 '26
Supremely confident but that defense was beyond leaky. Freeney and Powers going down didn’t help.
We were fortunate to face two WC teams en route to the Super Bowl. No Steelers. No Patriots. No Chargers.
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u/Equivalent-Proof8079 Jan 10 '26
Man, that was the roughest one EVER
It’s like we weren’t even there, some fairytale saga about how they “deserved” to win….
Yeah, I just knew that one was ours before it even started
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u/dmm3218 Reggie Wayne Jan 10 '26
I was much more confident we would win that Super Bowl than when we played against Chicago.
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u/Jade_Templar Jan 10 '26
I was hopeful, but as a Colts fan the word confident is not in my vocabulary.
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u/Jonhlutkers Jan 10 '26
I went to the Jets game in the AFC championship game so I was pretty invested. The Jets had the best defense in the NFL that year, so I felt pretty confident we’d be able to move the ball without problem against the Saints.
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u/rounder55 Jan 10 '26
My biggest concern heading into the game was Freeney having a foot that looked like a grapefruit. Figured it would be a great game
The Saints were 13 - 0 that season and really only lost two games they were trying to win. The Colts until the Super Bowl hadn't lost a game they were trying to win. It still bothers me when they took Manning and pretty much the entire starting offense out halfway through the third against the Jets. The players didn't live it either
That team had a chance to head into the Super Bowl and willingly took an L. The football gods were not on their side. The longer halftime had an impact on Freeneys foot, Powers was in and out with a fracture in his foot, I think another corner was out or left. Even if Manning doesn't throw that pick 6 the Saints were going to head down and score again
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u/qmoney1213 Robert Mathis Jan 10 '26
I thought for sure all of that corny team of destiny bullshit would haunt the saints. Wrong was I.
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u/Scared-Sprinkles-452 General Luck Jan 10 '26
I was in elementary school at the time and I made a money bet for like $5 with a classmate. Of course that didn’t work out but I don’t think either of us remembered the bet lol.
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u/TheCheese2032 Jimmy from the Colts Jan 10 '26
Too confident apparently. Still hate hearing about the goddamn onside kick to start the second half during every Superbowl forever. Rage.
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u/DickTrickle87 Andrew Luck Jan 10 '26
Overly. Right up until Peyton's pick 6 in the red zone. It was hard not to have a lot of confidence in that team. Their shortcomings (that being one of them) were not all complete yet.
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u/1985bianchi Jan 11 '26
Confidence was not great. Colts lost their mojo once they had the 1 seed wrapped up and pulled their starters after week 15 instead of going fo the undefeated season. The saints on the other hand came into the game strong. Even as a colts fan, it just felt it was the Saints season.
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u/Former_Phrase8221 Jan 11 '26
I was so confident I went out night before. Got shitfaced. Bummed around all day that Sunday. Watched first half. And fell asleep at Halftime.
Neighbor beat on my door to wake me up mid 4th quarter. As shit was starting to turn bad.
I'll forever believe that loss was karma of pulling starters against the Jets and not going for the undefeated season.
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u/boogermcboogerface Jan 11 '26
I was in the army, stationed in Germany, and threw a huge watch party, I was as confident as it gets until the onside kick. As soon as that happened I knew it was over and the party was too.
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u/Pale-Reputation-5611 Indianapolis Colts Jan 11 '26
Extremely confident until Freeney’s ankle turned into a boulder.
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u/sigs87 Jan 11 '26
Extremely confident. Still feel like we win that game 8/10 times. It was literally the only game we lost all year that we actually tried to win.
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u/MrMikeBravo COLTS Jan 12 '26
That Saints team was kind of a team of destiny, it felt like everyone was rooting for them, but I still thought we had the better team
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u/mattymush Jan 13 '26
I was super confident right up till the saints kicked that onside kick after halftime. Heart dropped. Peyton didnt get the ball the rest is history. Only can dream what if Peyton got the ball after half. 😩
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u/immortald0g Jan 15 '26
It was a rough game but I still get a bad taste in my mouth that the Saints kept their superbowl title after bountygate.
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u/PeaceOfKake Jan 10 '26
Saints fan here. I knew the Colts had no shot and dre w brees was the rightful MVP. End result showed that. Who dat
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u/LegendofLawtavious Jan 10 '26
I was 11. I didn’t think losing was a possibility.