Two Lessons to Learn from Sean Payton

The Saints win, and unless you are from Indianapolis, it was hard to cheer against them. These are completely rehashed story lines, but it’s a brief, Monday Motivation, courtesy of Saints Head Coach, Sean Payton.

Two things he proved last night:

1) Play to Win. I’ll avoid going Nate Silver on everyone, but the 538 Genius/Sabremetrician is completely right. From a net point standard, the choice to go on 4th and 1 with the 2nd Quarter running down, mathematically, was always the right call.

2) Take a Chance. Going big has never been a trait of Super Bowl teams. Once the Saints got the momentum, they made sure to ride on house money and kept taking chances. From the minute they had won the coin toss, Payton had to have been thinking that the onside would be a way to keep the ball away from Manning…and it worked.

Good things happen when you work hard and aim high.