Who Dat? Super
Bowl champs! Saints rally to
beat Colts
Miami, FL - Who Dat? Those are
the Super Bowl champions - the New
Orleans Saints - for the first time
in the history of a franchise and
city that has witnessed tough times.
Drew Brees connected with
Jeremy Shockey for the go-ahead
two-yard touchdown pass with 5:42
left in the fourth quarter, lifting
the Saints to a 31-17 win over the
Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl
XLIV.
Tracy Porter then sealed the
fate of the Colts, picking off
four-time MVP Peyton Manning and
returning the ball 74 yards for a
touchdown with 3:12 left, thwarting
Indianapolis' chance for a second
title in four years.
A team that went through
several years of seeing fans hold
paper bags over their heads due to
losing seasons, the Saints finally
rewarded the Crescent City with a
championship. It was more than a
healing process, it was the
feel-good story building over a
period of several years since the
devastation left behind by Hurricane
Katrina in 2005.
"New Orleans is back and this
shows the whole world. It's back!,"
Saints owner Tom Benson exclaimed,
holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy
above his head.
The Saints rallied from a 10-0
deficit behind a sparkling
performance from Brees, who tied a
Super Bowl record with 32
completions, going 32-of-39 for 288
yards and a pair of scores. The
Saints outscored the Colts, 15-0, in
the last quarter.
"We just believed in
ourselves. We knew that we had an
entire city, maybe an entire country
behind us," Brees said. "I'm trying
to imagine what this moment would be
like for a long time. It's even
better than expected."
Manning finished 31-of-45 for
333 yards with a TD and the costly
interception. Dallas Clark had seven
receptions for 86 yards, while
Joseph Addai accounted for a big
portion of the Colts' offense. He
had 13 rushes for 77 yards and a TD
and caught seven passes for 58
yards, but Indianapolis couldn't
gain a second title in four years
after topping Chicago following the
2006 season, in this same stadium.
"We just didn't play well in
certain times and certain phases,"
Manning said. "The Saints definitely
deserve the win."
Instead, Brees, the MVP of the
game, became a hero to the city of
New Orleans and its fans who
suffered through an incredible
amount of pain, losing 10-plus games
from 1996-1999. He tied Tom Brady's
mark for completions in a Super Bowl
game.
"It was all meant to be. It
was all destiny," Brees said.
Indianapolis' Matt Stover was
barely wide left on a 51-yard field
goal try with 10:39 left in
regulation as the Colts failed to
build on a 17-16 lead.
Brees then guided the Saints
with precision passing, completing
all seven of his passes during a
nine-play, 59-yard march. He had 10
straight completions through that
drive, finishing it with a quick
two-yard strike to Shockey, who got
in front of defensive back Jacob
Lacey to make the scoring grab.
Brees' two-point conversion
pass to the right side for Lance
Moore was initially ruled
incomplete, but reversed after a
challenge from the Saints. Moore
reached for the ball and made a
diving grab, while stretching the
ball backward, across the plane of
the goal line - all while his helmet
was planted in the grass. Lacey then
knocked the ball away with his legs
as the Saints wide receiver was on
the ground.
Manning moved the Colts to the
New Orleans 31, but on 3rd-and-5
Porter jumped in front of wide
receiver Reggie Wayne and darted the
other way, passing the Colts QB on
the way for the fourth-longest
interception return in Super Bowl
history.
Indianapolis moved from its
own 14 to the New Orleans three in
the final minute, but on fourth down
Manning's pass feel incomplete in
the end zone with 44 seconds left.
The Saints, in the Super Bowl
for the first time in franchise
history, got the ball first, but
went three-and-out.
Manning then engineered the
Colts on an 11-play, 53-yard march,
which Stover finished off with his
16th consecutive field goal in the
postseason - a 38- yarder - at the
midway point of the period.
Brees, responsible for leading
the Saints to the league's
top-ranked offense during the
season, drove his team to midfield,
but a 3rd-and-7 pass to Marques
Colston fell incomplete.
Indianapolis was pinned at its
four following a punt, but
methodically moved down the field
with Addai responsible for 53 yards
rushing. He ripped off a 26-yard run
on 3rd-and-1, advancing the ball to
the 23. Three plays later, Manning,
in shotgun formation, found Pierre
Garcon, who got behind defenders on
the right side of the end zone with
36 seconds left in the opening
quarter.
The 96-yard march, which took
11 plays, tied the longest drive in
Super Bowl history.
The Colts dominated the
opening quarter, outgaining the
Saints in yardage, 154-36. The
Saints ran just 10 offensive plays
in the period, but the Colts had
just six in the second quarter. Indy
was outgained 143-15 in the second
quarter.
That stanza proved much
different, starting with Hartley's
46-yard field goal to end an
11-play, 60-yard march with 9:34
left in the half. Hartley converted
the kick after Brees was thrown to
the ground on a one-handed sack by
the Colts' Dwight Freeney, who
started despite an ankle injury.
New Orleans then forced a
three-and-out, helped when Garcon
dropped a sure first-down catch with
plenty of open space.
Brees led the Saints'
high-powered offense down the field.
He converted a pair of third downs,
including a 21-yard toss to Moore,
moving the ball to the 23. After
Devery Henderson lost seven yards on
an end-around play, Brees found
Colston over the middle for 27
yards, advancing the ball to the
three.
But the drive stalled. After a
false start penalty, Thomas ran
seven yards to the one, setting up
third down. Mike Bell slipped down
on a rush to the right; and then on
fourth down, Thomas was stuffed on a
run to the right.
Following a punt, New Orleans
got the ball back at its own 48 with
35 seconds left in the half. Brees
threw 19 and six yards to Henderson.
Reggie Bush ran for a yard out of
bounds with five seconds left,
setting up Hartley's 44-ayrd field
goal on the final play for a 10-6
margin at the break.
The Saints used a gutsy
approach to start the second half,
trying on onside kick. The ball
glanced off Indianapolis' Hank
Baskett, and after a scrum at the
bottom of the pile, New Orleans'
Jonathan Casillas came away with the
football.
It was the first onside kick
in the Super Bowl coming before the
fourth quarter, and the move paid
off. Brees moved the Saints into the
lead at 13-10 on a 16-yard touchdown
pass to Thomas with 11:41 left in
the third. Brees completed all five
of his passes on the drive for 51
yards, the last one being a screen
on the right side of the field.
Thomas evaded defenders, stepped out
of a tackle in the middle of the
field before diving into the end
zone.
Indianapolis went back on top,
17-13, with 6:15 left in the quarter
thanks to Addai's four-yard TD run.
Brees then moved the Saints
from their own 34 to the Indy 29,
but the drive stalled when Shockey
couldn't break loose for a first
down after a four-yard catch over
the middle. Hartley was called on
and split the uprights from 47 yards
out with 2:01 remaining.