NEW ORLEANS: The New Orleans Saints crushed the Super Bowl runner-up Arizona Cardinals 45-14 in the NFL playoffs on Saturday to host the NFC title game for the first time.
The Saints will play either the Minnesota Vikings or Dallas Cowboys, who meet on Sunday.
Drew Brees threw for 247 yards and touchdowns of 17 yards to Jeremy Shockey, 44 yards to Devery Henderson and 2 yards to Marques Colston, and Reggie Bush scored on an 83-yard punt return and a 46-yard run. Lynell Hamilton also had a short touchdown run.
After losing their last three regular-season games, they led 35-14 by halftime and shut out the Cardinals in a second-half cruise.
Bush finished with 84 yards rushing, 24 yards receiving and 109 yards on three punt returns. Colston caught six passes for 83 yards.
Coming off its 51-45 overtime win over Green Bay in the wild-card round, Arizona wound up yielding 90 points in the postseason, the most ever allowed in consecutive playoff games in one season.
Even the Saints’ sometimes soft defense played well, forcing two turnovers, harassing Kurt Warner often and knocking Arizona’s 38-year-old star quarterback out of the game briefly when, during Will Smith’s interception return, he was blind-sided by Bobby McCray’s block. Warner was 17 of 26 for 205 yards, but was unable to move Arizona consistently.
Colts 20, Ravens 3: At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning threw for two touchdowns in his first action since winning an unprecedented fourth league MVP award, leading Indianapolis into the AFC Championship game.
The Colts, who had the league’s best record, will host San Diego or the New York Jets next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl.
Manning hit rookie Austin Collie for 10 yards and old standby Reggie Wayne for 3 in the second quarter, accounting for Indianapolis’ two touchdowns and 17-3 by the break.
The Ravens’ vaunted defense was self-destructive, and Manning gave it another push toward the off season with a 14-play drive to Matt Stover’s 33-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
The last time the Colts hosted the conference title game was three years ago, when they won their only Super Bowl representing Indianapolis. That championship victory came in Miami, the same site as next month’s Super Bowl.
Indy’s 18th-ranked defense gave Manning lots of help, shutting down a running game that romped for 234 yards against New England a week before, to just 87.
Indy forced four turnovers, two of which came from interceptions of Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco.
The Colts have won eight straight against Baltimore, a city they once called home. The last time they were so stingy in a playoff game was as the Baltimore Colts 39 years ago, a 20-3 win over Cleveland — where the Ravens once lived as the original Browns.
