MIAMI GARDENS, Florida: The New Orleans Saints added the biggest accomplishment of all to a storybook season that inspired a rebuilding city. They turned their first Super Bowl appearance into their first Super Bowl triumph, overcoming an early deficit to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, Sunday evening at Sun Life Stadium.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees out dueled his more celebrated Colts counterpart, Peyton Manning, by completing 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns, including a two-yarder to tight end Jeremy Shockey with 5 minutes 42 seconds remaining.
That touchdown gave the Saints the lead for good, and cornerback Tracy Porter followed with a 74-yard touchdown on an interception return with 3:12 to play. The Colts’ chances ended on a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone with 44 seconds to go.
“We just believed in ourselves and we knew we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us,” Brees said in a CBS interview after the game.
“I’ve imagined this for a long time. ... I’m just feeling like it was all meant to be. It was all destiny. ... The birth of my son, to get this (championship) in the first year of his life, what can I say, it just can’t get any better than that.”
The Saints also got three field goals from kicker Garrett Hartley. They trailed, 10-0, in the early going but gathered themselves and controlled the game the rest of the way. Brees followed his touchdown pass to Shockey with a completion to wide receiver Lance Moore for a two-point conversion, on a play that originally was ruled a failed conversion by the officials on the field but was overturned on an instant-replay challenge.
Manning connected on 31 of 45 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown, as the Super Bowl passing duel that had been promised did emerge. Neither quarterback threw an interception until Porter stepped in front of Colts wide out Reggie Wayne, grabbed Manning’s pass and raced to the opposite end zone. Porter also had an interception late in regulation in the Saints’ overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC title game.
The Saints beat three quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls — Arizona’s Kurt Warner, Minnesota’s Brett Favre and Manning on their way to their championship. They denied Manning and the Colts what would have been their second Super Bowl triumph in four seasons.
Brees was named the game’s most valuable player.
The Colts raced to their 10-point edge on a field goal and a first-quarter touchdown pass from Manning to wide receiver Pierre Garcon. The Saints got back into the game with a pair of second-quarter field goals by Hartley, sandwiched around a goal-line stand by the Indianapolis defense, and took the lead in the third quarter by recovering a bold onside kick on the second-half kickoff and getting a touchdown pass from Brees to running back Pierre Thomas. The Colts moved back in front on a touchdown run by running back Joseph Addai, but Brees and the Saints had an answer.
“We talked about it at halftime and it’s really a credit to every one of the players here,” Saints Coach Sean Payton of the gutsy onside kick call.
“There’s not enough room on this stage for every one of them. I’m proud of this team and this staff. Everybody back home in New Orleans gets a piece of this trophy.”
The Saints were playing in the first Super Bowl in franchise history, while the Colts were back in the stadium in which they beat the Chicago Bears on a rainy evening three years ago for Manning’s first Super Bowl title. It was the first-ever Super Bowl match up of quarterbacks who had 4,000-yard passing seasons, a reflection of what a passing-friendly league the NFL has become. It also was a passing-friendly night at Sun Life Stadium — somewhat cool and just a bit windy, but a generally pleasant South Florida evening for Manning and Brees to go to work.
Saints fans had their trademark “Who dat” chant going about 20 minutes before kickoff. But the most significant pre game development was that the Colts had defensive end Dwight Freeney, one of the league’s top pass rushers, in the starting lineup despite the severely sprained ankle that he suffered late in the AFC championship game.
Freeney hadn’t practiced in the two weeks since that win over the New York Jets, and much of the pre game buildup since the two teams arrived in the Miami area last Monday focused on what effect it would have on the game if Freeney didn’t play at all or was unable to move well.
Freeney, who sacked Brees once, was on the field for the game’s opening snap. He walked to the sideline following the Saints’ second offensive play, but was in and out of the lineup thereafter and appeared to be moving around just fine.
The Saints had to punt the ball twice in the first quarter, with Brees overthrowing wide receiver Robert Meachem on a deep pass on third down on the opening possession and wide out Marques Colston having a costly drop on the second drive.
The Colts wasted little time crafting a 10-point advantage. Manning was sharp from the outset and he passed the Colts into position for a 38-yard field goal by Matt Stover, who became the oldest player in Super Bowl history at age 42. Stover connected to give the Colts a quick lead.
Manning and the Colts were pinned at their 4-yard line to begin their second drive of the evening after the Saints downed a punt there. No matter. The Colts promptly tied a record for the longest drive in Super Bowl history.
The Colts aren’t known for their running game, but Addai dashed through the New Orleans defense for runs of 16, 11 and 26 yards on the drive. The 26-yarder came on a third-and-one play, as Addai maneuvered his way around safety Darren Sharper.
On third down from the 19, Garcon got open against cornerback Usama Young. Manning made an on-target throw, and Garcon made the catch and got both feet in bounds in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.
But the Saints regrouped in the second quarter. They put together a solid drive to open the quarter, but had to settle for a 46-yard field goal by Hartley after Freeney overpowered Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod and dragged Brees to the ground for a third-down sack. The Saints got the ball back when the Colts had to punt following a dropped pass by Garcon, and moved to the 1-yard line.
Running back Mike Bell was stopped for no gain on a third-down carry, in part because he slipped on the turf. Saints Coach Sean Payton left his offense on the field on fourth down, and Thomas was met by linebacker Gary Brackett and three other Colts defenders and stopped shy of the goal line. But the Saints got the ball back on a punt and got into position for another Hartley field goal, and he connected from 46 yards as time expired in the half.
Payton’s next big gamble worked far better, as the Saints recovered an onside kick to open the second half. The ball caromed off the Colts’ Hank Baskett and ended up in the Saints’ possession after a long delay for the officials to pull players off the pile.
The Saints took advantage when Thomas weaved his way around Colts defenders to the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown after taking a screen pass from Brees. But Manning and the Colts had an immediate reply, with Manning using three completions to tight end Dallas Clark to set up Addai’s four-yard touchdown run.
Hartley’s 47-yarder narrowed the deficit to 17-16 and made him the first kicker to have three field goals from beyond 40 yards in a Super Bowl. The Colts converted a fourth-and-two gamble from the Saints’ 46-yard line early in the fourth quarter but Stover missed a 51-yard field goal try.
