In their first Super Bowl appearance, the Saints came back from an early 10-point deficit to beat the Colts.
“We just believed in ourselves. I tried to imagine what this moment would be like,” said Brees.
Saints fans echoed their quarterback. They seemed to cheer louder for their heroes, not to take anything away from Colts fans. For Saints fans watching their team in their first Super Bowl, it was more than just another game. “Who dat?!” shouted Saints fans.
Early Going
Saints fans did their best to make it difficult for Manning to audible at the line. But Manning established a connection with tight end Dallas Clark early on the Colts’ opening drive that led to a field goal.
The Colts defense started out aggressively, limiting the league’s top offense in the early going.
On the Colts second drive, the AFC champions established their running game. Digging themselves out of a hole at their own goal line, Joseph Addai emerged as the dominant offensive weapon.
On a key third down play, he busted a run for 26 yards, his longest run of the season. Soon after that, Pierre Garcon caught a 19-yard strike from Peyton Manning in the end zone.
But the Saints came right back and continued their second quarter domination. Knocking on the Colts’ door with two shots at the end zone from the 1-yard line, the Colts defense came up big.
On third down, Saints running back Mike Bell slipped and was swarmed by the Colts. Saints coach Sean Payton decided to go for it on fourth down. Brees then handed off to Pierre Thomas who was stuffed by Colts linebackers Gary Brackett and Clint Session.
This was potentially a huge opportunity for the Colts to build on. The Saints were in a position to get points and got nothing and now the master of the two-minute drill, Peyton Manning, would get another chance to widen the lead heading into halftime.
But after their goal line stand, the Colts surprisingly became extremely conservative and went three-and-out. The Saints, who had been moving the ball extremely well all quarter, got the ball back and kicked a field goal on the last play of the half. This was a moral victory for the Saints who were in danger of heading into halftime badly wounded.
Instead the Colts took a 10–6 lead into the locker room.
Onside Kick
The second half started off with a bang after a rousing medley of songs by The Who. The Saints fooled the Colts with the onside kick in a very bold move by Sean Payton.
Building on the momentum, the Saints punched it in with a 16-yard catch-and-run TD from Pierre Thomas. The Saints now had the lead that they should’ve had at the end of the first half.
Down 13–10, back came the Colts. After a very quiet second quarter, Manning started connecting with his receivers again. And again, his favorite target was Clark, who caught three passes on the drive, which Addai capped off with a 4-yard TD run. The Colts were now up 17–13.
The Saints responded with a credible drive ending in a third field goal for Garrett Hartley. He became the first kicker to kick three field goals from over 40 yards in one Super Bowl.
The game entered the fourth quarter with the Colts up by one 17–16. You can’t ask for a much closer game than that—two excellent football teams evenly matched, not having made any mistakes (turnovers).
The two high-powered offenses look like mirror images of each other with their short passing attacks going horizontal rather than vertical and adding in the occasional run to shake things up. The receivers are expected to make the most of their completions with yards after the catch in this type of scheme.
After a 51-yard field goal attempt by the Colts went wide left, the Saints drove downfield and scored a touchdown with a short pass to former Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey. They converted the two-point conversion with the help of a lengthy challenge review. The Saints were back in front 24–17 with just under six minutes to play.
Facing third and five on the Saints 31-yard line, Manning made the first mistake of the game. His pass was picked off by Tracy Porter, who read the play perfectly, and returned it 74 yards for the touchdown. Mayhem broke out in Sun Life Stadium as the Saints fans went wild.
“It was great film study,” said Porter. “We knew that on third-and-short, they stack and they like the outside release for the slant.”
The Saints were up 14 with just over three minutes to play. How were Manning and the Colts, who had not panicked all year when faced with fourth quarter deficits, going to get out of this one?
Sure enough, Manning drove the Colts into scoring position. But the Saints defense, which was perhaps their one weakness, held its own. They shut down Manning on fourth down and that’s all she wrote.
“It’s a credit for every one of these players here,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton. “Everybody back in New Orleans gets a piece of this trophy.”
Let the party on Bourbon Street begin!
