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It was a somewhat anticlimactic finish, with Peyton Manning's incomplete pass sealing the Saints 31-17 victory, but earlier New Orleans provided two of the biggest moments in Super Bowl history: a successful onside kick that opened the 2nd half and led to a touchdown, and a 74-yard return of a Manning interception for another TD. Ultimately those plays would be the difference on a night where both Drew Brees and Manning played exceptionally for most of the game.
The first quarter was all Indianapolis as Manning guided the team into position for field goal and later hit Pierre Garcon perfectly for a 19-yard TD strike and a 10-0 Colts lead.
Manning was 9 of 14 in the first quarter but attempted only two passes in the 2nd quarter as New Orleans monopolized the ball. Garrett Hartley kicked his first of three 40+ yard field goals to make it 10-3, then Brees took the team to the Colts' goal line, but Mike Bell slipped on 3rd down and Pierre Thomas got stuffed by several defenders on 4th down.
Coming with just 2 minutes left in the half, it appeared that the Saints had lost the momentum. But the defense held and New Orleans got the ball back quickly enough to get within Hartley's range again. The Saints went into the locker room down 10-6.
They came out of the locker room with a trick up their sleeves. Head coach Sean Payton gambled with an onside kick call to begin the second half and it paid off. After a long scuffle in which the ball seemed to change hands several times, New Orleans was awarded possession. Several plays later Brees connected with Thomas and the Saints had their first lead, 13-10.
Manning answered quickly though, driving downfield and setting up a 4-yard touchdown jaunt by Joseph Addai. Manning hit tight end Dallas Clark three times on the drive, including a 27-yard pass that floated just over the defenders' fingertips. The Colts led again, 17-13.
New Orleans cut the lead to one on Hartley's final field goal, his longest of the day at 47 yards, near the end of the third quarter. Hartley won the battle of the kickers; on the first drive of the 4th quarter Indianapolis' Matt Stover missed from 51 yards, his only attempt of the day.
Brees was unstoppable on the ensuing drive, completing seven consecutive passes, the last one to Jeremy Shockey for a touchdown and a 22-17 lead. The two-point conversion attempt was initially ruled an incomplete pass, as Lance Moore caught the ball near the goal line, reached it across, and bobbled it before it was kicked away by a defender. On replay, however, the officials ruled that after the bobble he had maintained possession with the ball across the goal line before it was broken up.
That put the Saints up 24-17 and with Manning at the helm a comeback drive and an overtime game seemed imminent. But Manning had started to show signs of being human in the second half, with several poorly-thrown balls and a few near-picks. Finally, Tracy Porter intercepted Manning and ran the ball through a crowd for a touchdown, going a total of 74 yards.
With the Saints now leading 31-17 Manning and the Colts needed a touchdown and an onside kick but they couldn't even get the former, failing on 4th down and goal to go.
For all of the "best of all-time" talk about Manning in the media recently, it was Brees who was the game MVP and tied the Super Bowl record for total completions at 32 in 39 attempts; Manning had one fewer, going 31 of 45. Brees had 288 yards to Manning's 333.
New Orleans lived up to their #1 ranking in the SportsRatings NFL Strength power rating, and took over the #1 spot in the Success ranking with the win. Both teams finished 16-3 overall on the year.
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