Saints Win Super Bowl 44, Beat Colts 31-17

The Saints have won the Super Bowl. Who Dat? Who Dat?

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints came back to defeat Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 on Sunday in one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory.

“We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us,” said Brees, who was also the Super Bowl 2010 MVP. “What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time, and it’s better than expected.”

This was surely a surprise for those who remember the harmless Aints, who came into the Super Bowl as 5-point underdogs.

“Four years ago who ever thought this would be happening when 85 percent of the city was under water from (Hurricane) Katrina,” Brees said. “Most people not knowing if New Orleans would ever come back or if the organization and the team would come back. … This is the culmination of that belief and that faith.”

Brees tied a Super Bowl record by completing 32 passes, the last of which was a 2-yard slant to Jeremy Shockey for the game’s deciding points with 5:42 left in the 4th quarter. Brees went 32 for 39 for 288 yards.

A surprise onsides kickoff triggered the Saints’ second-half comeback. Their defense, ranked 25th in the NFL, made several critical stops, and Tracy Porter‘s 74-yard interception return on a pass from Manning clinched it.