Saints overcome slow start to capture first Super Bowl title in franchise history
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The ultimate underdogs, they ain't. Not anymore. The Saints are Super Bowl champions now.
Who Dat? Try Drew Brees, Sean Payton and a team that has reversed its embarrassing past, carrying an entire city to the top with it.
Put away those paper bags forever.
Brees and the Saints rallied to upset Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 Sunday night in one of pro football's most thrilling title games.
"We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us," said Brees, the game's 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."
But not something many expected from these descendants of the hapless Aints, who were five-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 with 32 completions, the last a 2-yard slant to Jeremy Shockey for the winning points with 5:42 remaining. He was 32 for 39 for 288 yards.
A surprise onside kick sparked the Saints' second-half comeback. Their 25th-ranked defense made several key stops, and Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return touchdown on a pass from Manning clinched it.
Manning tried to give chase, but was blocked by Saints DE Will Smith and fell awkwardly as the cornerback raced by. The four-time NFL MVP forlornly walked to the sideline as the Big Easy celebrations began.
"It's time for the Saints to celebrate," he said. "It's their field and it's their championship."
An NFL also-ran for much of their 43 years, the Saints' football renaissance, led by Brees and Payton, climaxed with Shockey's touchdown and Lance Moore's two-point conversion catch, originally ruled incomplete but overturned on Payton's challenge.
Porter's pick, just as dramatic as his interception of Brett Favre's pass to force overtime in the NFC title game, was the game's only turnover. It's one Manning will forever regret.
The Saints (16-3) won three postseason games this winter after winning only two in the previous 42 years. They beat Arizona, Minnesota and Indianapolis (16-3) -- all division winners -- for their first title, scoring 107 points and allowing only 59.
"We weren't the Aints," Porter said. "We were a team of destiny, a team that can make big plays."
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