New Orleans Saints Win Super Bowl 44

photo credit: RMTip21

In a highly entertaining game The New Orleans Saints impeccably led by Drew Brees won their 1st ever Super Bowl by 31-17 thanks largely to the only turnover of the game, an interception thrown by Colts Quarter Back Peyton Manning deep in the 4th quarter. The pick proved to be conclusive it would be unfair to put the blame on Manning for this as it was a great defensive play and his stats were otherwise impressive especially in the 1st half when he led Indianapolis to a 10-0 lead.

For me the game changed deep into the final minutes of the 1st half when the Colts having just made a great defensive stand allowed the Saints to score a 44 yard field goal which cut the deficit to 4 points allowing New Orleans to go into the Dressing room with some momentum at the half.

The extended break which featured a great performance by The Who certainly seemed to suit the Saints better and they soon grabbed lead with a lovely Drew Brees pass to Pierre Thomas who had plenty to do but somehow managed to dive into the end zone giving the Saints the lead.

Despite this Peyton managed to rally the Colts and they closed out the 3rd quarter with a narrow 17-16 lead.

However with no Dwight Freeney in the second half stopping the Saints became more difficult and with just under 6 minutes to go Brees hit big Tight End Jeremy Shockey from 2 yards out to give New Orleans a lead they were never to surrender. The 2 point conversion was initially not given but the challenge showed it was good and this left Indianapolis with a 7 point deficit but plenty of time on the clock.

With the Colts driving for what could have been a game tying touch down the decisive moment arrived. Manning under pressure from a Saints Blitz took a chance and tried a hurried pass to Reggie Wayne. Unfortunately for the Colts Saints corner Tracy Porter pulled off the defensive play of the game in grabbing the interception and taking it 74 yards for the touch Down and a 14 points saints lead.

Even Peyton Manning couldn’t engineer a comeback from this and after all their trials and tribulations of late the people of New Orleans finally had something to celebrate.

I doubt that many people outside of Indianapolis were disappointed and it was emotional watching Drew Brees, who himself has had to come back from injury lift the Lombardy Trophy.

I expect the Mardi Gras will start early this year.

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