The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl champions for the first time after recording a 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Porter interception seal historic triumph for New Orleans
The New Orleans Saints were crowned Super Bowl champions for the first time in their history after a shock 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns to be crowned MVP as the underdogs pulled off a stunning upset in Miami.
For New Orleans the win brings a long awaited first championship, a special moment not just for a success-starved franchise but also for a city that was left devastated by Hurricane Katrina less than five years ago.
To end their long wait to receive the Lombardi Trophy they had to rally from an early 10-0 deficit, while they also trailed 17-16 heading into the final quarter of a game that was billed as a battle of two offensive juggernauts.
Defensive play
In the end, though, it was a defensive play that sealed the outcome, Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return putting the Saints 14 points clear.
Not even four-time MVP Peyton Manning could engineer a comeback in the dying minutes, meaning the Indianapolis quarterback - who threw for 333 yards and a score in defeat - lost out on a second Super Bowl ring to a team for whom his father, Archie, spent the majority of his playing career.
Such an outcome had seemed unlikely at the end of a first quarter that saw the red-hot favourites dominate on both sides of the ball.
Twice the Colts produced 11-play drives of ruthless efficiency, the first ending in a 38-yard field goal from Matt Stover that broke the deadlock.
When Manning found Pierre Garcon in the end zone with a perfectly-timed 19-yard pass to make it 10-0, the writing looked on the wall for the Saints.
Yet from a position of such strength the Colts failed to kick on. They managed to run just six plays in a second quarter that saw the Saints come to life.
However New Orleans still trailed at the break, Indy's bend-but-don't-break defence, which emphatically stopped tail-back Pierre Thomas on a fourth-and-goal run, restricting them to two field goals from Garrett Hartley.
Sensing his side needed a spark on offence, Saints head coach Sean Payton played his joker at the start of the second half by going for an onside kick.
The gamble paid off handsomely when Brees teamed up with Thomas on a 16-yard screen pass that resulted in New Orleans' first touchdown.
The Colts' response to falling behind for the first time was emphatic. Manning looked back to his best to set up a four-yard TD run for Joseph Addai.
A third successful field goal from Hartley - making him the first kicker ever to land three efforts from 40 yards or more in the Super Bowl - set up a dramatic final 15 minutes with the Saints trailing by a single point.
Crucial miss
That gap would have been at four had veteran Stover not pushed a 51-yard field goal attempt wide to the left on the Colts' next drive.
Gifted the ball back with excellent field position, the Saints made their rivals pay to push themselves into a lead they would not surrender again.
Brees completed pass-after-pass, the last of which was a two-yarder to tight end Jeremy Shockey that made it 22-17. A two-point conversion attempt to Lance Moore was just successful on review, making it a seven-point game.
Manning had time on his side to engineer a game-tying drive and few would have bet against one of the modern-day greats forcing overtime.
That possibility disappeared, though, when Porter stepped in front of a pass meant for Reggie Wayne before galloping away from the Colts and allowing those back on Bourbon Street to get Mardi Gras underway ahead of schedule.
