SUPER BOWL XLIV

Sun Life Stadium, South Florida

February 7, 2010, Attendance: 74,059

NEW ORLEANS 31, INDIANAPOLIS 17—

Tracy Porter’s 74-yard interception return  with 3:12 remaining capped a fourth quarter comeback and lifted the Saints to their first Super Bowl title. The Colts, who won their first 14 regular-season games, forced a three-and-out on the Saints’ opening possession. Peyton Manning completed two third-down passes to set up Matt Stover’s 38-yard field goal. Following a second Saints’ punt, the Colts drove 96 yards in 11 plays, keyed by runs of 16, 11, and 26 yards by Joseph Addai, and capped by Manning’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon on third-and-6 to stake the Colts to a 10-0 lead.

The Saints, who had won their first 13 games of the season, answered with a a drive of 6:02, using Garrett Hartley's 46-yard field goal to get on the scoreboard. After a three-and-out, the Saints held the ball for 6:25. However, the drive resulted in zero points as Gary Brackett and Clint Session stopped Pierre Thomas for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the Colts’ 1 with 1:49 left in the half. The Colts ran three times, failed to gain a first down, and were forced to punt. From their own 48-yard line with 35 seconds left in the half, Drew Brees connected on passes of 19 and 6 yards to Devery Henderson that led to Hartley’s 44-yard field goal as the half expired, trimming the deficit to 10-6.

The Saints then surprised everyone with an onside kick to begin the second half. Rookie punter Thomas Morstead’s first ever onside kick was perfect, and Chris Reis of the Saints eventually emerged from the intense scramble with the ball. Brees completed all five of his pass attempts on the drive, capped by Thomas’ 16-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass to give the Saints their first lead. The Colts drove 76 yards on the ensuing possession, keyed by Manning’s 27-yard pass to Dallas Clark on third-and-4, which resulted in Addai’s 4-yard run for a 17-13 Indianapolis lead with 6:15 left in the third quarter. Courtney Roby returned the kickoff 34 yards and Brees completed four of five passes on the next drive set up Hartley’s third long-range field goal, this one from 47 yards, to pull the Saints to within one point. On the Colts’ next drive, Manning completed a 14-yard pass to Reggie Wayne on fourth-down near midfield. However, four plays later, faced with fourth-and-11, Stover missed a 51-yard field-goal attempt with 10:39 to play.

Brees completed all seven pass attempts on the ensuing drive, capped by Jeremy Shockey’s 2-yard scoring catch with 5:42 remaining. The Saints went for the 2-point conversion, and Lance Moore made a spectacular catch and reached across the goal-line with the reception to give New Orleans a 24-17 lead. The Colts quickly drove to the Saints’ 31, but on third-and-5 Manning’s short pass to the left side intended for Wayne was intercepted by Porter, who sprinted untouched 74 yards for a touchdown and 31-17 lead with 3:12 to play. Manning connected with Austin Collie on a 40-yard pass play to help the Colts get downfield. Indianapolis reached the Saints’ 3 with 1:33 to play, but a 10-yard pass interference penalty on Garcon moved them back. On fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line with 50 seconds to play, Manning’s pass for Wayne was incomplete, and the Saints clinched their first-ever NFL championship. Brees, who was named Super Bowl MVP, was 32 of 39 for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns. Manning was 31 of 45 for 333 yards and 1 touchdown, with 1 interception.

Marques Colston      WR           Reggie Wayne

 Jermon Bushrod       LT           Charlie Johnson

Carl Nicks                LG            Ryan Lilja

Jonathan Goodwin      C           Jeff Saturday

Jahri Evans              RG           Kyle DeVan

Jon Stinchcomb       RT             Ryan Diem

Jeremy Shockey     TE             Dallas Clark

Devery Henderson   WR           Pierre Garcon

Drew Brees            QB             Peyton Manning

Pierre Thomas        RB             Joseph Addai

Reggie Bush          RB/H-B        Gijon Robinson

Bobby McCray       DE/LDE       Robert Mathis

Marvin Mitchell       LB/LDT        Daniel Muir

Sedrick Ellis           DT/RDT       Antonio Johnson

Will Smith                RDE           Dwight Freeney

Scott Fujita               SLB          Philip Wheeler

Jonathan Vilma          MLB        Gary Brackett

Scott Shanle             WLB          Clint Session

Jabari Greer              LCB          Kelvin Hayden

Tracy Porter             RCB           Jacob Lacey

Roman Harper            SS           Melvin Bullitt

Darren Sharper           FS            Antoine Bethea

DNP: DT—DeMario Pressley.

Not Active: QB—Chase Daniel. RB—Lynell Hamilton. WR—Adrian Arrington. TE—Darnell Dinkins, Tory Humphrey. G—Jamar Nesbit. DE—Paul Spicer. LB—Anthony Waters.

INDIANAPOLIS—

Specialists: K—Matt Stover. P—Pat McAfee

. LS/TE—Justin Snow.

Offense: RB—Donald Brown, Mike Hart, Chad Simpson. WR—Hank Baskett, Austin Collie. TE—Jacob Tamme. G— Jamey Richard. T—Tony Ugoh.

Defense: DT—Eric Foster. DE—Raheem Brock, Keyunta Dawson. LB—Cody Glenn, Ramon Humber, Freddy Keiaho. DB— Aaron Francisco, Tim Jennings, Jerraud Powers, T.J. Rushing, Jamie Silva. DNP: QB—Curtis Painter.

Not Active: K—Adam Vinatieri. WR—Sam Giguere. TE—Colin Cloherty. G—Mike Pollak. T—Michael Toudouze. DT—John Gill, Fili Moala. DE—Ervin Baldwin.

New Orleans (NFC) 0 6 10 15 —31

Indianapolis (AFC) 10 0 7 0 —17

Ind — FG Stover 38 (7:29)

Ind — Garcon 19 pass from Manning (Stover kick) (0:36)

NO — FG Hartley 46 (9:34)

NO — FG Hartley 44 (0:00)

NO — P. Thomas 16 pass from Brees (Hartley kick) (11:41)

Ind — Addai 4 run (Stover kick) (6:15)

NO — FG Hartley 47 (2:01)

NO — Shockey 2 pass from Brees (Moore pass from Brees) (5:42)

NO — Porter 74 interception return (Hartley kick) (3:12)

NO: P. Thomas 9-30-0, Bush 5-25-0, Bell 2-4-0, Brees 1-(-1)-0, Henderson 1-(-7)-0.

IND: Addai 13-77-1, Brown 4-18-0, Hart 2-4-0.

 NO: Brees 39-32-288-2-0.