Going into half time of Super Bowl XLIV, the Saint trailed the Colts by the score of 10-6. The Saints appeared in their first Super Bowl in franchise history, but head coach Sean Payton was not going to crack under the pressure. After an impressive goal line stand by Indianapolis before halftime, the Saints were losing at the half and had all of their momentum scooped out from underneath them.
Payton knew that his team needed to shift the momentum and devised a plan to do so. The opening kickoff of the second half provided that shift when the Saints recovered their onside kick and converted for a touchdown on the ensuing series. That was the very first time in NFL history a team has kicked an onside kick prior to the fourth quarter in the Super Bowl.
Drew Brees and the New Orleans offense displayed another extremely efficient performance when it counts the most. Brees went 32-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions, tying the Super Bowl record for the most completions in a game. Once again, they were outgained in total offense but come out on top in the end due to their resourceful play on the offensive side of the ball.
The Colts played a solid game by most standards, but it was the Saints defense that came up big late on the fourth quarter to seal the deal. Tracy Porter picked off Peyton Manning with three minutes left and returned the ball 74 yards for a touchdown putting New Orleans ahead by two scores.
They achieved the unthinkable by knocking off the heavily favored Colts even with the mighty Peyton Manning in his usual form reaching an unparalleled level of play within the organization.
"We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us. What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time and it's better than expected,” said Drew Brees and he walked the field with his son in hand.
