Super Bowl XLIV Recap

Kurt Warner. Check. Brett Favre. Check. Peyton Manning. You better believe it. If there’s anything those that follow the NFL betting scene will remember from this season, it’s Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints – and the three future Hall of Fame quarterbacks they beat to win the Super Bowl.

Brees has never won the NFL’s MVP, and the three QBs he outclassed have a combined nine, but that didn’t stop him from leading his Saints through the playoffs and past Manning’s Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night.

Brees finished with a Super Bowl-record 32 pass completions on 39 attempts for 288 yards with two touchdowns to win the game’s MVP at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, as New Orleans cruised to the bank as 4.5-point underdogs.

The teams also combined to play under the Super Bowl record-high 56.5-point total after many handicappers speculated we were headed for a shootout between the Saints and Colts.

Even if New Orleans won by two TDs, it looked like Indianapolis was going to run away from New Orleans in the early going. Pierre Garcon’s 19-yard touchdown reception from Manning with 36 seconds left in the first quarter put the Colts ahead 10-0, but it was mostly the Saints from there.

Garrett Hartley’s 44-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter brought New Orleans within 10-6, and it never looked back. With three FGs of more than 40 yards, Hartley – who was viewed by some as a weak link in the lead up to the game – set a Super Bowl record on the night.

The game’s momentum shifted for good at the start of the second half, when the Saints managed to retain possession on a gutsy onside kick call. Brees promptly marched New Orleans down the field, and the drive culminated in a 16-yard touchdown strike to Pierre Thomas 3:19 into the half to give the underdogs their first lead of the game at 13-10.

Indy made it 17-13 on Joseph Addai’s 4-yard TD run with 6:15 remaining in the third quarter, but that was the last time it sniffed the end zone. After Hartley booted one through the uprights from 47 yards out with 2:01 left in the third, the Saints went ahead for good on Brees’ two-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey with 5:42 to go in the fourth quarter.

New Orleans made it 24-17 on Brees’ two-point conversion toss to Lance Moore, but not without controversy. The play was initially called incomplete on the field, but the officials overturned the call after Sean Payton successfully challenged the ruling.

That said, the replay appeared to vindicate the official’s first judgment of an incomplete pass: Moore had possession as he broke the plane of the end zone, but he lost control – albeit briefly – before regaining full control of the ball. In any case, the call was overturned, leaving Colts backers to wonder how things would have played out if the ruling were upheld.

Manning led Indianapolis down the field in response to the Saints’ good fortune, but it was the beginning of the end for the regular season MVP. Tracy Porter picked off Manning’s pass on a slant route to Reggie Wayne inside New Orleans territory, and took the ball 76 yards to the house for the score. The huge interception put the Saints up 31-17 with 3:12 remaining.

Manning, who finished 31-of-45 for 333 yards with a TD and an INT, marched the Colts downfield, but they once again came up empty. Manning’s pass on fourth-and-goal in the final minute sailed through Wayne’s hands, allowing New Orleans to run out the clock to its first Super Bowl title in its 43-year history.

It was a disappointing night for Indy, which was the choice of many pro football betting experts as 4.5-point chalk. The Colts outgained the Saints 432-332, but managed only 17 points after putting up 30 two weeks ago against the New York Jets and their top-ranked defense in the AFC Championship Game.

Dwight Freeney started and played the entire game for Indianapolis despite a sprained right ankle. It was uncertain just how effective Freeney would be because of the injury, but he recorded the game’s only sack in the loss.

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