Barton Silverman/The New York Times Tracy Porter’s fourth quarter interception that he returned for a touchdown sealed the Saints’ victory.
New York Times reporters and editors, including Judy Battista, Greg Bishop, Tom Jolly and Justin Sablich, will provide live analysis from Miami Gardens, Fla., of Super Bowl XLIV between the Colts and the Saints. Richard Sandomir, contributing from New York, will add commentary on the CBS telecast. The Media Decoder blog will comment on the Super Bowl ads here.
Refresh this post throughout the day and during the game for the latest.
Update | 10:03 p.m. Drew Brees was named the game’s most valuable player. No surprise there.
Update | 10:01 p.m. With the dual stories of New Orleans’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the Saints’ long wait to play in the Super Bowl, CBS should have done more than have two quick shots of Bourbon Street after the men of “Who Dat?” beat the Colts. The first postgame reaction shot (of a few seconds) came nearly a minute after time ran out on Indianapolis. Reaction shots of postgame celebrations of other cities are almost irrelevant, but to give New Orleans such shabby treatment was surprising — even more so after Jim Nantz recited the names of a half dozen streets and parts of the city. One more quick shot of Bourbon Street came as CBS went to a commercial break. — Richard Sandomir
Update | 9:56 p.m. Give the Saints tremendous credit. This was no fluke: They deserved to win. Brees picked apart the Colts’ defense, using the death by a thousand cuts approach, with short passes and the occasional run wearing down the Colts’ defense and then the Saints’ defense coming in for the kill, as it did so many times this season — this time with Tracy Porter picking off Peyton Manning and returning the interception for a touchdown. It was the formula that worked all year for the Saints and completely appropriate that it would represent the crowning moment for them. — Tom Jolly
Update | 9:52 p.m. It’s a big day for New Orleans, and an especially big one for Tracy Porter, who along with Marlon Favorite and three other Saints, is from Louisiana. As William C. Rhoden wrote last week:
“Four members of the National Football Conference champion Saints are Louisiana natives. Cornerback Randall Gay is from Brusly, Favorite is from Gretna, wide receiver Devery Henderson is from Opelousas and Porter, a cornerback, is from Port Allen.”
Update | 9:47 p.m. The Saints are Super Bowl champions and will bring the title back to New Orleans, which is surely ready for a raucous celebration. Tracy Porter’s 74-yard interception return for a touchdown sealed the victory for the Saints, but Drew Brees was the star throughout. He finished 32 of 39 passing for 288 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. The 32 completions ties a Super Bowl record held by Tom Brady.
Update | 9:45 p.m. The Saints stop the Colts on downs at the Saints’ 5 and New Orleans is going to celebrate its first Super Bowl victory and first major professional sports championship of any kind. Our Web producer Justin Sablich points out that I am now 0-2 in my Super Bowl point-counterpoint debates with Carl Nelson since I picked the Cardinals to beat the Steelers and the Colts to beat the Saints. At least the Cardinals covered the point spread. — Tom Jolly
Update | 9:39 p.m. From Nate Silver on Twitter, again (who referred to Sean Payton as a “stathead heartthrob”):
However this turns out, we’ve been on a great run of very exciting Super Bowls. 7 of the last 11 games have been competitive, 4-5 legendary.
Update | 9:35 p.m. O.K., now it’s officially turned into a Saints’ home game, Colts fans are just stunned. It’s going to make it that much tougher for Manning to muster up anything late in the fourth quarter. — Justin Sablich
Update | 9:33 p.m. It’ll be interesting to hear that play explained after the game. Manning threw it right to Tracy Porter, but he had to have thought Reggie Wayne was going to cut toward the middle. Instead, Wayne stopped and Porter had clear sailing, 74 yards to the end zone and “Who Dat” chants are echoing around the stadium. — Tom Jolly
Update | 9:32 p.m. Tracy Porter’s 74-yard interception return puts the Saints up, 31-17. Porter was also the player who picked off Brett Favre to seal the N.F.C. championship game victory against Minnesota.
Justin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency Flashback: Tracy Porter intercepted Brett Favre’s pass to Visanthe Shiancoe in the final seconds of the N.F.C. championship game.
Update | 9:29 p.m. A sign of how tight the defenses have played: The longest plays tonight have been 27-yard pass receptions by Dallas Clark and Marques Colston. Only one other play has gone for more than 19 yards: a 26-yard run by Addai. — Tom Jolly
Update | 9:27 p.m. From The Boston Globe, via Twitter: “Freeney is walking off the field, into locker room.”
Update | 9:24 p.m. With Drew Brees killing the Colts with short passes, Simms summarized the plight for the Indianapolis defense this way:
“They’re used to their pass rush getting to the quarterback, but they keep seeing one look after another, another formation, another short pass, so you get to where you react, you’re not attacking. And Drew Brees is right on time with those throws.”
During the drive that put New Orleans ahead, Brees had complete passes of, in order, 12, 5, 6, 8, 8, 6, 9 and 2 yards (the touchdown to Jeremy Shockey). — Richard Sandomir
Update | 9:23 p.m. Whoa … I think everyone in the stadium was shocked by the 2-point reversal. Here, it didn’t look like Moore was ever in, but now that they’re showing the replay it’s clear he was. Even without the reversal on the conversion ruling, that drive was the kind that wins games: Nine plays, 59 yards, 7 for 7 passing and the longest play in the drive is the first, a 12-yard run by Reggie Bush. Both teams have missed scoring changes, with the Saints leaving points on the field after failing on fourth down in the second quarter and Stover missing that field goal moments ago. More and more this looks like a game that could come down to the last possession, or overtime. Can Manning do something memorable, or is this the Saints’ year? — Tom Jolly
Update | 9:20 p.m. Was it right to go for 2? Even the old-school chart that Dick Vermeil created said you go for it. New thinking would also agree … Judy Battista broke down the whole issue last week.
Update | 9:10 p.m. Stover’s missed field goal wastes the Colts’ successful gamble on fourth-and-2. I thought the fourth quarter would be an enormous challenge for the Saints’ defense, because the Colts’ up-tempo attack tends to wear down opponents and they then pull away in the final minutes. But the Saints’ offense has been an enormous help by hanging onto the ball for extended periods, even if they have only been able to score one touchdown. Since the first quarter, the Saints have had the ball for more than 20 minutes while the Colts have had it for just over 10. — Tom Jolly
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