On Sunday night, with a quarterback who had hitched his career to resurrecting the Saints and New Orleans together playing nearly flawlessly, the Saints gave New Orleans a reason to do what it does better than any other American city: celebrate. In the franchise’s first Super Bowl, the Saints upset theIndianapolis Colts, 31-17, sending New Orleanians into the streets for a party. “Who Dat?” the fans of the Saints ask. They are the champions. The play that sealed the victory, a comeback from a 10-0 deficit, came at the expense of a New Orleans native. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the son of the beloved former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, was intercepted by Saints cornerback Tracy Porter when the Saints blitzed him on third down and Porter jumped in front of the intended receiver Reggie Wayne. Porter returned the interception 74 yards for the clinching touchdown. But it was Drew Brees, who has devoted himself to helping New Orleans recover while making himself into one of the N.F.L.’s elite quarterbacks, who was almost perfect in the final three quarters of the game. Brees, like the rest of the league’s signal-callers, stands in the shadow of Manning in the hierarchy of great quarterbacks. But he was 8 of 8 on the touchdown drive that gave the Saints a fourth-quarter lead, completing the 2-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, the formerGiants tight end who watched them win the Super Bowl two years ago from a luxury box. And then, with luck on their side after so many years, the Saints won an instant-replay challenge on the 2-point conversion. The on-field ruling was reversed when video showed that Lance Moore had caught the ball after initially bobbling it to put the Saints ahead by 7 points, 24-17. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/sports/football/08super.html
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