Fourth quarter, 0:44, Saints, 31-17: Ball. Game. Over. Peyton Manning's fourth-down pass went through Reggie Wayne's hands, and the Saints get the ball back and will line up in the victory formation. Ladies and gentlemen, the New Orleans Saints are your Super Bowl XLIV champions.
Fourth quarter, 3:12, Saints, 31-17: Tracy Porter might have ended Brett Favre's career, and he just destroyed Peyton Manning's legacy-deciding drive. Porter picked off Manning and screamed 74 yards down the field for a touchdown. Simply amazing. We've spent two weeks praising Manning and Drew Brees, but a defensive play by Porter might be on highlight reels forever. And that's why we love sports.
Fourth quarter, 5:42, Saints, 24-17: Drew Brees hit Jeremy Shockey on a two-yard slant for the go-ahead touchdown, but the two-point conversion failed when Lance Moore dropped the ball by the right pylon. This is setting up Peyton Manning for a career-defining drive. Joe Montana has them. John Elway has them. Tom Brady has them. Now, it's Peyton's turn.
(Update: Apparently, players no longer have to maintain possession all the way through the catch. The Saints challenged the ruling on Lance Moore's two-pointer, and the referees awarded Moore's catch and successful two-point conversion. Hey, the refs knew about the tuck rule before any of us. Maybe they're onto something here, too.)
Fourth quarter, 10:39, Colts, 17-16: There is the Colts' first mistake of the evening, as Matt Stover hooks a 51-yard field-goal attempt. It keeps points off the board, and it gives the Saints great field position at their own 41-yard line. I'll say this, though: The Saints need to come down with a touchdown and a two-point conversion on this drive, because Peyton Manning will find the end zone at least once more before he's done.
Fourth quarter, 12:30, Colts, 17-16: There's something about the Colts and fourth-and-2, isn't there? Jim Caldwell was aggressive on fourth-and-2 from the New Orleans 46-yard line, and Peyton Manning hits Reggie Wayne for 16 yards on a quick slant to keep the drive alive.
End of third quarter, Colts, 17-16: Peyton Manning and the Colts have the ball back, and they're putting another drive together. We haven't gotten the high-scoring affair we might have anticipated, but this has still been a great game. The scoring doesn't figure to pick up, either, as each team will try to extend its possessions as much as possible. The team with the ball last is probably going to win Super Bowl XLIV.
Third quarter, 2:01, Colts, 17-16: During a postseason in which kickers just can't get out of their own way, Garrett Hartley is making a name for himself. Hartley booted a 47-yard field goal to draw the Saints within a point. As accurate as Drew Brees has been in this game, he's been a little conservative, choosing to exploit the short passing game instead of going long. The strategy has obviously kept the Saints in this game, but it's not how the Saints got to this point.
Third quarter, 6:15, Colts, 17-13: Defenses don't typically fare well when they can't tackle. Joseph Addai scores on a four-yard touchdown run, and the Colts quickly jump back on top after a less-than-stellar defensive series by the Saints.
Third quarter, 11:33, Saints, 13-10: The Colts are a little more prepared on that kickoff. You could see them pause for an extra second before turning to run down the field.
Third quarter, 11:41, Saints, 13-10: Pierre Thomas is great on screen plays, and he just took a 16-yard screen pass for a touchdown that capped off the most exciting four minutes of this game. Thomas made a handful of Colts miss a tackle, managed to stay on his feet and found the end zone to help the Saints erase a 10-point deficit.
Third quarter, 13:40, Colts, 10-6: Now that I think about it, how was this not covered in the Colts' locker room? They had a half-hour at halftime, and it only takes about five seconds for head coach Jim Caldwell to say, "Hey, watch out for the onside kick." Judging by how quickly the Colts' front line turned to run down the field on the kickoff, it either wasn't addressed, or they tuned out the message.
Third quarter, 14:59, Colts, 10-6: Sean Payton took his adventurous pills Sunday night, and the Saints open the second half with an onside kick. Hank Baskett had a chance to recover it for the Colts, but someone probably yelled something about his celebrity wife and he muffed the ball. New Orleans takes over with a chance to take its first lead of the game.
Halftime, Colts, 10-6: Garrett Hartley calmly kicks a 44-yard field goal as time expires in the first half, and the Saints get a minor moral victory after stalling on the goal line in their previous possession.
For the record, I hated Sean Payton's decision to keep the offense on the field with 11 seconds to play and no timeouts remaining. There were way too many things that could have gone wrong in that situation, and the likelihood of scoring a 27-yard touchdown against a prevent defense is none-to-impossible.
Second quarter, 1:49, Colts, 10-3: It's easy to say in hindsight, but the points are always a good choice in the second quarter. I can understand going for it on fourth down, though, as Peyton Manning is at his best before the half and the Colts will get the second-half kickoff. However, the Saints ran it off the right tackle for the second consecutive play, and they didn't have enough blockers on that side of the ball to stop Indy's penetration into the backfield. Pierre Thomas was stopped for no gain, and the Saints remain up against it.
Second quarter, 1:55, Colts, 10-3: Not sure why Mike Bell was in to get his second carry of the game on a key third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Saints ran off the right tackle, which worked earlier in the drive, but it's just too much ground to cover against this speedy Colts defense. Bell fell short of the end zone.
Second quarter, 8:14, Colts, 10-3: Big break for the Saints as Pierre Garcon drops a third-down pass. Apparently, Garcon has a human side. On another note, imagine how nasty the Jets' defense would have been with Jonathan Vilma and David Harris as their two middle linebackers? Phew.
Second quarter, 9:34, Colts, 10-3: Garrett Hartley's 46-yard boot gets the Saints on the board, but New Orleans has to be a little disheartened after the drive stalled because of Dwight Freeney's third-down sack. Freeney wasn't double-teamed on the play, but I don't really blame the Saints for that strategy. He hasn't been forceful enough to warrant two blockers yet. That could change now, though.
Second quarter, 13:41, Colts, 10-0: Memo to the Saints: No one can run outside on the Colts defense. However, Philip Wheeler's late hit may have awoken the sleeping Saints. Wheeler loves to get into it after the play, and he costs the Colts there.
End of first quarter, Colts, 10-0: The Colts continue to play stout on their kickoff coverage, and a holding penalty keeps the Saints pinned deep, as they start — what could be — the biggest drive of their season.
First quarter, 0:36, Colts, 10-0: Safety Usama Young tries to bump Pierre Garcon at the line and gets himself completely turned around. And with that, every secondary coach in the NFL collectively puked at Young's poor technique. Garcon gets open on a fly route and catches a 19-yard touchdown pass to extend the Colts' lead.
First quarter, 4:29, Colts, 3-0: One member of the Patriots told me a couple weeks ago that teams try to invite the Colts to run the ball. That's what New Orleans is doing with its 3-4 base, and it just got burnt on a long gain by Joseph Addai. On the next play, the Saints go back to the 4-3.
First quarter, 5:12, Colts, 3-0: One thing is clear right now: The New Orleans offensive line must do a better job of staving off the Colts' four-man pass rush. Drew Brees is looking a little jittery in the pocket, and the Colts secondary is too comfortable. New Orleans punts for the second consecutive series, and the Colts start at their own four-yard line.
First quarter, 6:00, Colts, 3-0: The Saints offense really established early momentum with a pair of third-down conversions against the Cardinals and Vikings. Maybe that 16-yard pass to Reggie Bush will get them going here.
First quarter, 7:29, Colts, 3-0: Matt Stover knocks home a 38-yard field goal to cap off a good drive by the Colts. Peyton Manning relied mostly on short passes against New Orleans' sub defense, which led to a handful of third downs.
First quarter, 10:37, 0-0: Interesting, the Saints have played with three down linemen so far, which is different from their traditional base with four down linemen. Remi Ayodele is the defensive tackle who has been taken off the field in favor of an extra linebacker or defensive back. It's given the Saints more speed in the defensive backfield, but they haven't generated a pass rush or done a good job of covering Indy's receivers. A similar strategy worked early for the Jets in the AFC championship game, but Peyton Manning eventually found his stride and picked them apart.
First quarter, 13:22, 0-0: Mixed feelings for the Colts. They force the Saints to a three-and-out, but Dwight Freeney wasn't on the field for third down. He looked a little slow on the first two downs. Maybe he's fighting it a little too much.
First quarter, 14:55, 0-0: The Colts successfully tackled Courtney Roby, so they're off to a better start than their previous Super Bowl appearance. By the way, the Saints fell behind 7-0 in their first two playoff games, so they've obviously got a chance to start out with the lead here. And Dwight Freeney is on the field for Indy.
6:30 p.m.: The Saints called heads and won the toss. They have elected to receive. Remember, the Bears took the opening kickoff for a touchdown against the Colts in the Super Bowl three years ago. And second side note, referee Scott Green was the back judge in Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII, which were both won by the Patriots.
6:03 p.m.: I really do believe the Saints are a much more complete team than the Colts, but Peyton Manning has single-handedly won plenty of games in his career. If the Saints avoid putting themselves in a hole with turnovers, they should be able to take care of business Sunday night. Since everyone else has made their prediction known, I feel obliged to take the Saints, 35-27. Red-zone efficiency will be the difference.
4:47 p.m.: Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney will be in the starting lineup, according to reports. Am I the only one who sensed this story was a little overblown — perhaps generated by the Colts — all week? As soon as he walked to media day wearing sandals and no ankle protection, it seemed a little obvious Freeney would be playing in this game.
1:25 p.m.: We're about to find out if it's indeed possible that such an exciting matchup can live up to two weeks worth of hype.
The Colts and Saints are merely hours away from a high-octane Super Bowl showdown in Miami. Stay with NESN.com throughout the day for more analysis than you can fit on a buffet table.
