One decision. One lousy decision.Peyton Manning will regret it for the rest of his life, while Saints fans will have it on repeat in their minds forever.Hell froze over Sunday night as the Saints shocked not only the entire nation, but more importantly myself, when Saints cornerback Tracy Porter returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown to send Bourbon Street into mayhem. Smiles as wide as the Mississippi River and tears of joy Sunday night spanned from New Orleans to Miami.The Saints organization, New Orleanians, Louisianians and Saints fans around the globe popped everything from Cristal to Grey Goose, celebrating the first championship in their 43-year existence.And it all came as a surprise.The Colts entered the game as one of the most dominant teams in the NFL in the last decade.Indianapolis quietly strung together an NFL-record seven consecutive 12-plus winning seasons and totaled 115 wins during the 2000s.Their leader, Peyton Manning, is 131-61 as the Colts’ starter and has won 89 games the last seven years, including a Super Bowl title, a Super Bowl MVP and four MVP trophies.None of that mattered Sunday night.The Saints proved to be overmatched to start the game as the Colts ended the first quarter with a 96-yard scoring drive capped by a 19-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Pierre Garcon.The strike from Manning to Garcon was preceded by a 26-yard scamper by Addai, which included a juke that dropped Saints safety Darren Sharper’s undergarments quicker than Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction.The Colts defense stuffed Pierre Thomas on fourth and goal from inside the 2-yard line, deflating any momentum the Saints and their fans had.As The Who performed at halftime, I sat and wondered what was more impressive to that point: the Saints’ miserable attempt to score a touchdown or guitarist Pete Townshend windmilling with more force than a vintage Vince Carter dunk.Saints coach Sean Payton and his staff must have heard my thoughts because they came out of the locker room ready to pull all the tricks out of the bag.Payton took a page from Les Miles’ playbook to start the second half, calling the first onside kick prior to the fourth quarter in NFL history, and the rest was history — literally.My biggest concern heading into the game, like most fans’, was the Saints defense, which had been skeptical all year.Gregg Williams’ game plan for the Colts to beat them with the running attack worked, regularly dropping five and six defenders into zone coverage to offset the Colts’ potent air attack.Manning finished with 333 passing yards, but the Saints defense limited Colts receivers to almost no yards after the catch, and most of Manning’s yards came when the game was out of reach.It was the Colts defense who regularly looked out of sync against the prolific attack of Brees and company.The Saints’ rushing game was nonexistent, but that didn’t matter either.Brees picked apart the Colts’ defense to the tune of 288 yards and two touchdowns, not to mention completing 82 percent of his passes.His performance during the last month will be forever etched in the minds of not only Saints fans, but fans of all kinds.Brees, who was rightfully named Super Bowl MVP, knocked off future Hall of Famers Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Manning en route to the Lombardi Trophy.Warner, Favre and Manning — not too shabby, Drew.The Saints have done it, people. They have proved the naysayers wrong — including me. Those feelings of hatred, disappointment, sorrow and grief bottled up in Saints fans’ minds vanished into the air Sunday night in Miami.The Saints have won a Super Bowl.And I’m still surprised it happened.
 
 
 
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