Super Bowl: New Orleans Saints beat Indianapolis Colts 31 to 17
Rather than punt the ball upfield, rookie Thomas Morstead sent a short kick along the ground the minimum 10 yards in a bid to snaffle possession rather than turn the ball over to the Colts. Payton’s gamble paid off as the ball bounced off the shoulder of Colts back-up wide receiver Hank Baskett and was pounced on by the Saints’ Jonathan Casillas to give New Orleans the platform for a Pierre Thomas touchdown at the start of the half.
"Our coach is unbelievable," Brees said. "Not only as an offensive guru, an aggressive, confident play-caller who can instil all that into his players, but as a guy who has to manage so much.
"He does it with class and there’s nobody that I wanted to win this championship for more than Sean Payton."
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, in his first year after taking over from mentor Tony Dungy, had seen his team’s chances of victory effectively ended when a pass from quarterback Peyton Manning had been picked for a 74-yard interception touchdown by Tracy Porter in the fourth quarter, yet he refused to pinpoint that moment as the key to defeat.
"I’m not certain it comes down to one play," Caldwell said. "There were a lot of things throughout the game that created some problems and obviously the onside kick was a situation that really got them going when they were able to go down and get a score.
"So I don’t think it boils down to just one play. We were missing a little bit and weren’t quite as sharp as we would have liked but we’ve got to give all credit to the Saints.
"They did a heck of a good job, played well all year long, are an outstanding football team and well coached."
