Super Bowl XLIV was another thriller, as the underdog New Orleans Saints rallied from a 10-point deficit to pull off a 31–17 upset of the Indianapolis Colts at Sun Life Stadium in South Florida.

Athlon Sports was there, as respected South Florida sports photographer Tom DiPace documented the action from the field.

Riverboat gambling Saints coach Sean Payton — who called for an “ambush” onside kick to open the second half — raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning the first Super Bowl in the franchise’s 43-year history in only his fourth year on the job.

Meanwhile, quarterback Drew Brees and owner Tom Benson bask in the afterglow of an emotional victory for the team, its fans, the city of New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricane Katrina only five years ago.

Brees was deserving of Super Bowl XLIV MVP honors after completing a Super Bowl record-tying 32-of-39 passes for the second-highest completion percentage (82.1) in the game’s history, accounting for 288 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

In his fourth season with the Saints, the ninth-year veteran out of Purdue completed 72-of-102 passes for 732 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions in the playoffs while defeating three quarterbacks — Arizona’s Kurt Warner, Minnesota’s Brett Favre and Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning — who have a combined three Super Bowl wins and nine MVP awards.

Colts linebacker Gary Brackett dives for Saints triple threat Reggie Bush. But as was the case all night, Indy was just short of making the play. While Colts sack artist Dwight Freeney played well in the first half — recording a highlight reel one-handed sack — he was slowed by the most talked about ankle in sports during the second half.

Bush, however, was limited to five carries for 25 yards and four catches for 38 yards, as backfield mate Pierre Thomas had nine carries for 30 yards and six grabs for 55 yards and a 16-yard touchdown on a well-designed screen.

The former Heisman Trophy winner — who, coincidentally, also arrived in the Big Easy the same year as Payton and Brees — received most of his screen time while noticeably absent from the field at the goal line late in the first half. But there are no shortage of Bush postgame pics, when girlfriend Kim Kardashian backed her way into the frame.

After a successful onside kick from kickoff specialist Thomas Morstead — who teamed with kicker Garrett Hartley, the first man in Super Bowl history to convert three field goals of 40 yards or longer, to give New Orleans a definite edge on special teams — the Saints took a 22–17 lead on a 2-yard pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey, who was on the IR when his Giants upset the 18–0 Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago.

This 2-point conversion grab by Lance Moore was called incomplete on the field. But following a red flag coach’s challenge by Payton and a video replay — which confirmed that Moore indeed had possession of the football across the goal line before Colts corner Jacob Lacey knocked the ball out of his hands — the call was overturned and the Saints took a 24–17 lead with 5:42 remaining.

Playing against his father Archie’s former team, New Orleans native and Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning completed 31-of-45 passes for 333 yards, one touchdown and one extremely costly interception in defeat.

In two Super Bowls, Manning has completed 56-of-83 passes for 580 yards, two scores, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and one lost fumble, defeating the Bears 29–17 in Super Bowl XLI and losing to the Saints on Sunday night.

New Orleans did a good job of limiting Manning’s time of possession, keeping No. 18 off the field for all but 2:34 in the second quarter and away from the ball entirely for roughly 45 real-time minutes spanning the end of the first half, The Who performance at the break and the start of the third quarter following the unexpected onside kick recovery.

While Brees and Manning owned the pregame, the best clutch performance came from Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, a Port Allen, La., native and Indiana alum. For the second consecutive game, a Porter fourth-quarter interception sparked a Big Easy victory.

Porter picked off what may or may not be Brett Favre’s final pass — probably not, since Favre will be league MVP in 2020 according to one commercial that didn’t include a talking baby (Doritos or the new E-Trader) or a talk show feud reference (David Letterman, Oprah and Jay Leno) — in the NFC Championship Game.

Two weeks later, the man with the Superdome, a picture of the Lombardi Trophy and “SB44” cut into a design on the back and sides of his head by an equally skilled barber, made an even bigger play. After coordinator Gregg Williams brought a blitz package, Manning threw the ball a little too far inside, where Porter jumped Reggie Wayne’s route and went 74 yards to the house for the third-longest interception return in Super Bowl history and the biggest play of this year’s game.

Trailing 31–17 with 3:12 remaining, the Indy 500 offense attempted to get it in gear. Instead, the Colts moved the ball to the Saints 3-yard-line before stalling out. Joseph Addai was stopped for a two-yard loss by the Saints’ 600-plus-pound wall of Sedrick Ellis and Anthony Hargrove on 3rd-and-Goal before Wayne dropped what appeared to be a catchable ball in the end zone on fourth down to end any longshot comeback chances.

Unfortunately for the Colts, the Addai stop and Wayne drop weren’t the only miscues of that nature. Late in the second quarter, Mike Hart was stopped on a 3rd-and-1 run up the middle, forcing a three-and-out punt after the Indy defense had forced New Orleans into a turnover on downs at the goal line. Also, in what former Colts coach Tony Dungy called the “turning point” of the game on The Dan Patrick Show, receiver Pierre Garcon dropped a key pass on third down in the second quarter to end a potential scoring drive.

Although the game was close until the end, the 14-point New Orleans victory was the widest margin in a Super Bowl since the Buccaneers defeated the Raiders 48–21 seven years ago in Super Bowl XXXVII.

With the confetti dropping, Brees celebrated his first Super Bowl victory with his firstborn son, Baylen Robert, who was born on Jan. 15, 2009, which also happens to be his Who Dat daddy’s birthday. After the biggest win in Saints history, the one-year-old isn’t old enough to hit the French Quarter for the pandemonium of an extended Super Mardi Gras celebration; but he can still enjoy a trip to Disney World.