Saints Top Colts 31-17 To Win Super Bowl 44

Behind an MVP performance from quarterback Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints captured their first ever title last night, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.

Brees, who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards, threw two touchdown passes, including a 2-yarder to Jeremy Shockey with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter to give New Orleans a 22-17 lead. Brees then connected with Lance Moore for a two-point conversion that extended the lead to seven.

Future Hall of Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning then drove the Colts down the field, but with the ball at the New Orleans 30-yard line, his pass intended for Reggie Wayne was picked off by Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, who returned it 74 yards for the score. Down 31-17, Manning again took the Colts down the field, but with just under one minute to go his pass for Wayne fell incomplete on fourth down, giving the Saints the ball and the win.

"We play for so much more than ourselves," said Brees after the game. "We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region. We played for the entire 'Who Dat' nation that has been behind us every step of the way."

Tuesday Sports Roundup

By Benny Martinez-University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Thanks to the New York Jets, Cinderella is still alive in the National Football League (NFL) playoffs. The Jets, led by a strong running game and an equally impressive defensive performance, shocked the home-team San Diego Chargers yesterday 17-14. New York will visit the No. 1 seed Indianapolis Colts in the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship game on Sunday. The game is a rematch of a Week 16 regular season contest in which the Jets handed the previously unbeaten Colts their first loss of the season...

In two lopsided National Football Conference (NFC) playoff games over the weekend, the Minnesota Vikings blasted the Dallas Cowboys 34-3, while the New Orleans Saints walked all over the visiting Arizona Cardinals 45-14. In what figures to be a high-scoring battle, the Vikings will visit New Orleans in the NFC Championship game on Sunday. The winners of both conference championships will square off in Super Bowl XLIV on February 7...

The No.1 Texas Longhorns were stunned yesterday by the No. 10 Kansas State Wildcats in one of the biggest upsets of the year in men's college basketball. The Wildcats recently broke into the top-ten in the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll. The 71-62 upset marks Texas’ first loss of the season...

In boxing, Welterweight titleholder Andre Berto has pulled out of his January 30 unification fight against “Sugar” Shane Mosley. Berto, a Haitian-American, lost eight family members as a result of the earthquake that devastated Haiti one week ago. “As a result of this disaster, I am mentally and physically exhausted and, therefore, I have no choice but to withdraw,” Berto said. Withdrawing from the fight opens the door for a possible title bout between Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which could happen as early as this spring sources say...