The New Orleans Saints managed what many thought was near impossible, slow down the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. Story lines and platitudes were heaped high on the side of Colts GM Bill Polian and his team blueprint. And really it wasn't very difficult for gridiron fans to grasp why, with a high-octane offence led by arguably this generation's best quarterback in Manning. The only flaw in the script, nobody told the Saints and Drew Brees and the legions of fans who travelled to Miami for the chance to witness history.

The Globe and Mail's David Naylor says the Saints franchise suffered through many lean years, where they wandered proverbially through the desert, but in order to capture their first Vince Lombardi trophy they had to run the gauntlet of quarterbacks destined for enshrinement in Canton, Ohio, and a prodigal son. "Not only did Saints fans have to wait more than four decades for their first Super Bowl win, but they did so travelling a playoff road that included knocking off three consecutive potential Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. There was irony in this game in that the player the Saints had to stop was a son of New Orleans, with Manning having grown up there when his father was the quarterback of some of those woeful teams of the past."

Without a doubt, the tenor of the game changed in the opening moments of the second half when New Orleans eschewed convention and perhaps sanity and tried an onside kick. ESPN's Pat Yasinskas recounts the aggressive roll of the dice by New Orleans' coach Sean Payton: "That play, more than anything else that happened Sunday night, is going to symbolize how the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium." Some might argue that Payton is nothing but a riverboat gambler, parading as a football coach, however, Yasinskas counters that all of the risks were "well calculated," even the off-season decision to hire one time Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams as his defensive coordinator.

Payton's real leap came after last season when it became painfully obvious he had a great offense, but absolutely no defense. He fired defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs and got Gregg Williams. Once upon a time, Williams had a reputation as a great defensive mind. That got sullied during stints as a head coach in Buffalo and as a coordinator in Washington and Jacksonville. There were also whispers about how Williams could be a bit of a self-promoter and more style than substance. Payton threw out $250,000 of his own salary to make sure the Saints got Williams. It turned out to be the best bet he ever made.

In Sports Illustrated, Don Banks writes that Drew Brees not only out-quarterbacked Peyton Manning, but helped engineer a victory with one of the most skilled performances ever on the biggest NFL stage.

Perhaps even more significant than outplaying the regular season MVP, is the redemption Brees and his family found in Louisiana. "Four years ago, whoever thought this would be happening?" quarterback Drew Brees said. "Eighty-five percent of the city was under water. All of the residents evacuated across the county. Most people not knowing if New Orleans could ever come back or if the organization or team would ever come back."

Brees has described signing with the Saints, after the 2005 season, as a calling. He moved his family to the city and has devoted himself to helping it recover. At the same time, he has made himself one of the league's elite quarterbacks — he was the runner-up to Manning for the league's Most Valuable Player award this season — and he was almost perfect in the final three quarters of Sunday's game.

In the Indianapolis Star, Bob Kravitz ponders the Colts decision to abandon their chase for perfection and opt instead for the chance to hold the Vince Lombardi Trophy. And although he opines that the Colts choices might have angered the football gods, in fact, Kravitz concedes the Saints were the better team.

All that said, where does Sunday's crushing loss leave Peyton Manning in the pantheon of quarterbacks? Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated tackles the weighty subject and notes this failure is another in a long string of flops for Manning on the big stage. Indeed, no one is debating his acumen with the pigskin, however, observers will once again question his place among the greats and point to the likes of Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Otto Graham and the championship banners that they raised.

Almost five years ago, Hurricane Katrina nearly broke the back of New Orleans, now thanks to the New Orleans Saints, a team of destiny, the southern city has reason to smile again. Who dat, who dat, who dat say gonna beat dem Saints? Nobody!

That said, given what transpired Sunday night and if you take into account all the press and hype surrounding the game: do you believe that Peyton Manning choked in Super Bowl XLIV or Drew Brees simply outplayed him?

What say you Fadoo?

Saints ‘win dat' Super Bowl [The Globe and Mail]

Well-calculated gambles by Payton [ESPN]

Champs? The Saints, Dat's Who [New York Times]