New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley drilled a 40-yard field goal straight through the middle of the uprights in overtime to send the Saints to their first ever Super Bowl with a 28-31 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings had plenty of chances all game to put the Saints away but continued to turn the ball over with the most painful coming from Quarterback Brett Favre who threw an interception with 12 seconds left deep in Saints territory. The hungry Saints defense harassed and beat up on old man Favre and kept its team in the hunt all game by forcing six fumbles and two interceptions.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw three touchdowns while Vikings Wide Receiver Bernard Berrian stepped up to the plate with 102 receiving yards taking advantage of the Saints focus on the other Vikings Receiving weapons Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin.
In todays earlier game, NFL MVP Peyton Manning continued his dominance leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 30-17 win over the underdog New York Jets.
As expected the NFL’s most hyped cornerback Darelle Revis, shutdown Colts Number One Wide Receiver Reggie Wayne, but it did not phase Manning who threw for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Despite the Jets best efforts to dial up numerous blitzes and schemes, Manning was just too good as he continually found his emerging young receivers Pierre Garcon (151 yards, 1 TD) and Austin Collie (123 yards, 1 TD).
The Colts defense totally shut down the Jets high powered running game to only 86 total yards and helped the Colts progress to their second Super Bowl appearance in four seasons.
This means that both the NFC and AFC number one seeds (teams with the best record in each conference) will progress to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1993 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 30-13.
For those who don’t know the NFL Pro Bowl All Star Game will be played next week and then the week after that on February 8 at 11am (Australian Time) Super Bowl XLIV will be played in South Florida.
