Super Bowl 44 XLIV Saints Colts Gold Ticket Stub Drew Brees MVP Peyton Manning.
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of 31–17, earning their first Super Bowl win. The game was played at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida, for the fifth time (and in South Florida for the tenth time), on February 7, 2010, which was the latest calendar date for a Super Bowl until Super Bowl LVI in 2022.
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV logo
New Orleans Saints (1)
(NFC)
(13–3) Indianapolis Colts (1)
(AFC)
(14–2)
31 17
Head coach:
Sean Payton Head coach:
Jim Caldwell
1 2 3 4 Total
NO 0 6 10 15 31
IND 10 0 7 0 17
Date
February 7, 2010
Stadium
Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
MVP
Drew Brees, quarterback[1]
Favorite
Colts by 5[2][3]
Referee
Scott Green
Attendance
74,059[4]
Current/Future Hall of Famers
Saints: Drew Brees
Colts: Bill Polian (general manager), Peyton Manning
Ceremonies
National anthem
Carrie Underwood[5]
Coin toss
Emmitt Smith, representing the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame class
Halftime show
The Who
TV in the United States
Network
CBS
Announcers
Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots
Nielsen ratings
45.0 (national)[6]
56.3 (New Orleans)
54.2 (Indianapolis)
US viewership: 106.5 million est. avg., 153.4 million est. total[7]
Market share
68 (national)
82 (New Orleans)
80 (Indianapolis)
Cost of 30-second commercial
$2.5 – $2.8 million[8]
Radio in the United States
Network
Westwood One
Announcers
Marv Albert, Boomer Esiason, James Lofton and Mark Malone
← XLIII Super Bowl XLV →
This was the Saints' first Super Bowl appearance and the fourth for the Colts franchise, their second appearance in four seasons. The Saints entered the game with a 13–3 record for the 2009 regular season, compared to the Colts' 14–2 record. In the playoff games, both teams placed first in their respective conferences, marking the first time since Super Bowl XXVIII (16 years previously) that both number-one seeds have reached the Super Bowl. The Colts entered the Super Bowl off victories over the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, while the Saints advanced after defeating the previous year's runners up, the Arizona Cardinals, and then overcoming the Minnesota Vikings in the Conference Championship. It was also the first time both teams started with a 13-game winning streak.
New Orleans was behind 10–6 at halftime of Super Bowl XLIV. During a play many consider the turning point of the game, New Orleans recovered the ball on a surprise onside kick which was also the second half kickoff. They got their first lead of the game with Pierre Thomas's 16-yard touchdown reception. The Colts responded with Joseph Addai's 4-yard touchdown run to regain the lead at 17–13. The Saints then scored 18 unanswered points, including Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return for a touchdown, to clinch the victory. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns, was named the Super Bowl MVP.[1][9] His 32 completions tied a Super Bowl record set by Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
The live broadcast of the game on CBS was watched by an average U.S. audience of 106.5 million viewers, making it then the most-watched Super Bowl.[7] The National Anthem was sung by Carrie Underwood, and the halftime show featured the British rock band The Who. Super Bowl XLIV was the last Super Bowl to have a uniquely designed logo as its predecessors had: starting with Super Bowl XLV, the logo was permanently settled to bear the Vince Lombardi Trophy and the Roman numerals denoting the edition of the game. This is also the earliest Super Bowl in which neither team has since re-appeared.