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ALL SAINTS’ DAY

Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17

The New Orleans Saints, for decades the NFL’s lovable losers, used the biggest stage Sunday to answer the question their fans have been asking for 43 years.

Who Dat think they gonna beat them Saints?

The answer: Nobody.

The unbelievable is a reality. The unthinkable has come true. The Saints reached the NFL mountaintop Sunday, knocking off the mighty Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium.

“Louisiana, by the way of New Orleans, is back!” said Saints owner Tom Benson, standing on a midfield platform and lifting the Lombardi Trophy over his head. “And this shows the whole world!”

The Saints sealed the deal in dramatic fashion, with cornerback Tracy Porter intercepting a Peyton Manning pass and returning it 74 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes, 12 seconds to play.

That was the only turnover in an otherwise brilliant game pitting the league’s two top quarterbacks, Manning and Drew Brees.

Brees was named the game’s most valuable player, having completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 with two touchdowns.

The victory marked the greatest moment in the sports history of New Orleans, a city ravaged by the effects of Hurricane Katrina five years ago.

“We had the entire city — and maybe even the entire country — behind us,” Brees said. For Porter, it was the second huge play in as many games. He intercepted Brett Favre’s pass at the end of regulation to set up the Saints’ overtime victory over Minnesota in the NFC championship game.

Porter attributed his pivotal play to “great film study by me, a great jump and a great play.”

It meant the world to him, and maybe even more to his home state.

“Words can’t describe how much this means for New Orleans,” he said. “I am a Louisiana native, and this is real big.”