Put away those paper bags forever. Drew Brees and the Saints are NFL champions, rallying to upset Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 last night in one of pro football's most thrilling title games.

Brees tied a Super Bowl record with 32 completions, the last a two-yard slant to Jeremy Shockey for the winning points with 5:42 remaining. The Pro Bowl quarterback was chosen Super Bowl MVP.

"We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us," Brees said. "What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time and it's better than expected."

A surprise onside kick sparked the Saints' second-half comeback. Their 25th-ranked defence made several key stops, and Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return on a pass from Manning, of all people, clinched it.

Manning gave futile chase, but was blocked by a New Orleans defender and fell awkwardly as the cornerback raced by. The four-time NFL MVP forlornly walked to the sideline as the Big Easy celebrations began. Who would have thought the biggest mistake of the game would have come from Manning?

"It's time for the Saints to celebrate," he said. "It's their field and it's their championship."

An NFL embarrassment for much of their 43 years, the Saints' football renaissance, led by Brees and coach Sean Payton, climaxed with Shockey's touchdown and Lance Moore's two-point conversion catch. The conversion pass originally was ruled incomplete, but Payton challenged the call and won.

Porter's pick, just as dramatic as his interception of Brett Favre's pass to force overtime in the NFC title game, was the game's only turnover. It's one Manning will forever regret.

The Saints (16-3) won three post-season games this winter after winning only two in the previous 42 years. They beat Arizona, Minnesota and Indianapolis (16-3) -- all division winners -- for their first title, scoring 107 points and allowing only 59.

The championship came 4 1/2 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, making the Saints nomads for the 2005 season. There even was some doubt they would return, but the NFL refused to abandon the Big Easy. The Superdome was rebuilt and the Saints won the NFC South in '06, their first season with Brees and Payton.

That was the season Manning won his only Super Bowl. He had the Colts, favoured by five points, in front for much of this one, but New Orleans' league-leading offence, which scored 510 points this season, outscored Indy 31-7 after falling behind 10-0. That matched the biggest comeback in a Super Bowl.

Payton held the Vince Lombardi Trophy high over his head and ran into the end zone toward several hundred fans chanting the Saints' rally cry: "Who dat, who dat, who dat say gonna beat dem Saints?"

Nobody can say it now.

"Everybody back in New Orleans gets a piece of this trophy," he said.

"I think I could kiss him," owner Tom Benson said.

Super Bowl Notes

NEW YORK Super Bowl viewers were rubbing their eyes over a TV spot pairing CBS late-night host David Letterman with longtime NBC rival Jay Leno, plus Oprah Winfrey. Aired yesterday in the CBS-aired game, the ad depicted Letterman and Leno glumly sharing a couch watching the Super Bowl, with Winfrey between them trying to make peace. The spot, which was not aired in Canada on CTV's simulcast, revisits a promo from the 2007 Super Bowl with Letterman and Winfrey watching the big game. In the new spot, Letterman grumbles: "This is the worst Super Bowl party ever." Leno replies that Dave's "just saying that because I'm here."

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MIAMI No other sporting event in the United States qualifies as a national holiday. No other sparks watch parties or want-to-be-watched parties in so many cities unconnected to the event.

The following day might be the least productive for U.S. businesses, considering the time given over to discussing the game, the halftime show and the commercials, and not necessarily in that order.

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NEW ORLEANS Dogs dressed in Saints jerseys and gaudy floats carrying masked riders provided a rolling pre-game tailgate party for thousands as New Orleans started partying long before the Super Bowl kicked off.

The game fell on the first weekend of Carnival season parades, and most who came to watch the floats and marching bands wore the black and gold team colours of the Saints.