the new orleans saints beat the indianapolis colts in the super bowl.
the new orleans saints beat the indianapolis colts in the super bowl.
who did the new orleans saints beat in the super bowl?
indianapolis colts
the saints began their season with a loss against the green bay packers, but the team rebounded for the next four weeks to bring their record to 4–1. a loss to the tampa bay buccaneers brought the record to 4–2, but the team bounced back with a 62–7 blowout win against the struggling indianapolis colts. a surprise loss to the st. louis rams resulted in the record dropping to 5–3. in the next seven weeks the saints beat talented teams such as the eventual super bowl xlvi champion new york giants, detroit lions, and atlanta falcons, bringing their season record to 12–3. to cap off the season, quarterback drew brees broke the single season passing record held for over 25 years, on the way to a saints division winning game. the saints won the nfc south title on december 26 and ended the 2011 season as the third seed in the nfc. they finished with a 13–3 record, beating carolina 45–17 and also giving running back darren sproles the record for most all-purpose yards in a single season. the team broke numerous records that year including most yards in a season, completion percentage, yards passing, completions and more. the new orleans saints beat the detroit lions in the 2011 nfc wild-card playoff game 45–28. new orleans also tied the nfl's postseason mark for team first downs in a game (34), and broke the record for total yards with 626, eclipsing the yardage record set 49 years ago. the saints lost saturday, january 14, 2012, in the divisional round in the playoffs against the san francisco 49ers in candlestick park. a game that was considered an instant classic by many as the game saw numerous lead changes in the final four minutes of play.
new orleans saints
in 2011, new orleans played in the season opener for the second year in a row, but this time in green bay as guests of the defending champion packers. the saints struggled, as the packers quickly marched out to two touchdowns, but regained their composure in a wild shootout. green bay never lost their lead however, and went on to win the game 42-34 after stopping saints rookie running back mark ingram on the 1-yard line as time expired. opening at home in week 2, the saints easily beat chicago 30-13, then won another shootout against the houston texans. although new orleans' defense had performed poorly up to week 3, the unit got back in sync by limiting jacksonville to 10 points in a 23-point win the following game. after beating winless carolina, drew brees threw three interceptions as the saints lost to tampa bay 26-20. in week 7, the team hosted indianapolis in what had been expected to be a rematch of super bowl xliv, but without peyton manning, the colts struggled. brees threw 5 touchdown passes as the saints crushed the colts, 62-7. the saints set a franchise record for most points in a game. however, the saints reverted to their week 6 form the following week, as brees threw two interceptions, and the saints suffered an astonishing defeat against the winless st. louis rams. however, that would prove to be the last loss of the regular season, as the saints went on an eight-game winning streak to close the season. they defeated division rivals tampa bay and atlanta, then came out of the bye week to blow out the eventual super bowl champion new york giants 49-24 at home. the saints then defeated the lions 31-17, the titans 21-17, and the vikings 42-20. on "monday night football", the saints hosted the atlanta falcons and went on to blow them out, 45-16 and secure the division title. in that game, brees broke the nfl's single-season passing yardage record set by dan marino 27 years earlier. the saints would finish the regular season with a 13-3 record by defeating the panthers 45-17. however, the saints finished behind the defending super bowl champion green bay packers and the san francisco 49ers for the 3rd seed in the nfc playoffs.
history of the new orleans saints