Saints cornerback Tracy Porter made one of the key plays of Super Bowl XLIV when he intercepted Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and returned it for a touchdown. Today on The Dan Patrick Show, Porter described what he saw on Manning’s face when Manning realized he had thrown the interception.
“I could see a little expression on his face that he was pretty upset,” Porter said. “He was upset that he threw it. He was trying to come in hot pursuit of me but Will Smith got a great block on Peyton and allowed me to cut back. Once I got past Peyton there was no looking back.”
After the game Porter attributed the interception to “great film study,” and this morning he described exactly what he saw on the play.
“We went to man-to-man coverage, and the formation that the Colts came out in is one that we’ve been studying the majority of the week,” Porter said. “With the inverted split end, Collie we knew was going to motion down and they were going to run a stick route. The point guy, Reggie Wayne, was in the slot, and he was going to try to wide the part and out-leverage the corner and cut back across his face.
“Once I saw Collie motion in, I was like, ‘OK, here comes the stick route,’ and once I saw him try to wide the part, I just stepped inside and when he went to make the break to come back in I was already in front of him and I picked the ball off.”
Ultimately, Porter said, he admires Manning, but is happy to be a big reason that “Peyton doesn’t have his second Super Bowl -- we’re the Super Bowl champs.”