Deuce McAllister and rookie sensation Reggie Bush gave this battered city a reason to throw itself a party, carrying the New Orleans Saints where they've never been before -- one game from the Super Bowl.
The Saints used an assortment of spectacular plays to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24 on Saturday and become the first team in NFL history to make a conference championship after losing 13 or more games the previous season.
All season long, the Saints have been at the heart of New Orleans' revival from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
PHOTO: AP
Now a franchise best known for four decades of failure, one that was called the 'Aints and whose fans wore paper bags over their heads, is on the verge of being the toast of the NFC.
New Orleans (11-6) will play at Chicago or host Seattle, depending on the outcome of the other NFC game yesterday.
It was the veteran McAllister, with his two touchdowns and team playoff mark of 143 yards rushing, and the rookie Bush, with his collection of magnificent moves, that made the difference in the raucous Superdome.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia's run of success for the Eagles (11-7) ended, but he combined with former Saints receiver Donte' Stallworth on an Eagles record 75-yard touchdown in the first half.
Brian Westbrook rushed for 116 yards and scored twice, including a franchise playoff record 62-yard run.
Colts 15, Ravens 6
At Baltimore, Adam Vinatieri, who was signed during the offseason for his playoff experience, kicked five field goals to put his name in the NFL record book and carry the Indianapolis Colts past the punchless Baltimore Ravens.
Although unspectacular, Peyton Manning was efficient enough to make up for some of his previous playoff failures and keep alive his hope of playing in the Super Bowl for the first time.
All he needed to do was get the Colts close enough for Vinatieri, who did the rest.
It was only the fourth playoff game in NFL history -- and first since 1979 -- in which neither team scored a touchdown.
Vinatieri, who won two Super Bowls with late field goals and scored 117 points in the postseason for New England, was signed by Indianapolis in the offseason.
He justified the acquisition with a flawless performance against the Ravens, connecting on field goal attempts of 23, 42, 51, 48 and 35 yards. The fourth kick gave him an NFL-record 33 career postseason field goals.
Indianapolis (14-4) never trailed in eliminating the No. 2-seeded Ravens (13-4), who were coming off a first-round bye and poised to extract a measure of revenge against the franchise that broke the hearts of Baltimore fans by sneaking out of the city to Indianapolis, Indiana, in March 1984.
Manning finished 15-of-30 for 170 yards and improved his career playoff record to 5-6.
The third-seeded Colts will face the winner of yesterday's AFC game between San Diego and New England.
Steve McNair was 18-of-29 for only 173 yards and Baltimore managed only two field goals by Matt Stover in its first playoff game since 2003.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
WORLD SERIES: ‘The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community,’ the Los Angeles county sheriff said Rowdy crowds took to the streets of Los Angeles after the LA Dodgers won the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and lighting fireworks. A dozen arrests were reported by police on Thursday, but officials said that most fans celebrated peacefully. Video showed revelers throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area on Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the MLB World Series at Giants Stadium in New York. Another video showed someone standing atop
RSS