The world through Drew Brees' eyes.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — New Orleans Saints fans kept telling me this week that they’d celebrate tonight and for weeks to come, win or lose Super Bowl XLIV. I’m guessing the party will be at least a tiny bit better now.

New Orleans outplayed the Indianapolis Colts for three quarters, outscoring Indy by a margin of 31-7 after falling behind early on. Sean Payton and his staff didn’t try to avoid losing — they did everything they could to win.

They mixed up defensive looks all day, even switching between 4-3 and 3-4 schemes. They attempted and recovered a game-changing onside kick to start the second half. They gambled on a first-half fourth-and-goal, didn’t succeed, but stopped the Colts on the next drive and kicked an important field goal to go into halftime with the momentum on their side.

They did the little things right.

And they had Drew Brees — the NFL’s best quarterback. (I said it.)

Brees was pretty much flawless in the second half, earning the game’s MVP award. He might never be as popular as Peyton Manning, and a small part of that will have to do with the fact that his numbers might never compare to those of Manning (although a much larger part will have to do with the fact that he’s smaller and quieter than Manning), but tonight, Brees was the better player.

He wouldn’t let go of the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the game, holding onto it for dear life as he talked to the media – a process that lasted nearly 45 minutes. Poor, poor Super Bowl MVP.

And the dude’s not superhuman. He talked after the game about the fact he struggled to sleep in the nights leading up to the game: