The Colts entered the Super Bowl off victories over the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, while the Saints advanced after defeating the previous year's runners up, the Arizona Cardinals, and then overcoming the Minnesota Vikings in the Conference Championship.

They also drafted multi-talented Heisman Trophy winning (since vacated) running back Reggie Bush, receiver Marques Colston, and guard Jahri Evans, three players who would become major contributors on the Saints' offense.

[18][19] His top target was Colston, who caught 70 passes for 1,074 yards and 9 touchdowns, but he had plenty of other weapons, such as receivers Devery Henderson (51 receptions) and Robert Meachem (45), along with tight ends Jeremy Shockey (48) and Dave Thomas (35).

New Orleans also had a strong offensive line with three Pro Bowl selections: guard Jahri Evans, center Jonathan Goodwin, and tackle Jon Stinchcomb.

After losing their 14th game to the Dallas Cowboys 24–17, they suffered a narrow loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20–17 in overtime) after Garrett Hartley missed a potential game-winning field goal.

With the team's playoff seed clinched, head coach Sean Payton chose to rest Brees and other starters in the final game of the season, resulting in a 23–10 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

[22] Their opponent in the NFC Championship Game was the Minnesota Vikings, led by 11-time Pro Bowl quarterback Brett Favre, who had thrown four touchdown passes in their divisional round win over the Dallas Cowboys.

The Colts' first opponent was the Baltimore Ravens, a 9–7 squad that had advanced to the divisional round by defeating the New England Patriots 33–14, forcing four turnovers from their All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady.

Stover, who spent 18 years with the Modell franchise, finished the drive with his second field goal to make final score 20–3, as their defense put the game away by forcing two consecutive turnovers.

Their next opponent was in the AFC Championship Game against the New York Jets, who had made the playoffs in part due to Caldwell's decision to bench his starters in their Week 16 meeting.

Play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and color commentator Phil Simms were in the broadcast booth, with Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots serving as sideline reporters.

The game was preceded by The Super Bowl Today, a four-hour pregame show hosted by James Brown and featuring analysts Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher along with several other commentators,[23] which started at 2 p.m. EST.

At the time, it was the most-watched program of any kind in American television history, beating the 27-year-long record previously held by the final episode of M*A*S*H, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", which coincidentally, also aired on CBS, and was watched by 105.97 million viewers.

Mars Chocolate returned three years after its controversial Snickers ad that was protested by gay groups with two men kissing one another that was pulled one day following the game (see Super Bowl XLI: Commercials).

The commercial – winner of the annual Ad Meter survey – featured veteran actors Betty White and Abe Vigoda playing full-contact backyard football.

Other advertisers for 2010 included Homeaway Inc.,[35] paying tribute to National Lampoon's Vacation with their stars Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, and Diamond Foods, who returned to promote both its Emerald Nuts brand and Pop Secret popcorn, which they bought from General Mills two years before.

[36] Boost Mobile aired a special ad, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of The Super Bowl Shuffle, featuring many of the 1985 Chicago Bears to advertise their US$50 per month service.

ManCrunch's ad, which has since been released to the public, was initially put on a waiting list before the network outright rejected it due to it violating CBS's broadcast standards.

They put together a 53-yard drive that featured two completions from quarterback Peyton Manning to tight end Dallas Clark, as well as a 14-yard reception by wide receiver Austin Collie on 3rd-and-7.

Approaching the 25-yard line, Roby swooped into a dive and appeared to fumble the ball, but officials ruled that he was down by contact after taking a hit by Colts cornerback Tim Jennings.

But on third down, Brees was sacked for a 7-yard loss by defensive end Dwight Freeney, forcing New Orleans to settle for a 46-yard field goal from kicker Garrett Hartley.

After Moore was stopped for no gain by cornerback Kelvin Hayden, a false start penalty against offensive tackle Zach Strief pushed New Orleans back to the 8.

Following Bush's 4-yard punt return to his own 48, with 35 seconds and one timeout left to use in the half, Brees completed two passes to wide receiver Devery Henderson for 25 yards, and Hartley kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired, cutting New Orleans' deficit to 10–6.

When the dust finally cleared, Saints linebacker Jonathan Casillas was officially credited with the recovery on the 42-yard line, but he and a number of his teammates insisted that it was actually safety Chris Reis who came up with the ball.

Following an 8-yard catch and run by Bush, Brees completed passes to Colston, wide receiver Robert Meachem, and tight end David Thomas, moving the ball to the 5-yard line.

Moore caught a pass from Brees while standing at the edge of the end zone and attempted to pull the ball in over the goal line as he fell to the ground and rolled over on his head.

The ball was kicked away from Moore's hands by cornerback Jacob Lacey, and the play was ruled an incomplete pass, prompting a coach's challenge from Sean Payton.

This alleged slush fund paid out bonuses, or "bounties", for in-game performance in violation of NFL rules, including deliberately injuring or knocking opposing players out of games.

The next season they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round to advance to their first NFC Championship Game since 2009 but lost to the Los Angeles Rams in controversial fashion.

[72] The Saints were the last team to win a championship game of a major professional sports league in North America on their first attempt until 2019, when both the Toronto Raptors of the NBA and the MLB's Washington Nationals accomplished the feat.