Brett Favre Ain't....I Mean The Saints Are Going To The Super Bowl.

NEW ORLEANS — The Saints are going to their first Super Bowl and even if they return to New Orleans as N.F.L. champions in two weeks, it would be hard for them to duplicate the glory and excitement generated Sunday in the Superdome.

Before a desperate crowd that shrieked and gasped through an exquisite ebb and flow of emotions, the Saints won the National Football Conference championship game with a 31-28 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in overtime.

Garrett Hartley lifted the Saints with a 40-yard field goal 4 minutes 45 seconds into the extra session. The winning kick was set up by a drive that included a debatable penalty for pass interference against the Vikings.

The Saints will play the Indianapolis Colts, a 30-17 winner over the Jets in the American Football Conference championship game, in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees, threw three touchdown passes. Adrian Peterson of the Vikings ran for three touchdowns.

The Vikings overcame their own nervous turnovers and an ankle injury to quarterback Brett Favre, who burnished his Hall of Fame credentials by leading two second-half comebacks.

The teams took turns holding the lead, exchanging touchdowns and turnovers until the Vikings, physically and psychologically, seemed to break under the pressure in the fourth quarter.

But they held their equilibrium under Favre’s leadership long enough to tie the score, 28-28, on a 2-yard touchdown run by Peterson with 4:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings had a chance to win it in the final seconds of regulation on a drive that appeared would end in a field-goal attempt.

But they set themselves back with a penalty for having an extra man in the huddle, before Favre threw his second interception of the game, this one picked off by Tracy Porter.

After three quarters, the score was tied, 21-21, and Favre was on the bench having his left ankle taped after throwing his first interception and then limping off the field.

After releasing the pass, which was picked off by Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, Favre was slammed to the turf in a twisting fall after being hit almost simultaneously by Remi Ayodele and Bobby McCray.

Earlier in the drive, the Saints were penalized for roughing Favre after Anthony Hargrove sent him to the ground following an incompletion.

Although the Saints, to this point, had not sacked Favre for a loss while passing, they had hit him hard several times after he had released the ball.

Favre is 40 years old and a veteran of 19 seasons and it was clearly the strategy of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and his players to wear him down.

When Favre limped off the field with help, a shrill rose from the capacity crowd, the sound reverberating off the walls and ceiling.

But he limped back onto the field for Minnesota’s next drive, trying only handoffs until Percy Harvin fumbled one after a hit by Will Smith.

Ayodele recovered at the Minnesota 7-yard line, and the Saints took advantage. Brees connected on a 5-yard passing play with Reggie Bush, who scored by diving into the front corner of the end zone for a 28-21 lead, a play confirmed only after video review.

Favre, limping and wincing, orchestrated another Vikings’ drive and seemed about to tie the score before they turned it over again, this time on a fumble by Bernard Berrian.

After catching a pass from Favre, Berrian lost the ball when Porter poked it out of his hands. Vilma recovered at the Saints’ 5-yard line.

The second half began with the Saints taking their first lead, 21-14, on a 9-yard touchdown run by Pierre Thomas, a drive set up when Courtney Roby returned the kickoff 61 yards.

But Favre drove the Vikings back for a touchdown, a drive capped by a 1-yard plunge by Adrian Peterson to tie the game, 21-21, with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter.

Much of the drive was paced by Favre’s completions to Visanthe Shiancoe, the tight end who spent much of the week predicting how well he would do.

Early in the game, it was the Saints who seemed to lose their poise in the noise. Their blunder came with the score tied, 14-14, and 1:13 left in the second quarter when Bush chose not to make a fair catch on a high punt at the Saints’ 14.

Instead, Bush muffed the ball as he was hit by Eric Frampton. The ball, which he had juggled, fell to the ground and was recovered by Kenny Onatolu the Vikings.

But the break was reversed when the Saints recovered a fumble by the Vikings on a botched handoff from Favre to Peterson. The Saints’ Scott Fujita got it back and the offense ran out the clock.

Some of the Saints mistakes were of aggression. On Minnesota’s second touchdown drive, Saints’ defenders took three penalties, including one for a hit out of bounds by Bobby McCray.

Late in the first half, Jonathan Casillas of the Saints took a 15-yard penalty for a personal foul when he delivered a hard hit after the Vikings bobbled a fair catch.

The offense also had its struggles early as well, with Brees overthrowing the fingertips of several receivers by inches. But he started to find his range and connected with Devery Henderson on a 9-yard scoring play to tie the score at 14-14 with 10:30 left in the second quarter. Brees seemed to buy time on the play by rolling to his right after a fake handoff on play-action while Henderson adjusted his route and got open in the end zone.

In the game’s first 30 minutes, the Saints did not sack Favre. But they hit him at least five times after passes, a few of them hard knocks.

One of the hardest came after a completed pass to Harvin for a gain of 20 yards. Favre was knocked down with emphasis by the blitzing safety Darren Sharper, a former Viking who was Favre’s teammate when they played for Green Bay.