Kick these stats around:

San Diego kicker Nate Kaeding had missed three field goals all season. He then missed all three of his attempts against the Jets in the AFC semifinals.

Kaeding had made 69 straight inside 40 yards, but missed from 36, 40, and 57 yards as the Chargers were upset.

Five years earlier, in San Diego's 2004 wild-card playoff game against the Jets, Kaeding missed a 40-yarder in overtime, and New York went on to win.

Now let's look at the 23-year-old Hartley.

Suspended for the first four games of this season for using the banned drug Adderall, it wasn't until December that Hartley was able to win his job back from veteran John Carney.

In the Saints' final five games of the regular season, Hartley made 9 of 11 field-goal attempts, with the longest being just 38 yards.

But, with the pressure on in the postseason, he was 5-for-5 -- all of them from 40 yards and beyond.

After nailing a 40-yarder in overtime to beat the Vikings in the NFC championship game, Hartley became the first kicker in Super Bowl history to boot three field goals of 40 yards or longer, drilling the ball through the uprights from 46, 44, and 47 yards as the Saints upset the Colts.

He did not, however, make the onside kick at the outset of the second half that the Saints recovered and turned into a touchdown. Credit for that goes to the Saints' rookie punter, Thomas Morstead.