The Saints (9-3) return to the road this weekend with their for the first of their final two matchups away from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with a four-game winning streak to face the Titans (7-5) at 12 p.m. CT.

New Orleans is coming off dominating 31-17 victory on Sunday Night Football against the Detroit Lions at the Superdome, which featured outstanding performances on offense, defense and special teams. The Saints defense ran up 438 yards against Detroit and scored on two red zone trips, while the New Orleans defense only allowed the Lions to convert 2-of-11 third down attempts.

CB Patrick Robinson blocked a field goal attempt. New Orleans QB Drew Brees finished 26 of 36 for 342 yards with three touchdowns and a 129.6 passer rating. Brees hit WR Robert Meachem for a 67-yard TD and RB Mark Ingram had 54 yards rushing and a TD.

Brees’ scoring throw to Meachem in the second quarter gave New Orleans the cushion of a 17-0 lead. His fourth quarter 13-yard throw to TE Jimmy Graham made him the first NFL quarterback to reach 4,000 passing yards in the season’s 12th contest. Brees' 4,031 passing yards is also the total by a signal-caller through a season’s first 12 games.
Graham is also in the midst of a breakout season with 75 receptions for 1,046 yards (13.9 avg.) with eight touchdowns as he’s the first Saints tight end to surpass the 1,000 yard mark. The 7-5 Titans are on a two-game win streak and very much in the AFC playoff race following their 23-17 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. RB Chris Johnson led the way with his second consecutive performance with at least 150 yards as he carried 23 times for 153 yards (6.7 avg.) with two TDs.

GAMEDAY AT A GLANCE
DATE: Sunday, Dec. 11
TIME: 12:00 (CT)
SITE: LP Field
WORTH NOTING:
*The Titans lead the series 7-4-1.
*At 9-3, the Saints are currently two games ahead of second place 7-5 Atlanta in the NFC South.
*New Orleans is ranked first in the NFL in offense (eighth rushing and first passing) and 27th in defense (16th rushing and 30th passing).
*Tennessee’s ranked 22nd on offense (28th rushing and 18th passing) and 18th on defense (21st rushing and 18th passing).
Related :Charles Woodson Jersey Authentic B.J. Raji Jersey Authentic Tramon Williams Jersey Authentic Clay Matthews Jersey Aaron Rodgers Jersey Randall Cobb Jersey

San Francisco - The most glaring injury the New Orleans Saints suffered Saturday came in the game's opening drive when running back Pierre Thomas took a shot to the helmet from 49ers safety Donte Whitner. The Saints had driven from their own 20-yard line to the San Francisco 7 when quarterback Drew Brees flicked a pass to Thomas in the right flat and he headed toward the goal line. He and Whitner collided at the 2-yard line and Thomas crumpled to the ground, the ball jarred loose in a fumble linebacker Patrick Willis would recover as the first of the Saints' five turnovers.
Thomas did not appear in the locker room after the game and thus it was unclear if he was knocked unconscious on the play, as it appeared. Coach Sean Payton offered no further details, either.

"A player like Pierre - obviously you want to stay as healthy as you can, and he's going to be OK, that's the most important thing," Payton said. "It happened early on and I thought Darren and Chris did a real good job of handling more snaps than usual. Pierre does a lot of things well for us, screens are a part of it. It just meant those other guys were going to have to pick up the workload. Certainly there's a number of things we think Pierre does well for us, and you hate to lose a good player like that."

Thomas' injury had a ripple effect that would haunt the Saints for the rest of the first half. Down one running back, the Saints had to yank return ace Darren Sproles on kickoffs and his substitute, Courtney Roby, fumbled the second return he handled in the first quarter. That fumble gave San Francisco the ball on the New Orleans 13-yard line, a turnover that would lead to a 25-yard David Akers field goal and a 17-0 49ers lead less than a minute into the second quarter.

As the game progressed, Sproles had to absorb more and more of the workload in Thomas' absence. While Sproles would fumble a punt early in the third quarter, he would also set a playoff record by catching 15 passes for 119 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously, it's tough to lose Pierre, especially in the first series for the rest of the game because he is such a big part of what we do and we were able to mix and match with Sproles," Brees said. "Sproles did a lot. I think Darren did an unbelievable job handling the run and protection."

Two other players - tight end Jimmy Graham and wide receiver Robert Meachem - also suffered nicks that sent them to the locker room but both returned to action. Graham went out in the game's opening drive after an incompletion but was back two possessions later.

LEGAL HIT - Whitner's tackle of Thomas triggered a flurry of speculation among Saints fans that it should have drawn a flag for head-to-head contact. However, because Thomas had already taken possession of the ball and was running toward the goal line he is not classified as a "defenseless receiver."

Related ：Authentic Tramon Williams Jersey Randall Cobb Jersey Charles Woodson Jersey Authentic B.J. Raji Jersey Authentic Clay Matthews Jersey Aaron Rodgers Jersey

Coach Jim Harbaugh roared in unison with the Candlestick Park crowd Saturday as Alex Smith and Vernon Davis combined on one of the best winning touchdowns in the 49ers' history, if not the NFL's.

"How 'bout that! How 'bout that!" Harbaugh shouted from the sideline.

With that 36-32 win over gunslinger Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, the 49ers (14-3) advanced to the NFC Championship game for the first time since the 1997 season.

If the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants on Sunday at Lambeau Field, that is where the 49ers will play next Sunday. If the Giants win, Candlestick Park will host the 49ers' encore.

"I don't want this to end," Smith said. "I don't think anyone does in this locker room because it's been such a great year."

The 49ers advanced after an amazing, back-and-forth duel that featured four lead changes in the final 4:02.

The Saints, two years removed from their first Super Bowl win, overcame five turnovers and rallied behind Brees' four touchdown passes.

But the final touchdown came from Davis, on what he dubbed, "The Grab."

Only nine seconds remained on the clock after he cut across the middle and snared Smith's 14-yard pass. Davis collided with Saints safety Roman Harper at the goal line while making the biggest catch of his career.

It was Davis' second touchdown of the game, and it capped a seven-reception, 180-yard masterpiece. Once Smith
Advertisement
escorted him out of the south end zone, a teary-eyed Davis headed to the 49ers sideline for a hug from Harbaugh.

A strikingly similar scene played out Jan. 3, 1999, when Terrell Owens shed tears on Steve Mariucci's shoulder after his winning touchdown catch over the middle against the Packers in a 30-27 wild-card thriller.

"History was going through my mind," said Davis, referring more to the 49ers' recent struggles than triumphant past. "It was us against history. Us against 'No.' Us against 'Can't.' And we managed to pull it off.

"It was a very emotional game. It was like a roller coaster."

The 49ers became the first team in playoff history to take leads twice on touchdowns in the final three minutes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Saints seized a 32-29 lead with 1:37 left on tight end Jimmy Graham's 66-yard touchdown catch and a two-point conversion pass from Brees to Darren Sproles. It was the fourth touchdown pass from Brees (40 of 63, 462 yards), and it came with star linebacker Patrick Willis trying to cover Graham.

"I don't know how I would have taken this game if we didn't get another way to win," Willis said.

The 49ers' winning drive began at their 15-yard line with
1:32 remaining. After 7- and 11-yard completions to Frank Gore, Smith found Davis for a 47-yard strike to the Saints' 20-yard line. That put the 49ers in range for a tying field goal from David Akers, who connected on all three of his earlier attempts.

But the 49ers, like their season, kept charging. Gore caught another 6-yard pass. Smith spiked the ball to stop the clock.

Harbaugh relayed into Smith's helmet the play, "Vernon Post," that quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst called. Chryst formulated that play while facing the Saints the previous five seasons as a Carolina Panthers assistant. The 49ers practiced it a few times last week but always with Davis lining up on the other side of the formation.

"I knew it was going to be a bang-bang play and that you were going to have to get it in there," Smith said. "It wasn't going to be a lob ball."

Added Harbaugh: "Might be time to give Alex some credit, huh? Spectacular job."

Smith, the oft-embattled No. 1 pick of the 2005 draft, completed 24 of 32 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns in his playoff debut.

But Smith's legs also played a heroic role, too. He dashed down the left side on a 28-yard touchdown run -- picking up a key block from left tackle Joe Staley along the way -- for a 29-24 lead with 2:11 left.

The 49ers gambled on that third-and-8 call, hoping the blitz-happy Saints would send extra pressure into the right side of the 49ers line while Smith scampered left. "It was a 50-50 roll of the dice," offensive coordinator Greg Roman said of the play called "QB 9."

For the sixth time this season, the 49ers won by way of a fourth-quarter comeback. But only after they blew a 17-0 lead. The favored Saints finally grabbed the lead with 4:02 left in regulation when Sproles raced 44 yards on Brees' third touchdown pass.

Brees' first two touchdown passes cut the 49ers' lead to 17-14 at halftime. And that prompted Davis to lash into his teammates in the locker room.

"One shot, that was the message," Davis said. "We only have one shot, and if we don't take advantage of it, we go home."

Thanks to Davis' clutch catch, the 49ers are going to the NFC final.

Related： Authentic Desmond Bishop Jersey James Starks Jersey Authentic Greg Jennings Jersey Authentic Jermichael Finley Jersey Donald Driver Jersey Ryan Grant Jersey

SAN FRANCISCO - Twice in the final minutes, this had the makings of one of the most dramatic victories in New Orleans Saints history. There were two classic Drew Brees moments, spectacular touchdown passes to Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham in the final 4:02 that would have taken their place in NFL playoff lore.
Then, swiftly, stunningly, it became the most painful loss in Saints history -- a 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, capped by quarterback Alex Smith's 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis with nine seconds remaining.

The 49ers (14-3) moved on to next week's NFC championship game, and the Saints (14-4) boarded a nauseatingly long flight back to New Orleans and into the offseason.

"It's hard when you get that close, then it slips away from you," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "We had our opportunities. And yet, we credit San Francisco for making one more play than us to win a tough game."

Payton had talked several times in recent weeks about how much his team appreciated and understood the "finality" of the playoffs. How quickly the season can end for every team but one.

Nothing could prepare the Saints for how this one ended, though, after they had fought back twice in the final minutes to make up for a sloppy start.

"This loss doesn't do our season justice," Saints cornerback Jabari Greer said. "Ultimately though, we go home as a team that has broken numerous records but couldn't get the one win we needed to move on."

"It stings right now because of the expectation level we had coming into this," Brees said. "A tough pill to swallow."

"We were so close. So close," left tackle Jermon Bushrod said.

"I thought we had that game won twice," a Saints assistant coach said, still shaking his head nearly an hour after the game.

For a while Saturday, it looked like the Saints might not be in the game at all. The 49ers' vaunted defense punished them with hits, shutting down the run and swarming in pass coverage.
The Saints turned the ball over five times in the first 34 minutes (two of them on special teams), and they spotted the home team an early 17-0 lead.

Eventually, though, the Saints settled in on offense and played downright dominant defense for the better part of three quarters.

The Saints took their first lead of the game, 24-23 with 4:02 remaining, when Brees hit Sproles with a short pass that turned into a 44-yard touchdown after Sproles made two safeties miss him in the open field.

That lead didn't last long, though, as the 49ers went ahead 29-24 with 2:11 remaining. The Saints caved on that drive, with Davis breaking free for a 37-yard catch, and then Smith surprising them with a 28-yard bootleg touchdown run around the left end.

Still, it proved to be no problem for the Saints' historically explosive offense. Four plays later, Brees fired up a deep pass to Graham, who leaped over a linebacker to make a great catch, then landed and ran free for a 66-yard touchdown. After a two-point conversion, the Saints again led 32-29 with 1:37 remaining.

That lead didn't last long, either, though. The Saints' defense again caved, with a 47-yard pass from Smith to Davis, then the winning touchdown pass.

"They made the plays they needed to make for the win," Greer said. "And we didn't make the plays we needed to make, that we should have made."
Both safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper were victimized in coverage against Davis, who also caught a 49-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and finished with seven catches for 180 yards.

Jenkins spent more time covering Davis than usual because Harper was a little banged up, and Jenkins was the primary victim on the two long plays late -- though they were also perfectly placed passes from a quarterback who made big plays in a huge moment.

Asked why the Saints didn't play more of a classic "prevent" defense in those final minutes, Payton explained that they didn't want to give the 49ers a big cushion and allow them to get into field-goal range, especially because the 49ers have one of the best kickers in the NFL in David Akers.

Instead, the Saints mixed up their coverages and attacks in those final minutes, sometimes blitzing and using a single safety in coverage.

"That's not our style of defense, we don't play 'prevent,'" Jenkins said. "We've never played it, and nothing is new. Nothing has changed. We live by the blitz and we die by the blitz."

Obviously, though, Jenkins admitted those "are the kinds of plays you can't give up if you want to win games like that."

The Saints' offense certainly had some regrets about those turnovers and some of their early struggles and stalled drives. They converted just five of 14 third downs, ran for only 37 yards and allowed three sacks.

But they were also proud of the way they rallied and made the plays that were needed down the stretch.

Brees said the turnovers were the "polar opposite" of what the Saints talked about coming into the game, since they knew the 49ers had led the NFL with a plus-28 turnover ratio in the regular season.

However, Brees said, "As we look at this game, all you want is a chance to win in the end, and we had that."

Brees will have a tough time letting go of this season, as will everyone in the locker room. Last year's first-round playoff exit at Seattle was painful, too, but the Saints weren't playing their best football and they were banged up.

This season, Brees said, "I felt like we had all the pieces in place. I felt like we were playing very, very well. We were getting better each week. We were healthy. I felt like this was our opportunity to make a run."

The Saints' players had talked several times in recent weeks about how they felt that "special feeling" that they had experienced en route to the Super Bowl two years ago. And they didn't expect to fall short this time.

"Absolutely, absolutely," Bushrod said. "I never felt so good about a team ever. The quarterback's playing at a high level, the defense has been making key stops all year, special teams has been in the top of the league. So yeah, it felt like '09. It felt like we had everything going for us.

"And to have our season end the way that it did. The way we were able to go out there and put our better foot forward (late in the game), it just hurts. It hurts, man."

Related ：Authentic Nick Collins Jersey Authentic Tom Brady Jersey Authentic Jordy Nelson Jersey Tom Brady Jersey John Kuhn Jersey

Despite the New England Patriots rehiring former Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels as a member of their offensive coaching staff just days before facing Denver in the playoffs, people on both sides of the ledger were bending over backward to say that it doesn't mean much.

"It has nothing to do with us playing the game," Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard​ said. "Best of luck to Josh McDaniels, but we've got to play a game."

McDaniels had a year remaining on his contract as St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator when the Rams fired head coach Steve Spagnuolo​. The Patriots had to get permission, which was granted by the Rams, to interview McDaniels. The Rams likely were hoping to get a big part of McDaniels' $1.5 million salary for 2012 off the books. Whatever he is paid by the Patriots will be deducted from what the Rams will pay him for next season.

McDaniels' return to the Patriots — he was their offensive coordinator before coming to the Broncos — puts him in position to offer detailed evaluations of many players on the Denver roster before Saturday's playoff game. Asked Tuesday what McDaniels could "bring to the table" for the Patriots, Broncos coach John Fox said: "I hope all the coaches — ours and theirs — bring it all to the table. We change players routinely between teams and for that matter we coaches routinely change between teams. So I don't think that's anything new and different."

During a conference call with reporters, Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn't reveal the specific role McDaniels would have in helping the 13-3 team prepare for the Broncos or the role McDaniels would have during the game.

McDaniels was on the practice field with the Patriots on Tuesday. Belichick said McDaniels would help the Patriots, but the Broncos are a different team with Fox's coaching staff in place.

"It's a new coaching staff and a whole different situation (in Denver)," Belichick said.

McDaniels was fired 12 games into the 2010 season after the Broncos went 5-17 in his last 22 games as their head coach.

Brady's bunch of coaches get good gigs

Does the player make the coach, or the coach make the player? New England quarterback Tom Brady​'s success in running the Patriots' offense has helped assistant coaches land big-time gigs, and big-time contracts.

Charlie Weis

Weis was the Patriots' offensive coordinator from 2000-2004, designing and installing the base offense the Patriots continue to run. In Dec. 2004, he signed a six-year contract as head coach at Notre Dame; he signed a 10-year extension the next fall. Weis was fired in 2009, and received $6.6 million in termination pay, according to the Chicago Tribune. He spent a year each as the offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs​ and the University of Florida before being hired as the new head coach at the University of Kansas, where he signed a 5-year contract guaranteeing him $2.5 million per season.

Josh McDaniels

McDaniels started his NFL coaching career as a low-level assistant in 2001 and became Weis' successor in 2005. In 2007, he called the plays as Brady led the Patriots' record-setting offense in their 16-0 regular season. McDaniels received a four-year, $8-million contract to become the Broncos' head coach in January 2009. He was fired near the end of the 2010 season, and spent a year as the offensive coordinator in St. Louis. He's now back with New England, and expected to resume his role as offensive coordinator in 2012.

Bill O'Brien

A long-time college assistant, O'Brien joined the Patriots in 2007. He took over play-calling duties in 2009 after McDaniels left and was officially promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2011 season. He was hired last week as head coach at Penn State, signing a five-year contract worth upwards of $2 million a season. It is his first head-coaching assignment.

Lindsay H. Jones, The Denver Post
Related ：Jimmy Graham Jersey Authentic Drew Brees Jersey Drew Brees Jersey Darren Sproles Jersey