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#2 – 2011 NFC Divisional Game
New Orleans Saints 32 – San Francisco 49ers 36
The New Orleans Saints finished the season as the number one passing team and number two team in overall offense. The San Francisco 49ers finished the season as the number two defensive team in the league. A great divisional match-up with both teams having a 13-3 record. Drew Brees was the season's passing leader with 5,476 yards. On the other hand, Alex Smith was trying to make his case as one of the quarterbacks that deserved a discussion as one of the best at the time.
The first quarter did not witness any scoring until the 2:08 mark. Vernon Davis and Smith connected on a 49 yard and made field goal. With 41 seconds left in the first quarter, Smith threw his second touchdown to Michael Crabtree for a 14 – 0 lead over the Saints. The 49ers' defense continued their tough play and held the Saints scoreless until Brees was able to connect with Jimmy Graham in the second quarter and Marques Colston on the following drive to cut the lead to three at the end of the first half.
San Francisco's defense came out of the break and were all over the Saints. The only score of the third quarter was a field goal from the 49ers' David Akers. Akers' field goal put the 49ers up by six, 14 – 20. Then Brees began to connect with his teammates as the two teams started exchanging scoring drives.
The fourth quarter started with a field goal by each team's kicker, taking the score to 17 – 23, 49ers on top. Darren Sproles came up with a 44-yard catch thrown by Brees, followed by a rushing touchdown by Smith and a failed two-point conversion. The lead became 24 – 29 with 49ers still leading. The next Saints possession, Jimmy Graham caught a 66-yard pass from Brees for a touchdown. Brees connected with Sproles on a two-point conversion to take a 32 – 29 lead, hoping that at the most, the 49ers would only be able to attempt a field goal.
With only a minute and a half left, Smith completed four of his next passes, three to Frank Gore and one to Davis, to lead 49ers down to the Saints' 14-yard line before spiking the ball to save time on the clock. The next play couldn't have been drawn up any better. Smith threw the ball up the middle to Davis for the game-winning touchdown. Smith played a great game and was able to outlast one of the greatest quarterbacks in the last minute and a half in the game.
