San Francisco’s return to the postseason could not have been more dramatic and exciting, as they defeated the New Orleans Saints 36-32 to advance to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1997.

On New Orleans’ first drive of the game it seemed business as usual for the Saints. The offense marched 78 yards downfield, helped by a 23-yard pass interference call on SS Donte Whitner, and had a 3^rd and 6 at San Francisco’s 7-yard line. QB Drew Brees passed to RB Pierre Thomas, when Donte Whitner administered a hard hit to cause a fumble, which was recovered by RILB Patrick Willis. The Niners could not capitalize on this turnover and had to punt eventually.

San Francisco was more successful on their next drive. Starting at their own 46-yard line, it took the Niners two plays and a 49-yard pass to TE Vernon Davis to score the first touchdown of the game.

FS Dashon Goldson intercepted Drew Brees on New Orleans’ following drive and carried the ball to their 4-yard line. After two incompletions QB Alex Smith found WR Michael Crabtree for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

S Madieu Williams tackled WR Courtney Roby on the ensuing kick-off and LB Blake Costanzo recovered the fumble at New Orleans’ 13-yard line. The Saints’ red zone defense made a successful stand and the 49ers had to settle for a 25-yard field goal from David Akers at the start of the second quarter.

New Orleans needed to respond and they needed to do it fast. The Saints were in 49ers territory after a 20-yard catch from WR Marques Colston. 6 plays later Drew Brees found TE Jimmy Graham for a 14-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 10.

The Saints got the ball back after a 49ers three-and-out and scored again. Starting at their own 39-yard line, it took Drew Brees 7 plays to find Marques Colston for a 25-yard touchdown and a score of 17-14.

The Saints couldn’t make it three scores in a row. Instead, CB Tarell Brown intercepted Drew Brees for the MVP-candidate’s second pick of the game.

The final two minutes of the first half saw three changes of possession but no more scores. Alex Smith lost a fumble after a sack from LB Martez Wilson but it didn’t leave the Saints with enough time to score before half time.

Although the Niners had to punt on the opening possession of the second half they basically kept the drive alive. Punter Andy Lee kicked the ball 57 yards and Blake Costanzo forced a fumble, with S Colin Jones recovering the loose ball at New Orleans’ 27-yard line. The Niners could only gain 3 yards and had to settle for a 41-yard field goal from David Akers to extend the lead to 20-14.

It was the only score in the third quarter but the final quarter of the game may have produced one of the greatest shows on grass ever.

The Saints started their drive at their own 34-yard line but it came to a halt at San Francisco’s 29-yard line. John Kasey made the field goal from 48 yards to cut the lead to 20-17.

The 49ers got the ball back after an exchange of threes-and out. The Niners were at New Orleans’ 22-yard line after a magnificent 42-yard run from RB Frank Gore. San Francisco entered the red zone on the next play but this was as far as they got. David Akers' 37-yard field goal made it 23-17 for the Niners.

The New Orleans Saints earned their first lead of the game on the next drive, when Drew Brees connected on a touchdown pass of 44 yards with RB Darren Sproles.

The Niners had a little over 4 minutes left to strike back. Vernon Davis caught a pass for 37 yards to New Orleans’ 30-yard line. San Francisco gained two more yards before Alex Smith took matters in his own hand and rushed for a 28-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed but the 49ers were back on top 29-24.

Drew Brees had 2:07 minutes left, but only needed 30 seconds to find Jimmy Graham for a 66-yard touchdown. The Saints successfully went for two points and took a 32-29 lead.

There were 1:32 minutes on the clock when San Francisco’s offense re-entered the field. Vernon Davis made another big play for 47 yards to get the Niners into field goal position. Moments later San Francisco had a 3^rd and 4 on New Orleans’ 14-yard line. Do you remember “The Catch” between Joe Montana and Dwight Clark from 30 years ago? If you watched yesterday’s game you witnessed “The Grab”. With 14 seconds to go Alex Smith found Vernon Davis who caught the pass on the edge of the end zone and fell backwards for the game-winning touchdown. The 49ers secured a 36-32 win over the favored New Orleans Saints.

Game Tidbits

Alex Smith completed 24 of 42 passes for 299 yards, 3 touchdowns and a passer rating of 103.2.

Vernon Davis caught 7 passes for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 180 yards are an NFL record for a tight end in a single postseason game.

San Francisco converted only 27% of third downs.

The 49ers were outsacked 4-3.

The Niners allowed Drew Brees to pass for 462 yards.

San Francisco allowed Marques Colston (136), Darren Sproles 116) and Jimmy Graham (103) 100+ receiving yards.

The 49ers held the Saints to 37 yards on the ground.

The Niners won the turnover battle 5-1.

San Francisco became the first team in NFL history to score two lead-changing touchdowns in the final three minutes of the 4^th quarter in a postseason game.

Games between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys were often meaningful. From the 70s to the 90s both teams often crossed paths en route to the Super Bowl and a rivalry was born. Since then the 49ers and the Cowboys have been far less successful. Some say a true rivalry doesn’t exist anymore because of this. I beg to differ. The players are fired up and for the fans a win over the Cowboys is sweeter than against any other team. Let’s delve into the history as this matchup has often provided highlights.

The 70s

The Dallas Cowboys were an NFL powerhouse back in the 70s and went on to win two of the five Super Bowls they took part in. The Cowboys beat the 49ers in the first two NFC Championship Games ever played. In the 1970/71 season, the game was tied at 3 at half time but two third quarter interceptions by John Brodie gave the Cowboys a 17-3 lead, from which the 49ers never recovered. One year later the 49ers were defeated 14-3 in the NFC Championship Game.

The 80s

This decade could probably be described as the birth of the rivalry. Wide receiver Dwight Clark expressed it best: “The America’s Team thing rubs the other 31 teams a little raw. They were just so arrogant back in the 80s, like they were sitting on their high horse. When you lost to the Cowboys, it hurt bad. It was nice to knock them off.”

And boy did Dwight Clark knock them off! In the 1981/82 NFC Championship Game the 49ers were down by 27-21 in the fourth quarter, when 51 seconds from time Dwight Clark caught a seemingly uncatchable pass from Joe Montana for the final score of 28-27. This play is referred to as “The Catch”. A dynasty was born, two players became immortal.

The 90s

There is no doubt about it, the 49ers and the Cowboys were the two best NFL franchises in the 90s. Their three consecutive meetings in the NFC Championship Game were considered to be the real Super Bowl.

In 1993/94 Dallas’ head coach Jimmy Johnson promised a win and his team delivered. The Cowboys scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter for a 28-7 lead, and went on to win 38-21.

One year later Steve Young proved that he can win big games. In the first quarter the 49ers converted three turnovers into three touchdowns and won comfortably. The final score was 38-28.

The 2000s

Both franchises failed to repeat the success of past decades. In fact, the 49ers haven’t even reached the playoffs since 2002. But one encounter during a regular season game stands out. In 2000, Terrell Owens runs midfield to celebrate a touchdown on the Dallas star logo. When he scored a second touchdown, T.O. was on his way to repeat this act but Dallas’ safety George Teague tackled him before he could reach the logo.

The glory days are way in the past for both franchises. They now have problems of their own. The Cowboys are trying to return to where they think they belong, atop of the NFL. The 49ers are trying to build a team that brings the better days back to San Francisco. But believe me, a rivalry is still going on between them. Look out for a lot of showboating and trash talk on Sunday.  

You may remember a guy called Joe Montana, who back in the glorious 80s orchestrated an offense that wound up winning 4 Super Bowls. A guy who completed 68% of his Super Bowl passes for 1,142 yards. In his four Super Bowls he threw 11 touchdowns and no interception for a passer rating of 127.8. This guy appeared on The Murph & Mac Show on KNBR to promote Kraft’s Fight Hunger campaign but he also had a couple of things to say about the 49ers.

Joe Montana recognized the playbook when his son was recruited to Stanford, where 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh previously coached. Asked what Harbaugh might bring back to the 49ers, Montana said that he doesn’t know whether Harbaugh brought this offense to San Francisco or not because a lot of it was straight out of Bill Walsh’s book.

The lockout hurt Jim Harbaugh according to Montana. It’s been an advantage to the teams that have been together for a period of time. Montana urges 49ers fans to be patient because of this and the fact that San Francisco has a new head coach. Harbaugh is offense-minded but Montana pointed out that putting in new defenses is easier than installing a new offense but you never know, “they might just come out of the gate on the run and that might be fun to see.”

Joe Montana believes that quarterback Alex Smith will be able to thrive in this offense. Montana noticed that there were times when Alex Smith was put in a bad position, meaning 3^rd and long. What are your options then? You either throw into traffic, take a sack or throw the ball away. The new offense will give him more options. There will still be receivers downfield but there will also be receivers for short-yardage gain.

When Joe Cool speaks the fan listens. He is just as excited about the Jim Harbaugh era as everyone else but knows that patience is required. And if Bill Walsh’s playbook brought success to the Niners in the 80s, why should it not do so again in the 2010s?