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james: welcome back to our new york studios and the "subway post-game show." we'll be back tomorrow at our regular time, noon eastern, with another special edition of "the nfl today" leading up to the a.f.c. divisional playoff game between the texans and ravens. then the road to the final four continues at 4:30 eastern on cbs. with seventh-ranked indiana taking on number five ohio state. all right, going back to football, let's take a look at the a.f.c. playoff picture. boomer: that was a clinic tonight by a hall of fame bound quarterbacking without question. you could see the intensity ramped up on the offensive side of the ball. to me, the most impressive part of tonight outside of the six touchdown passes had to be the new england defense who came in with a lot of questions. next week a much different test for this offense no matter who they play, houston oor the ravens, two of the best defenses in the a.f.c.

bill: the bye week helped the ravens. this is their opportunity to seize this. the road is open for them. the best defenses left in the tournament. i look for them to win, it would be a great matchup in new england. dan: san francisco come back up, alex smith played a great game. the way they're playing defense, running the football the way they played today, they could beat green bay or the giants. shannon: two former super bowl m.v.p.'s going head-to-head for a chance to advance. you know this is former players, watch what other great players did before you played. aaron rodgers watched tom brady, alex smith put on a clinic, i expect to see both of them play tomorrow. james: boomer is normally up about 4:00 a.m., do you want to do this in about an hour? we'll see you tomorrow here on do this in about an hour? we'll see you tomorrow here on cbs. merely 7 grams of fat.

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3rd down, alex with the snap. alex looking! >> got it! >> it's good! >> touchdown! touchdown! [ screaming ] >> vernon davis with the play of his life! alex smith with the play of his

life! the 49ers are 9 seconds away from playing for the nfc championship! can you feel candlestick? ♪ [music ] >> that is ted robinson and aaron davis with the call of the exciting play. when a great night in san francisco. good evening again there the cbs5 studio. i'm dennis o'donnell. the miracle in san francisco continues. one of the greatest wins in 49er history, alex smith going head-to-head with drew brees and won the battle as they advance a to -- to the nfc championship game. jeremy. >> reporter: you know the 9ers have the fire power to hang out

with them. alex, and coming out party for him as much as anything. a yard short of 300, three touchdowns, probably one of the greatest games i have ever seen at candle stick, and i have been part of amazing playoff wins at candlestick and that's right up there with them or higher than them. >> absolutely incredible game. the city was rocking, horns were blasting, and people were out in the streets. reminiscent of the game 30 years ago with dwight davis' catch. today another one that wasn't so bad. the saints march down the field on their opening drive. dahntay with the hurt, and he forces thomas out of the game. they set the tone for a physical battle. alex smith hitting veerson davis, the two crash into each other. vernon an easy touchdown.

7-0, san francisco. mocking graham with his own slam dunk over the goal post. let the shootout begin, right? wrong. picked off by goldston, and it's returned to the 4-yard line. each scoring an early turnover. 3rd and goal for the 49ers. smith hitting crabtree on the play, and it's 14-0. perfect start for the 49ers, and things could not have gone worse for the saint in the 1st quarter, the kickoff is bad. that sets up the field goal to give the 49ers the 17-0 lead. this had blowout in the lead, but new orleans got on track in the 2nd. the 9-play, 80-yard drive. saints are on the board. after the 3-out from the 49ers, saints are rolling again. priest, -- brees, perfect pass.

now 17-14. unfortunately brees would throw another interception before the half ended, and the 49ers keep their lead, but the four turnovers were a season high by the saints. at this point i'm thinking they didn't take advantage of the turnovers. >> i was thinking the same thing. i'm like come on. they need more in the 2nd half. what i was impressed with most is the physical play of the defense. defensive linebackers they hit hard, and they are outphysical of the saints. i don't think they wanted to play the game as bad as the 49ers wanted to play today. >> alex smith sacked three times, lost a fumble, and the blitzing saints coming on hard. brees will have to wait to get on the field in the 3rd quarter, because darren fumbles the punt. falling on it, and it's the fifth turnover for the saints, leading to another field goal, and that's 20-14 san francisco. when brees finally got back out

there, justin smith was waiting for him. the sack on 3rd down forcing the saints to punt. let's go to the 4th quarter now. brees in stride, and that's a speedy 5'6" back doing the rest. 44-yard touchdown to give the saints their first yard of the game. 15 catches, 116 yards. how would alex smith and the offense respond? smith throwing deep down field to vernon davis for a gain of 37 yards. at the very least, san francisco in field goal range. but smith keeping it himself, a perfect play call because the catch, it catches the saints by surprise. 28-yard run. the saints up with 2:11 left. that would prove to be too much time for drew brees, throwing deep in traffic. jimmy graham coming up with it. new orleans back up on top. they have the 2-point

conversion to make it 32-29 with 1:27 left. brees attempting the franchise record, 63 passes throwing for 462 yards, 4 touchdowns, and now it was smith's turn to answer. he throws the strike to vernon davis. new orleans could not stop number 85. three plays later, vernon davis in the end zone. it seems to be years of frustration were wiped out by that one catch. he embraces his head coach, and this is one of the greatest moments of the storied history of the franchise. the 49ers stun the new orleans saints and move on to the nfc championship game, 36-32 the final. the 49ers winning their first postseason game since a memorable comeback against the giants 9 years ago. alex 299, 3 touchdowns, running

for another. vernon davis, 180 yards receiving, the most ever by a tight end in the playoffs. kim coyle was at candlestick park and has more. >> reporter: they were one step ahead of the saints down the stretch, but they don't have an answer what to call the game winning touchdowns. >> there was the catch. i don't know what to call this one. the throw. the throw and catch? it was a great play by vernon davis and alex smith. >> alex made it happen. if it wasn't for alex i wouldn't have made it happen. kudos to alex, you're the man. >> making huge plays in the 4 4th quarter. kept everyone there, and played a terrific game. i'm so happy for them. we have to move on to next week not knowing if he will deliver next week. >> it's a defining sequence. fans and media were on his back. it's only fitting he took us down and then coach had the confidence to throw the ball in

the red zone when we already had the trip to overtime. alex has done a great job all year, and he will continue to do so. >> you can imagine the little kid standing there and getting picked on in grade school. i mean getting rocks thrown at them. [ laughter ] but i mean, you spit on them. i mean it's all types of things. alex is one of those guys. he's been there. he has been there! he has been right there. >> i got that throw, alex! they said you couldn't do it. look at them now. >> reporter: a victory in the end, two big catches including this touchdown one. >> that's the pro bowl. that's what he is supposed to do. a game like this, he stepped up and won it for us. it was big. offensive, defense, special teams, man, we had plays we could have made on both sides of the ball, and we made them. we are winning now. we have another week of work. >> another week to play football and another week to be

around the teammates and coaches, and we are getting to where we are trying to go. >> this was one of the greatest games i have ever been a part of. hopefully we can get two more. >> it was us against history. that's all i can say to myself. and we managed to pull it off. i mean it was a very emotional game, and it was like a roller coaster. >> right now, it feels like the best. it really does. like i said before, i can't recall a win like this, in this kind of spectacular fashion. >> it's not over yet. >> we have to go to the nfc championship game. >> reporter: alex smith still has not had a 300-yard game this season. he had 299 today, but he will get another chance next week against the giants or the packers in the nfc championship. candle stick park, i'm kim

coyle. >> nice job, thank you. the numbers, the saints outgain san francisco despite rushing for that many yards. the turnoversovers are the difference. five by the saints, one by the 49ers. san francisco turned those into 13 points, and you think about first one of the game, when daunte prevented a the least a field goal with the forced fumble up here, thomas, but it's not just that the 49ers won this game, but it's how they won the game. if you think of alex smith and those two players in particular, jeremy, all the seasons they have been through, the closing, adversity, the questioning of both of the guys, and then to see the game finish like that. >> i have played with alex and vernon both. they have been there for awhile. it's been awhile since i have be a 49er, but what a great deal for alex. he has led the steam in -- the team in the offseason, not

knowing if he would be back as a 49er. he rose to the occasion to get them together. he deserves more credit than he has gotten. >> i would like to be his agent. >> me, too! he's up for a big payday, and rightfully so. i think today coming out to throw the ball like he had to do to catch up, man the balls were on the money. you could not make a better throw. >> many people have said that jim harbaugh has done an incredible turn around, and he has. he deserves the aculeates but singletary had a tremendous influence. look at vernon's reaction. i think it's a culmination of years. >> i think so, too. he was emotional. he's probably looking at it like what a relief to get to

this point in my career after the work we went through and the negative stuff said about him in the media. he has done a good job of staying above that. he never came back out and said nothing negative. he is obviously one of the better tight ends in the nfl. he is a big time player on the big time stage, and he got it done today. >> he wasn't the main focus or the offense in terms of being a receiver, but he took the role, he accepted the role, and he has become a spokesperson for the team. let's get to justin smith. justin smith was a wrecking crew on the defensive line. of course he's going to the pro bowl, but he was all over drew brees today. >> deservedly so. he was playing so hard. if i had a son and want him to play a certain way, it's like justin smith. he comes to work every day, plays the game like it's supposed to be played, passion, energy. that's the guy you want on your team. it's such a huge pickup from

cincinnati when they got him. the defense takes his energy and the way he plays the game and everyone was adopting that style, and what a defensive unit they have become. he has been a leader since he got there. >> look at ray mcdonalds and issac -- mcdonald, and issac. that's probably one of the best lines in football. alex smith took this team on his back, jeremy at the end and won this football game! >> the path to win the game was awesome. the best one was the drive before. he getting blitzed, he has a perfect strike down the sideline to vernon. he was clutch all the way down from the 4th quarter on. when he needed a play, he made it. perfect strike here to vernon. he leaves him running. how do you do it better than that? >> yeah, he was absolutely unleashed today because he had to be because they were in a situation where you had to keep responding, and i think if you

asked anybody if drew brees and alex smith went head-to-head, and lest show the numbers, drew brees would win the matchup. not so. bruise had to throw 63 -- brees had to throw 63 times to get the numbers. look at alex's numbers. he struggled in quarters it and 3. no doubt about it. when the chips were down, both quarterbacks went head-to-head in one of the greatest duals of nfl playoff history, and it was alex smith, the last man standing, and the san francisco 49ers, stunned the saints. we will have much more from candlestick park, more reaction, and we will hear from the saints. we are just getting started. there was another game too, bronco and pay -- broncos and patriots. >> not much of a game. >> more in a moment. [ male announcer ] for andy, tracking his spending with citibank

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you're just joining us, new england defeated denver. the dream ends for tim tebow. tom brady is now speaking live with the media in foxboro. >> what we need to do to be better next week, and hopefully come out and play for another championship. sure, that's important. i think we have shown we can do that. i think there's times we have to slow it down a bit and control the tempo of the game that way, but it's good to have versatility. we have versatility in our personnel groups also that i thought present challenge for the defense, but it's a good team, good defense, and to go out and play the way we did, it

was a fun day. >> pump fake to the left, and there's no one in the middle, and wes welker -- >> there's good pass rushers, good coverage guys, and that catch that was made in the corner, that's one of the best catches i have ever seen. seen. when you're making plays like that, it's not about the defense it's about making spectacular plays. wes really got us started. gronk had great touchdowns, too. it was a good day. >> can you talk to the versatility of the tight ends? it seems like the broncos had a tough time handling them. >> i think they have been a big -- they have been great assets to the offense. the way bennie runs -- benny

runs it, the way the offensive line plays, it's not just one player. it's not just one position. coach challenged us last night to come together and play as a team and play complimentary football. i thought we did that. >> how about quickly about the half, being a leader? >> yeah, jeremy was just saying that's not very exciting, and in fact the game wasn't. all the talk, of course, was about the tebow mania. not much attention was paid to the quarterback, tom brady, but it was brady who put his name in the record books tonight. tim tebow getting ready to take on the patriots hoping to pull off another upset. tebow stepping up in the pocket, and the pass, hit from mind, the patriots recover, and boy, this team capitalizes, and they do it quickly. already one touchdown pass, and brady gets number two.

rob gronkowski, how about this guy? he bobbles it, the play stands after a review. 14-0. following the brady interception, mcgahee hutting the new orleans -- the patriots lead in half. gronkowski responds, 21-7. tebow could not get his rhythm. the pocket collapsing around him. nowhere to go, taken down far sack by vince wilfork, and then exploding into the back field before he could get his legs going. 21 yards on the ground in the 1 1st half for tebow. a little more than 2 minutes in the 1st half. 61-yard strike to deion branch. the suspense is gone. for good measure. brady making history for the third time tonight to the man

they call gronk. the nfl record, most touchdown passes in one-half by a quarterback in playoff history. all new eke land -- england at the half. tebow just 3 of 10 in the half. first drive of the 2nd half, same results. hernandez, nice move by hernandez, and that's number 6 for brady. that ties the nfl record for the most touchdown passes in the postseason game. no tebow time tonight. he was harassed all game long by the new england defense. tebow sacked for the third time, going 9 of 26 for 139 yards. no rushing yards in the 2nd half. 4th quarter, the patriots having fun. brady doing his best andy lee impression. 48-yard punt, landing inside of the 10-yard line. and following the play, tempers flair,