>> al: saints suspecting an onside kick here. hanson, who has kicked a few of these in his 20-year career. it is fielded at the 44 yard line by jonathan amaya. he is able to make sure that the saints will take possession of the football. >> cris: a nice play by amaya. typically, he is supposed to block, come up and block these guys and allow marques colston, i believe it is, in behind there to make the catch but it just hit him in the chest so he went ahead and maid the play. >> al: would have had to have gone ten yards for the lions to touch it first. the defenders, of course, can come across that line.

brees with the ball at the 44 yard line. ivory. detroit has all of its time-outs, plus the two-minute warning. but first things first. they have to stop the saints and the saints have been unstoppable tonight. five touchdowns and one field goal. the only two times they didn't score, they lost the ball on fumbles. >> cris: gunther cunningham knows he doesn't really have the kind of team he can blitz with and at least, thus far tonight, that front four just unable to get enough pressure on drew brees to even slow them down. >> al: at the snap, have less than four minutes. brees takes the play clock to three. go to air and going to go deep and it is caught inside the 5 yard line and it will be downed at the 1 yard line! robert meachem, with aaron berry one-on-one and it will be first

down and goal. >> cris: well, first of all, the lions do try to come with a little bit of a blitz and it just doesn't matter. the protection has been perfect all night long. now you watch the safety in the middle of the field as drew brees looks back. he just almost collapses in there, does spievey. you wonder whether or not this ball was actually in the end zone. he comes down on top of the defensive -- no, it looks like his back side did hit. a little shoulder shake, back inside, move the safety inside and allow room down the far side for the deep ball. boy, they never stop firing, do they? >> al: brees tonight, 466 yards 33 out of 42. the lions have to take a time-out and do a little bit of praying. 615 yards of offense for the saints.

>> cris: yeah. that was after 617 last week. >> al: brees, 400 plus in two straight postseason games. of course, the other one was a loss at seattle last year in the wild card game. first down and goal. brees, his fourth touchdown of the pass of the night and it's incomplete. stephen tulloch got an arm in. jim yim grahammy graham the intended receiver. >> cris: a moot point but you do stop the clock here. if there is any chance for the lions to hold him here. pretty good play by tulloch getting his hand in there at the last second. drew brees was telling us we can do whatever we want, whenever we want? i believe it. >> al: second and goal. into the end zone, touchdown. pierre thomas. .

616 yards of offense. and green bay threw 45 up on detroit last week. the saints are a point away. an extra point away from 45. >> cris: give a little credit here to backup tight end michael higgins as he digs out the detroit lions and it's only right that pierre thomas, after the phenomenal runs that he's had tonight, finally gets the cherry on top. >> al: the extra point is good. saints are 3:36 away from breaking into california here we come. well, you figured it would be a shoot-out. it figured to be a track meet. most yards in a postseason game. 616. chargers did it back in 1964. you had a thousand passing yards last week in the game between green bay and detroit.

it's the year of the quarterback, isn't it? and the tight end. >> cris: and the offenses. i mean, we are going to see in these playoffs some just remarkable quarterback play. it's been -- it started at the beginning of the year. it has run its course throughout the season, and who knows what we're going to get in the super bowl. could end up with one of these kind of games. >> al: the most interesting thing of all is for many years, would say defense wins championships which we know is not quite 100% accurate. more like about 42. but green bay, new england, new orleans, especially the pass defense ranking near the bottom of the league. doesn't matter. >> cris: it doesn't matter. when the top two seeds in the playoffs are ranked next to last and last in total defense, you know there's some weird things happening in the league. >> al: logan takes a knee in the

end zone. saints in the second half tonight. remember they only had ten points at the half. 5 for 5. >> cris: i go back to sean payton payton's decisions. he understand fully what kind of game this was. when he was going for it on fourth down on his own end of the field, he was going to win it with his offense. and he accomplished exactly that. >> al: from the 20 with the who dat chant. pettigrew takes it to the 33. >> al: i tell you the other guy to give a tip of the cap to is pete carmichael who is calling the plays for the new orleans saints. >> cris: he took over for the game in indianapolis and they put up 62. i was talking to him on the field before the game. his dad said that is great but let's see what you do in a competitive situation.

>> al: that is answered. it's picked off at the 50 yard line by jabari greer and he has a blog in the times picayune and was blogging about that this week. >> cris: a veteran corner against a young quarterback. he is going to settle here and then drop late. falling underneath. just a simple cover two coverage. you can seeatthew stafford trying to look off safeties but it was the underneath corner this time and that look that got him. for matthew stafford, give him credit. a remarkable season, a remarkable year, but just unable to match points with drew brees tonight. >> al: jabari greer had one interception during the regular season. two tonight. >> cris: i tell you, al, this team is a show in this building.

now can they do this heading west and taking on the 49ers? that's going to be a different question. the 49ers with the top defense in the nfc among the playoff hopefuls. >> al: they go there next weekend to join the 49ers at candlestick park. the winner of the giants/falcons game tomorrow then gets a trip to green bay. drew brees, a record-setting year during the regular season and those marks will now continue in postseason, at least the second most there. bernie kosar, number one, with 489 yards. that was against the jets in overtime. so a fifth period for bernie to get there. >> cris: i've been around football for a long time, and i tell you, drew brees has got it

going on this year. i mean, he just -- it's almost remarkable to me that he's probably not going to be the most valuable player in the league because of what aaron rodgers is doing, but hard to do it much better than he has. >> al: part of the reason was the packers got off to such a great start and looked like they were headed for an undefeated season so they were 8-0 at the break, at the halfway mark this year. the saints were only 5-3. remember, the last time the saints lost a game? somehow, inexapplicably they lost to the rams. here is ivory. talking to sean payton about it a weeks ago. he said it's the worst coaching job i've done in six years. it may turn out to be the best thing that happens to us. that was a wake-up call. >> cris: plus, they changed thaver protections after that game. that's when they started going to these double wings and chips and nudges on the outside to

help these two tackles and because of that, the sacks went down by half for drew brees. so now you get drew brees standing behind three pro bowl offensive linemen with help on either side, gunther cunningham, the lions defensive coordinator before the game was telling me it's almost impossible to get there. you just have to sort of rely on coverage and getting a push up the middle which really the lions couldn't get. >> al: great receivers and great running game. wobbly duck and incomplete. intended for colston. covered by berry. and it's going to go against berry. >> cris: berry never got his head turned around. >> referee: pass interference, defense number 32. automatic first down. >> cris: the receiver has every right to come back through the defensive back to the ball.

once berry starts to push on him, it's just an automatic call. >> al: first and goal now from the 7 yard line. a whistle. brees trips. >> referee: false start offense number 73. five-yard penalty. remains first down. >> al: pro bowl and right guard jahri evans. >> cris: i tell you the state of louisiana has a chance to pull off a remarkable run if the saints could run through and win a super bowl and lsu could win a national championship in this building. >> al: that is lsu's band, in fact, they are here and ready for action. they will take on the crimson tide on monday night for the

national championship. ivory. ivory takes it down to the 2 yard line and they will not have to run another play before the two-minute warning. well, 73 points in the game. i didn't think we would see more than 59 1/2 tonight, but you never know. >> cris: you knew what i thought. >> al: right. >> cris: boy, i tell you, i don't know exactly what the adjustments were at halftime for the new orleans saints and sean payton, but they were unstoppable in the second half. pete carmichael has come out of no whereupon. drew brees said i'm proud of that guy. i knew him when he was sort of the quality control guy with san diego. he's coming here and calling the plays and we have taken off. >> al: now kelly hayes and george hill didn't know it would be more than 70 tonight. two-minute warning. 45-28 new orleans. .

>> al: four weeks from tomorrow, the lombardi trophy will be awarded at lucas oil stadium in indianapolis. under the roof. meanwhile, the saints here will be just content to run out the clock.

there will be no piling on. and the detroit lions, well, it will end in frustrating fashion here, but for the lions, to the playoffs for the first time since '99. you got that guy at 23 years old as the quarterback. you got calvin johnson who is just a monster. they hope to get their running game back next year. keep the guys healthy. >> cris: and they are excited about their running game and jahvid best and you would definitely like to own a little stock in the detroit lions because they have some of the best young talent in the business. >> cris: it's a team on the rise no question. occasionally a team will get to postseason play and you feel this is their time, this is their window. but with detroit, you feel like it's really going to come in the next couple of years. >> cris: well and for the new orleans saints, a year ago, they go up to seattle and lose that

game because they had nobody left at the running back position. and really the detroit lions, it reminds me a little bit of that situation. coming in here tonight, the difference was the saints could run the football and set up some of that play action passing game where it was much tougher for detroit to try and do it. >> al: that kneel-down will end the game. 626 yards for the saints. total offense in the game is 1,038 yards. the detroit lions see their season end at seven straight playoff losses for detroit. but as we say, the future looks pretty bright in motown. >> cris: it looks pretty bright in new orleans too. >> al: yeah. i would say. this window is wide open now for the saints. and it may be for a while too. 45-28. san francisco, here they come. saints beat the lions in new

orleans. .

>> al: in just a half-hour, it's all new "saturday night live." charles barkley nervous as a cat. kelly clarkson is the musical guest. that's in half an hour. let's go to field and michele. >> michele: what did you guys go in the locker room and talk about such that you came out in the second half and played the way you did? >> well, you know, obviously, what is not in the first half were those turnovers. we had moved the ball down. in into their territory and turn it over two occasions and really we stopped ourselves a few times and got the touchdown taken away from us in the end and settled for a field goal. we real i liesed bear down one play at a time and one drive at a time and i think we scored on every drive in the second half. i guess that's what you hope for. >> michele: you hoped right. congratulations. thank you, drew. >> thank you. >> al: 45-28 the final score.

february 5th, the biggest sunday of all super bowl xlvi on nbc. in 30 minutes, all new "saturday night live" with host charlie barkley. coming up next except on the west coast, your local news. for bob costas and michele tafoya and cris collinsworth, this is al michaels saying good night from the nfc wild card playoff. . -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>> in the first of two back-to-back debates this week before tuesday's first of the nation primary. candidates for the republican preasal nomination square off in new hampshire. good evening, everyone i'm deborah weiner. thank you for staying up with us. our big story tonight, with just a few days until the first in the nation primary, the six republican presidential contenders are facing off in back-to-back debates this weekend. the first one tonight in manchester new hampshire, where mitt romney is hoping to close the deal. 11 news washington reporter sally has tonight's 2012 update. >> deborah it's been mitt romney versus everyone else here in new hampshire. and tonight the battle for second place intensified. >> presidential debate your voice -- >> granite staste smackdown. >> he says i'm going -- i have business experience. well, business experience doesn't necessarily matchup with being the commander and chief of this country. >> the attacks on runaway front-runner mitt romney came

within the first few minutes of the debate. >> i think people who spend their life in washington don't understand what happens out in the real economy. >> with romney leading the polls by 20 points the battle for second place was on. romney's closest rival ron paul took aim at rick santorum. >> i think he came out as one of the top corrupt in the business. he took so much from the lobbyists. >> it's a ridiculous charge. you should know better. >> romney bristled on a question whether state should have the right to ban contraception. >> no state wants to. the idea of you putting forward things that states might want to do that no one state wants to do or asked if they could do it or not is a silly thing. >> ron paul took fearns when they questioned his lack of military service. >> i personally resent the kipe of comments and aseparations he routinely makes and and then spurs people. >> when i was drafted i was married and had two kids and i went. >> i wasn't eligible for the draft. >> while the candidates focused

their attacks on romney, the front runner for the most part ignored them and instead focused attacks on president obama n manchester, sally kidd wbal-tv 11 news. >> tomorrow the republican candidates will debate on meantime. "meet the press." david gregory will post the questions on facebook. a 24-year-old airman from west minister died in afghanistan. first class airman matthew seidler died when an i.e.d. hit his vehicle in the hellmund province in afghanistan. two other airmen died in the attack. seidler entered active duty in november 2009 and was assigned to peterson air force base in colorado. baltimore city police are investigating the shooting of a man in northeast baltimore. police were called to the 1900 block of north comington avenue around 6:00 p.m. tonight. once on the scene found a man who had been shot in the back. no word on the man's condition or any suspects.

meantime police say robbery may have been a motive in another shooting last night in northeast baltimore. police say a 29-year-old man was wounded in the 5700 block of the parkway. medics transported him to a hospital where he's in stable condition no. arrests have been made f you drive over the curtis creek draw bridge, allow extra time to get to your destination. starting today and next ten weeks repairs closed interstate 695 between quarantine road and maryland 10. we're live in the newsroom with more on what drivers can expect. sheldon? >> deborah, as a result of the repairs being done on the bridge, only one lane of traffic in each direction and it's already starting to create headache for drivers in that area. >> kristin isaacs is no stranger to the draw bidge over curtis creek. >> every couple weeks or so when i have to do shopping over on the highway easiest way to get there from here. >> but for the next ten weeks, it won't be so easy. while crews worked to replace

the decks of the aging brid, westbound loop of the draw bridge will be shut down between quarantine road and maryland 10. draw bridge has been here the past 35 years and construction crews are working to address all of its wear and tear from over the years. as a result traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction and officials say drivers can expect some delays during peek travel periods. >> traffic is bad anyway and i went over there. i can only imagine there's only one lane open, that would be really bad. >> actually took an exit earlier on richie highway to get around it. because it was backed up. >> aside from a car accident or other delay the maryland transportation authority doesn't expect any major significant backups through the construction zone and they're urging drivers to be more aware while traveling through the area. >> we always urge drivers to use extra caution and stay alert when they're in work zones. just to remind folks again that the speed limit will be posted at a reduced speed of 45 miles an hour. >> until construction clears, isaac is planning alternate

routes 0 get around. >> i'm not really frustrated by it. part of everyday life. make it better to go across eventually. >> if you want to avoid construction all together, you can take 895 or 95 to get through the area. reporting live, wbal-tv 11 news. >> sheldon thank you. four men are under arrest tonight charged in connection with the death of a man after an incident at a bar in carroll county. 52-year-old john robey and his two sons, 20-year-old johnathan robey and 22-year-old thomas robey, along with 48-year-old michael grimes were arrested by state police today. a grand jury in carroll county indicted him on thursday. police say the man assaulted 26-year-old craig meyers back in august at a bar in keymar. meyers later died of his injuries. the investigation continues into the murder of a woman found dead yesterday by firefighters battling a blaze in her east baltimore home. police say an autopsy revealed that 84-year-old mary heinz had been stabbed multiple times. the cause of the fire remains

under investigation but fire investigators have not found anything suspicious about the fire at the home on biddle street. spurred by that fire, baltimore city firefighters went on a city wide smoke alarm sweep today. they visited homes installing and testing alarms and educating residents about fire safety. the smoke alarm is the single most life-saving device in the home. in the past they concentrated on a neighborhood where there had been a fire but now they're expanding an investigation across the city. >> we feel now if there's a death in the city due to a fire we would like to be able to make all citizens of baltimore aware and make sure the citizens of baltimore have working smoke alarms. >> city residents can call 311 and firefighters will install a smoke alarm in your home. with the ravens on a bye week, fans flocked to local bars to check out who could be baltimore's competition next sunday. 11 news was at mother's bar and grill in federal thoil hear what fans had to say about the game

against the houston texans. >> i'd love the chances as long as we utilize ray rice i think we're going to win. >> ultimately it doesn't matter because the ravens' defense always came through and always will come true. so who do they play? no it doesn't matter. flacco needs to show up regardless. >> texans look good but they don't stand a chance against anybody in the a.f.c. ravens are going all wait this year. i'm telling you that much. >> it goes without saying ravens' fans are very optimistic about next sunday. >> now that we know who the ravens will play, a look at the matchup. what do you think? >> it is i rematch from week six. also in baltimore. if this one goes anything like that one ravens will find themselves in the a.f.c. championship game ravens rush forward 113 yards including this ricky williams touchdown. first as a raven, by the way. joe flacco threw for 305 yards against houston. 29-14 win and texans had their number one