>> 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 see matthew 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 ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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the next era of penn state, how the new football coach plans tory pair the university's tattered image. mitt romney's front-runner status is on the line. the surprise at the debates ahead of the new hampshire primary. and where is vito. a search and rescue dog goes missing during a training exercise. good evening, everyone. we begin with that hit and run that turned deadly today. a married couple killed by a

driver who plowed into them and simply kept going. police don't know who's responsible but they think they know what the car looks like. darcie spencer joins us with the latest from oxon hill. >> reporter: what you see behind me are balloons and flowers left over from a vigil held tonight by friends able family members. this couple was crossing oxon hill road behind me. a man walking his wife to her bus stop friday morning when they were hit. all police have to go on is it was a gray compact car. ♪ >> reporter: michael thomas and mildred freeman died while crossing oxon hill road friday morning. >> he was a nice guy. kept you on your toes. when you were down he knew how to bring up up. and my step mom took the role of

my mom when my mom passed away. she was there for me. >> they were married for a dozen years but they acted like newlyweds. thomas would hold her hand as he walked her to the bus stop every morning. she wrote the bus to her job at a thrift shop in ft. washington. >> she been there 20 years, i been there 30. we worked together all those years. ♪ >> reporter: dozens of friends and relatives gathered where the couple were struck. they're hoping police will be able to identify the driver. the only description police have so far, is that it was a gray compact car. >> i just want to find out who did this much. >> find out who did it so it won't happen to somebody's brother or sister-in-law. who knows. we don't -- they may do it again. >> the couple had made it part way across oxon hill road and standing in the turn lane when

they were hit. it's a busy road that runs in front of the river town commons shopping center. >> whoever did that they need to turn themselves in for real. that's family right there, right now my mother -- >> reporter: the vehicle involved should have skens irv front end damage anyone who knows what vehicle was involved in this ichbs dent or who may have been behind the wheel, is asked to call prince georges county police. darcie spencer news 4. aaron back to you. >> thank you. a hunter in critical condition tonight after being accidentally shot in the stomach today in prince georges county. the 60-year-old man was deep in the woods near route 210 and old fort road. police are trying to figure out if the huntser shot himself or another hunter accidentally shot him. in the midst of the penn state sex abuse scan dashlgs the

university interest university introduced its new head football coach. bill o'brien will lead the nittany lions next season. he replaces legendary coach joe paterno. he was fired in the aftermath of the sex abuse charges. o'brien says he's ready for the challenge of leading the team at a difficult time. >> as the head football coach of this special program it is my responsibility to ensure that this football program represents the highest level of character, respect and integrity in everything we do. >> reporter: o'brien will have to steer his had team through the feds into how the school handled the sandusky allegations. sandusky has denied he did anything wrong. it was a chance to stand out on the field and go after the front-runner as the republican presidential candidates faced off tonight in the first of two debates this season.

the front-runner remains the front-runner. steve handlesman is live in manchester new hampshire tonight for the latest on this race. >> thanks aaron. good evening to you from new hampshire, this was not nearly as negative as a lot of people led by newt gingrich predicted it would be. instead, didn't seem to have any bearing on who remains the front-runner in this race. >> reporter: as they met in new hampshire two and a half days before the vote the republican candidates debated who would create more u.s. jobs like the 200,000 in december celebrated by mitt romney. >> it's very good news i hope we continue to see good news. but it's not thanks to president obama. his policies have made the recession deeper. >> reporter: santorum who surged to third here attacked romney. >> he said i have business experience. well business experience doesn't necessarily match up with being the commander in chief of this country. >> reporter: romney's firm bing

capital reorganized troubled businesses. >> and net-net, taking out the ones where we lost jobs and those we added, those businesses have now added over 100,000 jobs. i have a record of learning how to create jobs. >> reporter: ron paul took on santorum. >> what really counts is his record. he's a big spending individual. >> reporter: it's a ridiculous charge and you should know better. >> rirk perry unleashed a shocker. >> i would send troops back into iraq. >> reporter: mostly perry and huntsman watched. >> i wasn't too far behind doing very well catching up on mitt every day. >> reporter: romney's far ahead and got through another debate relatively unscathed. in just a few hours they debate again on nbc's "meet the press." there could still be a firefight. live from manchester steve hand ems man, news 4. >> we will see steve, thank

you. the debate that steve just mentioned will be right here on nbc 4 at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. the nbc news facebook debate will stream live from concord new hampshire. tomorrow marks one year since a gunman opened fire in a supermarket parking lot in tucson arizona. 19 people were hit that day, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she was shot in the head, survived, six other people including 9-year-old christina taylor green did not. jared lee loughner is the person charged with that shooting he's been found mentally unfit to stand trial. this weekend congresswoman giffords is taking part in an emotional commemoration. you can see her outside that safeway where the shooting happened. she also visited a park with her husband mark. giffords is undergoing intensive therapy right now, but her recovery