Saints suffer heartbreaking defeat in playoffs

Just when Black and Gold fans were having flashbacks of 2009’s Super Bowl lure, a different historic memory caused déjà vu on a beautiful Saturday evening in San Francisco.

Another big-time pass from quarterback to tight end pushed the 49ers to an epic postseason win.

With San Francisco on the brink of elimination trailing 32-29 late in what was a back and forth fourth quarter, the 49ers drove down to the Saints’ 14-yard-line with less than 20 seconds to play.

While there, history was again made as San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith found tight end Vernon Davis in the end zone for a 14-yard scoring strike that stunned the football world and sealed a 36-32 San Francisco victory, ending the Saints’ Super Bowl aspirations in one of the most heartbreaking defeats in franchise history.

“It was a good, hard-fought game,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “It’s disappointing to lose, but both teams played hard. … It’s just hard when you get that close and all of a sudden it slips away. That’s difficult. … I told our team, they just made one more play that we did tonight.”

Davis’ reception capped a seven play, 85-yard drive, pushed the NFC’s No. 2 seed to the conference finals and brought back memories of Joe Montana’s famous hookup with Dwight Clark in the 1982 playoffs.

Not bad for the 49er duo’s first-ever playoff game.

Also not a bad way to honor “The Catch’s” 30-year anniversary.

“History,” Davis said following the game. “History is what was going through my mind. Today was us against history. That’s all I could say to myself. It was us against no. Us against can’t n all of those things. And we managed to pull it off. It was a very emotional game. It was a roller coaster.”

“They always say you’re going to live or die,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “And in these kinds of games, we live. We move on and we move on in spectacular fashion.”

Davis and Harbaugh’s sentiments echo the obvious n this was a whale of a football game.

The 49ers led for the first 56 minutes of what appeared to be going down as a physical, defensive struggle.

Then, the fun started.

New Orleans took its first lead, a 24-23 advantage, with 4:02 to play on a 44-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Drew Brees to halfback Darren Sproles.

That lead lasted all of 109 seconds, as the 49ers pushed to the Saints’ 28-yard-line where Smith bootlegged into the end zone on a scamper. A failed 2-point conversion put the 49ers up 29-24.

It was arguably the only failure on Smith’s day, as the former No. 1 overall pick completed 24-of-42 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns.

“I don’t want this to end,” Smith said. “I don’t think anyone does in that locker room.”

New Orleans answered back and appeared to be the antagonists to Smith’s statement when Brees hit a 66-yard pass to Jimmy Graham to give New Orleans the lead they possessed when the last second magic occurred.

Brees’ fourth quarter revival polished what was a rough first three quarters for the Pro Bowler.

The 49ers consistently got in Brees’ face and either forced him to check down to shorter routes or throw inaccurate passes.

Payton said San Francisco did a great job keeping the Saints’ offense out of rhythm.

“That’s a real good front seven,” Payton said. “They can apply pressure with the pass rush. They do a very good job on the back end. … That’s one of the best defenses that we’ve seen all season.”

“We got some spectacular stops,” Harbaugh added. “On third down, we were outstanding. We got pressure on their quarterback and made plays on the ball. … And when there were plays to be made, we made them.”

Brees’ fourth quarter fireworks boosted his stats, allowing him to complete 40-of-63 passes for 461 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

But the quarterback didn’t want to look at his accomplishments following the game, saying that he believes the team’s litany of mistakes are what cost the team a spot in the NFC Championship Game.

“[It’s] tough to swallow at this point,” Brees said.

The Saints were truly their own worst enemies in Saturday’s thriller.

The 49ers started hot, rolling to a 17-0 start thanks to turnovers on three-straight possessions by the Saints, who struggled to keep the football under control all game.

New Orleans turned over the football five times in the loss.

The 49ers capitalized and scored enough points off those turnovers to take a big enough lead early to be able to be in a position to win the game late.

But no one will remember this one for the miscues n all the history was made with Davis’ catch.

It was one of several for the tight end, who had seven catches for 180 yards on the day with two scores.

What will the game-winner be called in 49ers history?

Harbaugh had a guess.

Davis had the answer.

“I know there’s ‘The Catch,’” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know what you’re going to call this one? ‘The throw?’ ‘The throw and catch?’”

“You’ve got to call it ‘The Grab,’” Davis said with a laugh.

“The Catch”, “The Grab” n whatever it’s called in the future remains to be seen.

But arguably the most heartbreaking Tri-parish football week ended this weekend on the storied natural grass of Candlestick Park.

Report: Williams leaves New Orleans for Rams

Following the game, the news got worse for Saints’ fans, as a report surfaced that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will leave the Saints for a similar position with the St. Louis Rams.

Williams, who has been the team’s defensive coordinator since 2008, coached one of the most opportunistic defenses in the NFL early in his New Orleans’ tenure.

But his defense struggled lately, including Sunday’s loss.