Saints squeak past 49ers on Garrett Hartley's game-winning kick

 

Saints' Garrett Hartley (5) boots 31-yard game-winning field goal as time expired out of Luke McCown's (7) hold propelling the the Black & Gold to a thrilling 23-20 win.  AP Photo by Bill Haber.

The New Orleans Saints secured an exhilarating 23-20 victory yesterday over the San Francisco 49ers on a clutch 31-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley as time expired before an enthusiastic Mercedes-Benz Superdome crowd. The 8-2 Saints have a short turnaround as they head to Atlanta for a Thursday night encounter with the struggling 2-8 Dirty Birds in the Georgia Dome. When these two NFC South bitter rivals tee it up, you can throw out the records. 
Drew Brees had another clutch outing yesterday as he passed for 305 yards, connecting on 30-of-43 attempts with a score including engineering the game's final drive setting the Black & Gold up for the winning drive culminating in Hartley's game-winner with no time left. Hartley also connected on on a 21-yarder and a key 42-yarder, which tied the game at 20-20 with just 2:06 remaining. 
Brees shared the ball connecting with 11 different receivers. Marques Colston, who has battled injuries this season, caught five passes for 80 yards including a key reception on the game's final drive helping to put the Saints in field goal position. Colston became the Saints all-time receiving yardage leader as he surpassed Eric Martin.
The Saints' defense playing without rookie first round pick Kenny Vaccaro out with a concussion
lost Jabari Greer early in the game after he suffered some sort of knee injury and didn't return. Corey White intercepted a Colin Kaepernick pass and returned it down to the 49ers' two yard line before he fumbled the ball out of the end zone resulting in a touch back. Saints' linebacker David Hawthorne turned in a superb effort, registering eight tackles including six solo stops with one tackle for a loss.