LSU men’s basketball heading on the right path
November 20, 2013
Uncommitted targets have LSU hopeful for future
November 20, 2013
One week after securing their most dominant and complete victory of the season, the New Orleans Saints followed it up by notching their most satisfying one.
Sunday’s last-second 23-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers (6-4) was a big win for the Saints (8-2), and for a number of reasons.
For starters, the team overcame some mistakes to win a hard-fought, physical game against a 49ers team that – even with two straight losses – still figures to be a formidable opponent in the NFC playoff picture once again this season.
The Saints also exacted a little revenge against a team that tormented them in the playoffs two years ago in a heartbreaking 36-32 loss that ended New Orleans’ hopes of a Super Bowl en route to advancing to the NFC Championship Game.
For all intents and purposes, Sunday’s game had the feel of a playoff environment itself: an electric crowd with two heavyweights squaring off and big swings in momentum.
Saints coach Sean Payton wouldn’t say it was the team’s biggest game of the season, even if it felt as much, only because that figures to come later on when the Saints hope to be making a deep run in the playoffs.
“We’re going to play bigger games than this,” Payton said. “It’s just beating a good football team. We are going to see a lot of good football teams here down the stretch. (But) we’re respectful. They were the best in the conference a year ago and a team that is tough and does a lot of things well.”
The 49ers did several things unwell Sunday, and that’s a credit to the Saints’ play.
New Orleans’ defense pressured Colin Kaepernick all day, holding the 49ers’ dual-threat quarterback to just 127 passing yards. Outside of that, the Saints followed the game-plan they’d talked about all week by stopping the running game. They held running back Frank Gore to just 48 yards on 13 carries, and Kaepernick to only 25 yards rushing.
Conversely, the Saints ran for 92 yards with Pierre Thomas gaining 49 yards on 11 carries and Mark Ingram adding 25 on six carries.
As a whole, the Saints held the 49ers to under 200 total yards for the game.
“I thought we won the line of scrimmage,” Payton said. “That’s not always easy, especially against this team. It’s a physical team. I thought we ran the ball very well and we defended their rush very well, and that ended up being a pretty important statistic and key to the game.”
The Saints also overcame some miscues, including three turnovers – two of which led to 49er touchdowns.
Lance Moore fumbled an Andy Lee punt early in the second quarter that set up an 11-yard Kaepernick touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin, which tied the game at 7-7.
Later, with the Saints leading 14-10 early in the third quarter, quarterback Drew Brees was intercepted on a short pass that linebacker Ahmad Brooks returned 22 yards to the Saints’ 22 yard line. That set up a 17-yard Kaepernick touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis three plays later and a 17-14 San Francisco lead.
Short of those miscues, the Saints held the 49ers’ offense to just two field goals – one of which was a 55-yarder late in the second quarter to give San Francisco its first lead of the game at 10-7.
“You could argue that there was 21 points that went against us out there,” said Brees, who finished 30-of-43 with 305 yards and a touchdown. “We battled through adversity at times and had things not go our way.”
Indeed, the Saints kept fighting.
After allowing San Francisco to reach the Saints’ 12-yard line on their first drive of the fourth quarter, New Orleans’ defense stiffened, forcing the 49ers into a 4th-and-9 three plays later that resulted in a short field goal which kept the Saints within one score.
After that, the Saints proceeded to finish with three drives inside the San Francisco 25-yard line in the final eight minutes of the game. All three times, oft-maligned kicker Garrett Hartley overcame his recent woes by netting three clutch field goals.
The 49ers didn’t help themselves by committing two costly penalties late – one of which negated a Brees fumble when Brooks was flagged for making an illegal hit. That gave Brees a reprieve and enabled the Saints to pick up a first down on what turned out to be the game-tying drive with just over two minutes to go.
After a 49ers punt, New Orleans took advantage of an interference call on Darren Sproles’ fair catch on their final drive, which moved the starting field position from the Saints’ 25 yard line to the 40. From there, it took Brees five plays to set Hartley up with a chip-shot 31-yard kick for the win.
For Brees and the Saints, Sunday’s game was about staying the course.
“We knew the plan and we stuck with it,” Brees said. “We continued to battle. Our defense played lights out and our special teams came back with a big return. Garrett made three big kicks.”
The Saints will have a short week to prepare for their next contest, a Thursday night game in Atlanta against the Falcons. The game will be televised by the NFL Network and locally on WVUE-TV FOX 8 in New Orleans.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:25 p.m. at the Georgia Dome, where the Saints have lost only once in six trips under Payton. Dating back to 2006, the Saints have gone 12-3 against the Falcons, including a 23-17 victory over Atlanta in Week 1 this season.
The Falcons lost, 41-28, to Tampa Bay last Sunday to drop to 2-8 on the season.
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston (12) pulls in a long pass reception as he is tackled by San Francisco 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers (22) to help set up the game winning field goal in the second half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. The Saints won 23-20.
