The Saints have not played since their season-opening 14-9 win over Minnesota back on September 9 and hope to have figured out how to get their offense back to the high-scoring form of 2009. New Orleans looked good on the first drive of each half against the Vikings but otherwise struggled offensively with the lowest scoring output in a win since Sean Payton became head coach in 2006. The Saints have never started consecutive seasons 2-0 and will likely need to total more than the 308 yards they did against Minnesota to beat San Francisco on the road.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees still had a solid game in the win over Vikings, completing 27 of 36 passes for 237 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Brees burned the 49ers in the last meeting two years ago, throwing for 363 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-17 victory. In his last road game against the 49ers in 2007, he threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-10 win. Needless to say, San Francisco needs to contain Brees.
The 49ers did a terrible job of showing up in their season opener against the Seahawks despite entering that game as 3-point road favorites. They held Seattle’s running game in check but allowed quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to complete 18 of 23 passes for 170 yards with two touchdowns even though they did have one interception.
San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith also did nothing to show he was deserving of the starting job, completing 26 of 45 pass attempts for 225 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. It did not help Smith that former All-Pro running back Frank Gore was limited to only 38 yards on 17 carries, but the frustrations of that loss have severely impacted the coaching staff as well.
Smith reportedly did not hear the entire offensive plays from offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye in the loss to the Seahawks, prompting rumors to spread that players and coaches are at odds due to Raye’s ineffectiveness. Raye came out and took full responsibility for the team’s poor offense later in the week while vowing to show improvement against New Orleans.
The 49ers have dropped the last five meetings with the Saints and eight of 10 despite their 22-10-2 all-time record at home in the series. New Orleans has covered each of the last three meetings, winning by an average of nearly 20 points. This will be the second straight prime-time game for the Saints, and San Francisco is 16-5 against the spread in its last 21 appearances on Monday night.
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