With the first round of the NFL Wild Card Playoffs in the books, the table is officially set for the Divisional round which will feature a number of intriguing match ups, but none more so than the match up taking place out West. Saturday afternoon will witness San Francisco's Candlestick Park host its first playoff game in over nine years when the (13-3) 49ers welcome a red hot (13-3) New Orleans Saints team that's coming off a 45-28 beating of the Detroit Lions. After logging one of the best regular seasons by a quarterback in NFL history which saw Drew Brees break Dan Marino's single-season passing record by compiling 5,476 passing yards, Brees continued his success on into the playoffs by throwing for the second most passing yards in playoff history with 466 against Detroit who allowed 626 yards of total offense.
That number is expected to drop drastically this week however, as Drew Brees and company get set to face the top ranked defense in the NFC. And for a well rested 49er team that's coming off of a BYE week after clinching the NFC's no. 2 seed, they'll try to add to their NFL best 38 takeaways by applying pressure to Brees and forcing him into making bad decisions, something San Francisco has been superb at all season long. Another number that should see a decline and that stat geeks will have their eyes on is how many points New Orleans scores. When playing indoors like they do at home, the Saints have averaged 38.6 Points Per Game (including the Playoffs) opposed to just 25.8 Points Per Game when playing outdoors on the road. Making that statistic a little more juicy will be that the 49ers rank second in the league in points allowed.
Another area to definitely keep an eye on will be the Saints rushing attack which ranked sixth best in the league. Unfortunately for Darren Sproles and co., they'll face a tall order as San Francisco owns the leagues best rushing defense. And while the 49ers defense is expected to be a key component to whether or not San Francisco comes out on top, another factor that will be just as significant if not more will be how well the 49ers capitalize on offense. Though Jim Harbaugh's squad isn't one to have a shootout with a powerhouse offense like New Orleans', they possess a run game which features Pro Bowler Frank Gore and Rookie speedster Kendall Hunter that could very well be called upon to keep the 49ers offense on the field long enough in hopes of minimizing Drew Brees' passing attempts.
Preview & Prediction: With other notable matchups including Texans-Ravens, Broncos-Patriots and Giants-Packers, the Saints and 49ers are the only teams facing one another in the postseason this year that didn't face each other during the regular season. But that hasn't stopped everyone from labeling the 49ers as the underdogs despite being at home. Last season proved that anything could happen however, when this same Saints team was sent packing after being upset in the Wild Card round by the Seattle Seahawks in a similar situation which featured a dominant run game and New Orleans being the visiting team. That's a trend that has followed the Saints franchise throughout their history as they've never won a Playoff game on the road and are a lifetime 0-4. And if history repeats itself like the saying goes, I like the chances of the 49ers continuing that streak with a 23-20 victory to send them to the NFC Championship. #BeatTheSaints!
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