Niners solve 'Who Dat?' riddle with Epic Win

Week 14 - Continuing their quest thru the gauntlet of the toughest three-game stretch in NFL history, the (10-2) San Francisco 49ers headed into the Big Easy to take on the (10-2) New Orleans Saints in a back and forth melee that would be anything but easy. The first meeting between two teams with identical 10-2 records since 2007, the game was expected to be a tough, grind it out battle featuring two of the league's top defenses, but would quickly materialize into a shootout between quarterbacks as Jimmy Garoppolo and Drew Brees came out guns blazing and went blow for blow in a heavyweight match-up with the NFC's No. 1 seed on the line. It would also be a duel of the minds as offensive guru's Kyle Shanahan and Sean Payton squared off in a game that once things were underway, were destined to come down to the wire and likely be decided by whoever had the ball last.

With coach Shanahan keeping his 49er team on the east coast following Week 13 in Baltimore and spending the week in Florida in preparation of their second straight 10 a.m. eastern start on the road, San Francisco seemed ill-prepared for Brees' quick passes as he broke down the defense with precision before finding his tight-end Jared Cook for a 38-yard touchdown reception. Not to be outdone, Jimmy G connected on passes of 19, 31 and 25 yards to Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel, respectively, before hooking up in the end zone with Kendrick Bourne. While it would be the first of many touchdowns scored on the day, San Francisco's game-tying touchdown would be the first opening-drive TD allowed by the Saints defense all year. Drive No. 2 for New Orleans would look a lot similar to their first as Brees again found Cook for the score. Hurt on the play, Cook would have to leave the game after sustaining a concussion, but not before his controversial touchdown as replay showed the ball come loose as Cook went to the ground while in the end zone. With the call standing and 49ers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon penalized for unnecessary roughness, Payton would decide to go for the two-point conversion but was unsuccessful.

After a 49ers three and out and one of only four punts in the game combined, the Saints continued to take advantage of their stellar field position with a drive that ended in another Drew Brees touchdown pass, this time to Josh Hill. Trailing 20-7 at the start of the 2nd quarter in a game where most teams would roll over, Jimmy G and company refused to give in as they needed only one play to answer with a touchdown of their own when Garoppolo threw a bomb to Emmanuel Sanders who returned to his feet after falling and sprinted for a career-long 75-yard score. But while the 49er offense had little trouble scoring, the defense continued to struggle finding an answer for the Saints offense which showed no signs of slowing. Just when San Francisco appeared to finally stand their ground by keeping New Orleans out of the end zone as a 1st and goal from the 4 eventually turned into a 4th and goal from the 1, Payton kept the offense on the field and allowed for Brees to handle the scoring himself as the future Hall of Fame quarterback kept the ball and leaped over the goal-line. With the score 27-14 and the defense in need of a breather after the tiring 7-minute and 14-second drive by New Orleans, it wasn't long before the San Francisco defense was right back out there as the 49er offense again answered with a quick response. Gaining 40-yards in two plays, Shanahan went to his bag of tricks to dial up a play that started with a handoff from Garoppolo to Samuel and ended with a lateral to Sanders who fired a strike down the field to a wide-open Raheem Mostert for the touchdown. Having already caught a touchdown earlier, Sanders became the first 49er in franchise history to record a receiving touchdown and a passing touchdown in the same game.

Still seeking their first stop on defense, the 49ers would get just that as a nice play by rookie defensive-end Nick Bosa stopped the Saints in their tracks on a 3rd and 1 attempt that led to a 6-yard loss and resulted in a three and out. With a chance to steal the momentum heading into the half, San Francisco would take their first lead of the game as a nine-play drive ended with a 10-yard run up the gut by Mostert, entering halftime with a 28-27 advantage. With eight touchdowns in ten drives and both teams combining for 55 first half points, the most points scored in an opening half this season, Garoppolo entered the locker room nearly perfect with 206 yards and a pair of TD passes on 11 of 12 completions. But their first drive of the second half would result in their one and only turnover when a pass intended for Sanders was tipped and intercepted. Holding New Orleans to a field goal after the turnover, the 49ers would force a takeaway of their own when Saints running back Alvin Kamara was stripped by D.J. Jones on only the second lost fumble by the Saints this season. Looking to cash-in on the rare mishap and within striking distance, Garoppolo needed only two plays to capitalize as George Kittle caught a pass and sprawled over the pylon for the 5-yard score.

With the score 35-33 SF after a Saints field goal, Payton would try to get cute on a fake-punt on 4th and 18, but a heads-up play in coverage by the 49ers special-teams led to an incompletion and the turnover on downs. Beginning the frenzied fourth quarter with a 14-play touchdown-scoring drive, Garoppolo capped things off with his second connection in the end zone with receiver Kendrick Bourne. Taking their largest lead of the game at 42-33, the 9-minutes remaining in regulation would seem to last an eternity as the game was still far from over. A pair of big plays by Saints receiver Michael Thomas would have his team right back in the thick of things as he followed up a 49-yard reception two plays later with a 21-yard touchdown. With the first field goal on the day for 49ers kicker Robbie Gould making it a 45-40 lead with just under 2:30 remaining, Drew Brees would lead his team down the field with the game on the line once again. Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon had a chance to seal the win for the Niners when Saints receiver Michael Thomas slipped, but the ball went thru the hands of Witherspoon and wound up being an incomplete pass. Given a second chance, Brees would take advantage of the opportunity two plays later, connecting with Tre'Quan Smith for the go-ahead touchdown. With 53 career game-winning drives under his belt in the 4th quarter or overtime for Brees, it appeared that we had witnessed No. 54, but Jimmy G would have other plans as another 2-point conversion attempt by the Saints went awry.

With 53-seconds remaining and all three timeouts to work with, George Kittle would take us and a trio of Saints defenders along for a ride. Facing 4th and 2 at the San Francisco 33 yard-line, Kittle would grab a pass from Garoppolo and take it 39-yards as he stiff-armed a defender and had another draped all over him before a third Saint joined in to help take down the Pro Bowl tight-end who also benefited from a pivotal face-mask penalty that tacked on the extra yardage. In what many are calling the play of the year or at the very least the play of the 49ers' season, Kittle helped setup what would ultimately be the game-winning field goal by kicker Robbie Gould who connected on the 30-yarder as time expired. Giving Drew Brees and the Saints a taste of their own medicine, Jimmy G and the 49ers came back from the 20-7 deficit and completed the comeback with Gould's 16th career game-winning field goal marking the first 48-46 final score in NFL history.

Despite trailing 20-7 at one point, San Francisco's never say die mentality and sheer will allowed them to rally in what could very well go down as a season-defining moment for this 49er team that managed to still find a way to win. With both Brees and Garoppolo finishing with 349 yards passing, Jimmy G joins Steve Young and Jeff Garcia as the only 49er QB's with at least three games of 4 passing TD's in a single season after rallying his team to victory with his sixth career game-winning drive. Meanwhile, the Saints' 46-points are their most points scored in a loss in franchise history. 49ers running back Raheem Mostert and Saints running back Latavius Murray each finished with 69 yards rushing, and Emmanuel Sanders led all receivers with 157 receiving yards. However, it wasn't all roses and butterflies following the Niners' victory as the team learned that they'd be without center Weston Richburg for the season after he suffered a torn patellar tendon. Corner Richard Sherman and defensive-end Dee Ford would also leave Sunday's game after suffering hamstring injuries that will likely cause them to miss multiple weeks.

Week 15 Preview - The 49ers will be happy to return home to the state of California and their home field of Levi's Stadium when they host Matt Ryan and the (4-9) Atlanta Falcons. Facing his former team in head coach Dan Quinn and the Falcons, 49ers signal-caller Kyle Shanahan will try putting a stop to what was once among the most dangerous offenses in the league when he was still with them calling the plays led by Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. In what's been a down season for Atlanta, the Falcons are coming off a 40-20 drubbing of division rival Carolina where Matt Ryan became the second fastest QB in NFL history to reach the 50,000 yard mark (186 games). And though Atlanta isn't quite the same team they once were since Shanahan's departure, they'll still need to be taken serious as the 49ers can ill-afford losing to a inferior team if they want to maintain the NFC's No. 1 spot since jumping from the No. 5 seed following their win on Sunday @ New Orleans and a loss by Seattle to the Rams. 


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