2012 NFC Divisional Game vs. New Orleans Saints Gameday Thread

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by HessianDud:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/56962/personnel-report-saints-vs-aldon-smith

advantage Saints? Sando says that the Saints used less than 3 WR's 57.6% of the time, which is the 8th most in the league (Niners are #2, at 74.9% )

they're a good running team and they don't rely on spreading the field out for their passing attack. This could limit Aldon's snaps, which would obviously affect our passrush.

what do you guys think? If I were the Saints, I would stay true to form and not put 3 WR's on the field and dare the Niners to get out of their base packages when they don't want to. Of course, if I were the Niners, I would just throw Aldon onto the field no matter what and say, "try to stop him."

what do you guys think?

Thats because they pass a lot to their TE and RBs so they dont need 3 WRs. But, they do show their hand by the different backs they put in. What we need to dO is stuff the run so that forces them to either keep in a bigger back to helP block or keep Sproles but that weakens their protection.

i definitely agree that making them 1 dimensional is really important. but i am pretty worried that their passing game doesn't really fall into our hands, in terms of inviting our best pass defense personnel onto the field.

still, i'm sure Fangio knows this and has some ideas on how to neutralize that and get Aldon on the field if they are avoiding the 3WR sets. Still, that might hurt our run defense, which could be playing into the Saints hands...

IDK, it will be a VERY interesting part of the chess match.

Originally posted by ninerfan4life:
I'm getting so anxious!!!! I can't even focus at work anymore.

This!

Wow weve only allowed 13 sacks at home an 31 on the road.

Originally posted by Joecool:
Wow weve only allowed 13 sacks at home an 31 on the road.

that's crazy.

we're going to allow 0 against the Saints, just like we did against Pitt--a much better passrushing team. especially if Harper is out.

IS MAYO'S PEE PEE TINGLING YET DAMMIT!?!?!? SOMEBODY TELL ME!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by SnakePlissken:
IS MAYO'S PEE PEE TINGLING YET DAMMIT!?!?!? SOMEBODY TELL ME!!!!!!!!!

pretty sure its been tingling for days. he posted about it awhile ago. i told him to go to the doctor, so maybe it was more than excitement for the game.

Originally posted by Rocket4989:
F*CK IS IT SATURDAY ALREADY!!!! I WANT TO PROVE THE SAINTS WRONG!!!!

If the 49ers wins on sat then show to prove the Saints Wrong! that is simple!

Originally posted by HessianDud:

Originally posted by SnakePlissken:
IS MAYO'S PEE PEE TINGLING YET DAMMIT!?!?!? SOMEBODY TELL ME!!!!!!!!!

pretty sure its been tingling for days. he posted about it awhile ago. i told him to go to the doctor, so maybe it was more than excitement for the game.

Ive often wondered what he has to do in the offseason. Especially in the Nolan/Sing years when re-watching the games wouldnt give anyone a reason to get "excited".

Wow! Saints fans must be in total shock. Sapp, Sims and Collinsworth all picked the 49ers to win on Inside the NFL.

"What? Not everyone thinks our $hit doesn't stink?"

Curious...I think the Saints' offensive stats are inflated.

Here are the ranks of the defense they have played: 32, 17, 2, 6, 28, 30, 25, 22, 30, 12, 27, 23, 18, 21, 12, 28.

The average rank of the defenses they have played: 20.81. Yikes.

Truth be told, they have played 2 upper echelon defenses: Houston and Jacksonville.They beat Houston 40-33 (at home, on turf) and they beat Jacksonville 23-10 (on the road, on grass). The one upper echelon defense that they played on the road held them to 23 points.

By way of comparison, let's look at the 49ers' defense:
Here are the ranks of the offenses the 49ers have played: 28, 11, 20, 4, 21, 5, 29, 16, 8, 19, 15, 31, 19, 12, 28, 31.

The 49ers have played 3 upper echelon offenses: Philadelphia, Detroit and New York (Giants): The 49ers beat Philly (on the road) 24-23, Detroit (on the road) 25-19, and New York (at home) 27-20. The most prolific "upper echelon" offense we played scored 23 on us...on the road. The only "upper echelon" offense we played at home scored 20 points.

For the record: At home this season, the Niners score an average of 28 points per game. We surrender an average of 10.5. The law of averages is in our favor, and all told I like our chances in this one. I think the Niners will pull it out, 28-20.

Originally posted by Joecool:
Thats because they pass a lot to their TE and RBs so they dont need 3 WRs. But, they do show their hand by the different backs they put in. What we need to dO is stuff the run so that forces them to either keep in a bigger back to helP block or keep Sproles but that weakens their protection.

With their 2 WR personnel they are doing what we want to do on offense, force defenses in their base and use their athletic RB and TE to beat the LBs. This is where we are strong.

Yeah, Jimmy Graham had almost 100 receptions this year. He might as well be a WR, just happens to be big and angry enough to take on a passrush, too.

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:

Wow! Saints fans must be in total shock. Sapp, Sims and Collinsworth all picked the 49ers to win on Inside the NFL.

"What? Not everyone thinks our $hit doesn't stink?"

I rather be the underdog

Originally posted by huck:
Yeah, Jimmy Graham had almost 100 receptions this year. He might as well be a WR, just happens to be big and angry enough to take on a passrush, too.

he doesn't play low enough...one hell of a player though, but i predict he's gonna get blown up at some point by willis or goldson

Originally posted by 49ersalldaway126:

Originally posted by WhoDat09:

First congrats on the great year. This is a interesting matchup, the great SF D vs the explosive saints O. However, this game will come down to if the 9ers can score TD not FG. This saints will be able to score 27-31 points in this game. No disrespect to the 9ers D but the saints just have too many options on O and thier OLine is arguably the best in the league. No team has been able to put consistant pressure on brees and i have no reason to think it will be any different this game. The saints probably won't run for 100+ however the will be able to run well enough to keep SF honest. I'm thinking 75-100 yards on the ground. With that said, they will be able to stress SF D more than anyone has all year. What makes the saints so difficult to defend is they have so many options that can make plays in the passing game and they can run the ball (6th in the league)

SF will have to be able to score points. 17-24 will not win this game for SF. The concerns I have is gore is a great back and I believe v Davis can also be a game changer. Now the saints are certainly not in the level as SF D however they have been playing good ball on 3rd downs and been holding teams out of the EZ. A Smith will have to make some throws to keep drives alive and score TD.

It should be interesting...my prediction 31-13 saints.

no offense to you RBS (especialllu sproles who is a beast) but i dont think you can really keep our defense honest by running we can easily keep maybe 6 guys in the box and sill stop the run

i agree i think you may have the best o line in the nfl but we have 4-5 very good guys who can get to the qb consistantly especially on the saints left side with justin and aldon smith

also ray mac who has been dealing with injuries along with broks should not be overlooked



of course its no certainty but i think we can et some pressure on brees- and we will be in nickel cverage for almost all the game leaving 7 guys in coverage while pressuring 4 or 5

on offense we lack weapons but gore is a beast saints run D is far from stellar

also alex smith is very underrated by other teams- he has the third best passer rating against the blitz and may be the smartet qb in nfl - he will be able to make the pre read adjustments hopefully able to pick apart the secondary

i am scared of the amount of weapons you have but i belive you are built for the turf

the saints only have a 22% TD conversion rate in RZ

we are the best RZ team only allowing TD 25% time

im not going to wish the saints good luck)

but no injuries hope its a fair game (no bs penalties)

No doubt SF has a great D, but I think it's gonna take more than 6 in the box to stop their run game. No the saints r not gonna rush for 150 in this game but they have 3 very capable backs. Although the smiths r very talented, bushrod our left tackle is no stranger to facing elite pass rushers, for example JPP , J abraham and sack leader J Allen. Niether one recorded a sack against him. Another thing the saints do very well is chipping with tight ends and running backs. I def respect the 9ers D however the saints can protect drew brees. If drew protects the ball against SF ball hawk D the saints should have no problem scoring 30+. Now ofcourse if drew throws a couple of picks or the saints have a few fumbles then it will be a different story. I'm more concerned about turnovers than SF being able to shut down the saints offense.

It should be a great game.