Helmet in hand,
Deuce McAllister jogged
triumphantly into the tunnel of
the Louisiana Superdome past
celebrating Saints fans howling
his name. Then came another
thrill.
McAllister’s childhood idol,
former San Francisco running
back Roger Craig, called to
congratulate him on his first
validating performance since his
second knee reconstruction.
“I talked to my hero,”
McAllister said. “He told me he
was proud of me.”
San Francisco’s shaky run
defense had trouble stopping
McAllister’s power running and
New Orleans avoided an
early-season hole with a 31-17
victory on Sunday.
The Saints’ all-time leading
rusher hardly looked like he was
playing on two reconstructed
knees when he bowled over
tacklers for first downs, moved
the pile or dived over it for
his first touchdown of the
season...
Drew Brees passed to Lance Moore to the left for 5 yard
gain (Martin Gramatica made PAT)
3 - 7
3:00
NO
TD
Drew Brees passed to Lance Moore to the right for 33
yard gain (Martin Gramatica made PAT)
3 - 14
1:44
SF
FG
Joe Nedney kicked a 49-yard field goal
6 - 14
0:52
NO
TD
Drew Brees passed to Robert Meachem to the right for 47
yard gain (Martin Gramatica made PAT)
6 - 21
3rd Quarter
10:18
SF
FG
Joe Nedney kicked a 38-yard field goal
9 - 21
4th Quarter
11:23
NO
TD
Deuce McAllister rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
(Martin Gramatica made PAT)
9 - 28
4:08
SF
TD
J.T. O'Sullivan passed to Isaac Bruce to the right for 5
yard gain (2pt attempt converted, J.T. O'Sullivan pass to Frank Gore)
17 - 28
0:27
NO
FG
Martin Gramatica kicked a 31-yard field goal
17 - 31
Team Statistics
SF
NO
First Downs
19
21
Passing
12
11
Rushing
4
6
Penalty
3
4
Third Down Efficiency
3-10
5-10
Fourth Down Efficiency
1-1
0-1
TOTAL NET YARDS
312
467
Total Plays
61
67
Average Gain Per Play
5.1
7.0
NET YARDS RUSHING
91
104
Rushes
19
32
Average Per Rush
4.8
3.3
NET YARDS PASSING
221
363
Completions-Attempts
18-36
23-35
Yards Per Pass Play
5.3
10.4
Times Sacked
6
0
Yards Lost to Sacks
36
0
Had Intercepted
2
1
PUNTS
3
3
Average Punt
41.0
30.7
PENALTIES
9
13
Penalty Yards
63
123
FUMBLES
1
1
Fumbles Lost
1
1
TIME OF POSSESSION
27:05
32:55
Pregame Previews, Storylines,
and News
New Page 1
Preview:
The Saints have lost two in a row, at Washington and at Denver,
but played well enough to win both games in extremely hostile venues. Now they
get some home cooking in the dome.
A revamped offense has given the San Francisco 49ers reason to
be optimistic. Despite having an even more prolific attack than the 49ers, the
New Orleans Saints are having a harder time finding the bright side of the
season's first three weeks.
The new-look 49ers look to win three straight games for the first time in nearly
two years on Sunday when they visit the Saints, who hope to bounce back from
close losses in their last two games...more
Inside the Game Plans:
Notable:
49ERS: The
49ers' pass defense has been outstanding through the first three games
in games against Arizona's Kurt Warner, Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck and
Detroit's Jon Kitna. The 49ers are holding the opposition to a passer
rating of 59.3, with just 160.7 yards passing per game. Offensively, the
49ers will stick to what they've been doing on offense. That means
offensive coordinator Mike Martz will try to feed the ball to running
back Frank Gore, while also mixing in the passing of quarterback J.T.
O'Sullivan...FULL
STORY
SAINTS: Since
the 49ers rank seventh in pass defense in allowing just 160.7 yards per
game, the Saints may try to get their running game going to try and open
things up for Drew Brees and his banged-up receiving corps. The only
problem is Brees, who is coming off a monster game at Denver, will
likely be without his two top wide receivers and top two tight ends...FULL
STORY
The Saints have beaten
the 49ers four straight times, scoring over 30 points in each of those
contests. San Francisco's last win over New Orleans was January 6, 2002
by the score of 38-0
J.T.
O'Sullivan has been sacked a league-leading 13 times already in 2008.
The Niners' new quarterback also has eight completions of 25 or more
yards in 2008. San Francisco had just 10 such completions all of last
season
An overdue lucky bounce or
two and some home cooking should
get New Orleans past the
improved 49ers, but 6 points is
too many. Unless the line goes
down to around 3 take the 49ers.
49ers-Saints Injury Updates
Niners Nation, CA
One important issue for the Saints is the 4-game
suspension of left guard Jamar Nesbit for violating the steroid policy. It
sounds like rookie Carl Nicks ...
49ers-Saints: What does this game mean to the 49ers?
Examiner.com - Sep 25, 2008
A road win at a usually popular Saints team would give
the 49ers some serious national credibility. For now, people see the
49ers as 2-1 and think they're ...
14.5
14.1