Saints-49ers: Will Mike Singletary's 49ers Stop Drew Brees?

From 1970-2001, the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers were division rivals in the former NFC West.

That term is used quite loosely. The Saints were more like the perennial punching bag, and the 49ers more like the heavyweight boxer with a mean left hook.

From the onset of the rivalry to the late '90s, the 49ers collected division titles and Super Bowl rings. The Saints turned losing seasons and paper bags into fashion trends.

But then 1999 came, the first year since 1979 that San Francisco didn’t have a Hall of Fame quarterback lining up behind center.

With no Montana or Young taking the snaps for the 49ers, the Saints have won eight of 11 and five straight games in the series.

This Monday the teams will meet in San Francisco for just the second time since 2002.

San Francisco will try to rebound from an embarrassing 31-6 loss against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 while New Orleans is looking to start the season 2-0 and prove there will be no Super Bowl slump in the Big Easy.

This matchup once seemed to be a precursor of what’s to come in the NFC playoffs, but some of its luster was lost just one week into the 2010 season.

The 49ers came into the season as the clear-cut favorite in the NFC West and a popular sleeper pick among football analysts, but a dismal showing against a weak division opponent has cleared some room on the San Francisco bandwagon.

For the Saints, this game lacks some of the excitement of the team’s Week 1 matchup with the Vikings.  There are no more inquiries on Brett Favre’s ankle or comparisons to last year’s NFC Championship Game.

The Saints-49ers game seemed to be just another football game on another Monday night. Until Mike Singletary opened his mouth.

The 49ers head coach dropped this classic sound bite on a radio interview with KPIX sports director Dennis O’Donnell: “We will not try to stop Drew Brees, we will stop Drew Brees.”

You have to appreciate the tenacity Singletary has to make this bold statement after the 49ers defense made Matt Hasselbeck and Mike Williams—yeah, that Mike Williams—look more like Tom Brady and Randy Moss.

This offense won’t rely on a wide receiver who has been out of the league for four years or a past-his-prime quarterback.

The Saints will unload an arsenal of weapons that might be unmatched in the league, and a gunslinger who lifted a team and entire city onto his shoulders in route to a Super Bowl Championship.

But Singletary probably watched tape of the Saints' Week 1 victory before proclaiming that Brees would be stopped. After all, New Orleans didn’t exactly set the world on fire with their offensive performance last week.

The Saints jumped out to a 7-0 lead after their first offensive series, marching down the field like General Custer. But the offense stagnated the rest of the first half.

New Orleans rushed the ball just three times, failing to establish a balanced offensive attack and making it blatantly obvious the team would rely on its passing game.

Brees was on target as usual, but when the Saints couldn’t put the ball in the end zone, the special teams unit couldn’t bail the offense out.

Garrett Hartley, the Saints kicker who sent the team to the Super Bowl, sent thousands of fantasy football fans into profanity-laced tirades when he missed two field goals.

The Superdome crowd that usually registers on the Richter scale was almost nonexistent by halftime. The seemingly unstoppable Saints had been held in check by the Vikings defense.

Or was it the Saints that held themselves back?

Brees may be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but it’s hard for any team to keep the opposing defense on its toes if they know what’s coming.

The Saints offense was like Lou Holtz picking Notre Dame: predictable.

That won’t work against the 49ers defense. Sure, they gave up 31 points to one of the worst teams in the league. But that game also took place in Seattle, one of the hardest places in the NFL to play.

Laying an egg in a tough environment doesn’t ensure the Saints a victory.

San Francisco’s defense was ranked No. 1 in 2009, and one bad week doesn’t negate the fact that Patrick Willis and company can wreak havoc, especially on predictable offenses.

The Saints run-pass ratio against Minnesota was 59-41, which was really a tale of two halves. It was pass, pass, pass. Then, it was run, run, run.

New Orleans needs to implement a better offensive game plan, one that finds a happy medium between its pass-heavy first quarter scoring drive and its 71-yard drive in the third quarter that saw Pierre Thomas wear down the Vikings defense on the way to a Saints’ touchdown.

Controlling the clock will be crucial in determining whether the Saints leave San Francisco with a 2-0 record in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.

The 49ers offense may not be as potent as it was in the 80s and 90s, but it won’t have a performance like it did against the Seahawks.

Although San Francisco fans are probably still wondering what would have been if the team drafted Aaron Rodgers instead of Alex Smith, the 49ers offense has legitimate threats at every offensive skill position.

Vernon Davis at tight end, Michael Crabtree at wide receiver, and Frank Gore at running back is a solid offensive core, albeit one that hasn’t really meshed well so far.

Still, the Saints defense will have its hands full with an offense that can’t possibly play any worse than it did last week.

Look for a motivated 49ers team that wants to show it belongs in the conversation with the upper echelon of the NFC and a New Orleans squad that doesn’t want to fall victim to a potential trap game.

Since this game is in San Francisco, it will be closer than people expect.

Special teams could play a critical part in how this game plays out. If Garrett Hartley can’t get back on track, he’ll have more to worry about than his fantasy football future.

Prediction

Saints, 24      

49ers, 17