Saints vs. 49ers: New Orleans Visits San Francisco in Weekend's Best Game

The New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers could not be more different. Other than identical 13-3 regular-season records, there is virtually nothing about these two teams that is similar.

The Saints will travel to San Francisco for a Divisional Round matchup on Saturday in what is definitely the most intriguing matchup of this round of the playoffs. 

We all know how the Saints win football games: They rely on quarterback Drew Brees and his incredible offense to pick teams apart, while mixing in enough running plays to keep the defense honest. New Orleans was almost perfect offensively in the opening round of the playoffs against the Detroit Lions, as Brees threw for a ridiculous 466 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-28 win.

While New Orleans had the NFL's top offense during the regular season (averaging 467.1 yards per game), it was a far more balanced unit than you might expect. The Saints had the league's top passing offense (334.2 yards per game) but also ranked sixth in rushing yards (132.9 per game), while finishing second in scoring (34.2 points per game). 

Thanks to the litany of weapons at his disposal, Brees has been incredible this season and has led the Saints to nine consecutive victories. 

On the other side, the San Francisco has won this season thanks to an outstanding running game and solid defense. Jim Harbaugh's team has been phenomenal at stopping the run this season, leading the NFL in rushing defense by allowing just 77.3 yards per game. 

Offensively the 49ers have won games by grinding opponents down with their running game, led by veteran Frank Gore. San Francisco finished the season ranked eighth in rushing offense, averaging 127.8 yards per game. Thanks to that production on the ground, quarterback Alex Smith has rarely been asked to do too much.

The 49ers passing offense ranked 29th in the NFL at just 183.1 yards per game, but it simply didn't need to be better than that.

The clash in styles between these two teams should be fascinating. If it turns into a shootout, the 49ers simply won't be able to keep up. But if San Francisco turns it into a grind-it-out, time-of-possession-focused game, they could have the upper hand.

I can't wait to see how this one turns out.