[warriorfan707]

Drew Brees on the road

Drew Brees is a different QB on the road than he is in his pleasant little Dome in New Orleans. Especially on grass. If you think Brees is really going to light up the best defense in football in their own stadium on wet grass, please feel free to get your head examined.

Running game and Time of Possession

Theres no way in Hell the Saints will be able to run the ball. The Niners on the other hand, will run at will and control the time of possession and will also find a way to win the Turnover battle like they always do. This offense runs short passes to complement their balanced running attack. Crabtree, Williams,Ginn, Davis, Walker and Gore are all effective receivers and dont drop passes. The O-Line should do a good job of protecting a surprisingly effective Smith and giving him enough time to get the ball to his playmakers, as they methodically move the chains.

Special Teams

The Niners special teams is far and away superior to the Saints. Andy Lee is the best punter in the league, David Akers the best kicker in the league. Ted Ginn is one of the fastest men in the NFL and can break one at any given time.

Rest and Game Preparation

The Saints are travelling West on a short week after their mauling of the Lions. The Niners on the other hand are well rested and have been preparing for Brees and Company, and you can bet your ass Jim Harbaugh has some tricks up his sleeve that he hasnt even unleashed yet this season. The Niners have had 2 weeks off to sit at home and prepare for Drew Brees and the Saints. Can you think of anyone better than Jim Harbaugh for the task?

The Candlestick Factor

Im probably the biggest Niners fan on this site. I can tell you the final score of every playoff game since 1987 off the top of my head. I will tell you this. Winning at Candlestick is no easy task, for anyone. The Niners have not had a playoff game in 9 years and the stadium and the fans will be in an absolute frenzy. It is a historic, legendary place with as much magic inside as the Old Yankee Stadium. Teams come here, and in the month of January they just dont win. Its one of the toughest places to play in the league.

Defense Defense Defense

The Niners have the best Defense in the NFL. They suffocate the run, get to the quarterback, and Willis and Bowman are hands and away the best Linebacker Duo in the NFL. Aldon and Justin Smith will be able to disrupt Brees enough and take away the big plays from the Saints. And we all know they won't be able to run the ball. That doesn't leave very much for the Saints.

#21, Frank Gore and Vernon Davis

People talk about the Niners defense, but they forget about these 2 Pro Bowlers.This is their first playoff game and to say they will be fired up is a massive understatement. The Saints are going to have their hands full with Gore big time. I look for him to run for well over 100 yards. And you can bet Harbaugh has some tricks for the Saints when they will be anticipating the run. Can you say Play Action to Vernon Davis?

Prediction:

In the end, the better team will win. And the better team is the Niners. Better defense, more balanced, better coaching, playing at home on grass with 2 weeks for Harbaugh to prepare them. The Saints lost in Tampa this season. They are nowhere near the same team they are on the road as they are in their dome. The Niners only lost one game at home all year, to Dallas in OT. And they really shouldnt even have lost that game. This is a monumental opportunity to slam the Niners ML at +170. +170 is laughable, you are getting the better team and their genius head coach at home against a squad travelling west on a short week.

Niners ML to the bank.

[dontazeme1]

[PAULYPOKER]

They could beat them but I would not bet on it..............25% chance

[Goat Milk]

Ginn is better than Sproles? No chance.

Harb is a genius coach? I would say that Sean Payton is the genius if anything. Send that scrub back to college football. NFL is the big leagues and he is not ready just like his brother wasn't when he came to Balty.

Lastly, I would like to hear from an NFL expert on this board about this matchup. I read your whole writeup and its not good at all because you don't address New Orleans offense or defense only talk about SF which shows you're not being objective and no one can take your writeup seriously.

[visualrealism]

Niners!!!!

[kingz]

you make some good points in your post, but I dont see how Smith is going to outscore Brees

[suicidekings]

You do make a lot of valid points, however:

Your Offensive Line is not very good... Smith has elevated his game significantly this year but is still very vulnerable to an amped up Greg Williams blitz package (He got sacked 44 times this season) because the Niners still don't protect him well. The Niners' running backs do a good job of moving laterally and turning the corner, making them difficult to predict & contain, but they're not really a classic power formation crew that depends heavily on run blocking from the OL. That's actually both a good and bad thing depending on situation. Personally, I'd rather have a power running game.

This is also not a short week as the Saints played on Saturday, so they're not missing out on a day this week.

Your time of possession argument doesn't really hold as the Saints and Niners avg TOP differs by 9 seconds per game. Ball control and a consistent running game are great, but the Saints are the #1 team in the NFL in 3rd down conversion by a substantial margin. They keep drives alive.

And following that: In Special Teams, the NO punter, Morstead is one of the best in the NFL. His average is about 2.5 yards shorter than Andy Lee, and his numbers in most categories aren't among the leaders for the simple reason that New Orleans punted less than any other team in the NFL this year, only 47 times vs the Niners' 78. On Kickoffs, John Kasay converts about 65% (68/104) of his kicks to touchbacks, compared to Akers' roughly 50% (47/93). In returns, Sproles and Ginn are fairly comparable, however if you'll look deeper, you'll notice that kickers/punters often go out of their way to avoid kicking to Sproles. This is not by accident.

Finally, the SF defense is obviously great with the talent you listed above, but your pass rush is actually ranked 22nd in Sack % while the Saints OL is ranked #3 in pass protection and features 3 pro-bowler offensive linemen. Brees was only sacked 24 times this season in 657 pass attempts, so I think you're really overvaluing SF's chances of really disrupting him in the pocket.

I think this game is FAR from the easy win you're describing it as...

[thebestthereis]

If Alex Smith pulls a Teebow may so because Gore will go nowhere.

[warriorfan707]

Harb is a genius coach? I would say that Sean Payton is the genius if anything. Send that scrub back to college football. NFL is the big leagues and he is not ready just like his brother wasn't when he came to Balty.

[IMG]http://aruetiise.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/youre-*******-retarded.jpg[/IMG]

[Big Bear]

public is pounding the 49ers. Don't be a square

[stevenash]

^
It's hip to be square

[Big Bear]

i'm kidding. I'm actually trying to not read as much into line movement anymore and just go with who I "personally " think will win.


last night you could say the line movement told you Bama was going to win.

but if you think back to Sunday in the Michigan vs Wisconsin college b-ball game Michigan was +1 and moved to +2 before tip off and then Michigan ended up winning pretty easy. Everyone on SBR said its trap and the RLM pointed to Wisconsin being the play.

So basically all i'm saying is you can't read too much into line movement and this whole sharp/square thing

[dlunc3]

short week? better head coach? how many superbowls does harbaugh have compared to his opponent? Weird how you didnt bring up the most important position on the field, where the niners have a guy with 0 playoff experience playing... better team? who did the niners beat that are worth anything this yr? the lions who the saints just smashed? the giants by 1 possession, who the saints beat by 25? pitt without big ben? cincy who just got smashed by a rookie qb? The saints have more wins, that were notably more convincing, vs more playoff teams..

you brought up that the saints lost to tampa, but failed to mention that the niners lost to arizona... Saints showed up on the road week 1 and barely lost in GB vs the defending champs, and also showed up week 13 in a hostel environment in Atlanta and took care of business.. if you think they show up unprepared on the road this week like they did vs tampa, you have another thing coming..

So can you please explain the short week, better head coach, and better team aspect? Before even bringing up the Alex Smith 0 experience factor?

[GamblerSpirit]

shut up dunce. Go back to talking about how your lame eagles are going to make the playoffs.

[dlunc3]

You do make a lot of valid points, however:

Your Offensive Line is not very good... Smith has elevated his game significantly this year but is still very vulnerable to an amped up Greg Williams blitz package (He got sacked 44 times this season) because the Niners still don't protect him well. The Niners' running backs do a good job of moving laterally and turning the corner, making them difficult to predict & contain, but they're not really a classic power formation crew that depends heavily on run blocking from the OL. That's actually both a good and bad thing depending on situation. Personally, I'd rather have a power running game.

This is also not a short week as the Saints played on Saturday, so they're not missing out on a day this week.

Your time of possession argument doesn't really hold as the Saints and Niners avg TOP differs by 9 seconds per game. Ball control and a consistent running game are great, but the Saints are the #1 team in the NFL in 3rd down conversion by a substantial margin. They keep drives alive.

And following that: In Special Teams, the NO punter, Morstead is one of the best in the NFL. His average is about 2.5 yards shorter than Andy Lee, and his numbers in most categories aren't among the leaders for the simple reason that New Orleans punted less than any other team in the NFL this year, only 47 times vs the Niners' 78. On Kickoffs, John Kasay converts about 65% (68/104) of his kicks to touchbacks, compared to Akers' roughly 50% (47/93). In returns, Sproles and Ginn are fairly comparable, however if you'll look deeper, you'll notice that kickers/punters often go out of their way to avoid kicking to Sproles. This is not by accident.

Finally, the SF defense is obviously great with the talent you listed above, but your pass rush is actually ranked 22nd in Sack % while the Saints OL is ranked #3 in pass protection and features 3 pro-bowler offensive linemen. Brees was only sacked 24 times this season in 657 pass attempts, so I think you're really overvaluing SF's chances of really disrupting him in the pocket.

I think this game is FAR from the easy win you're describing it as...

[dlunc3]

shut up dunce. Go back to talking about how your lame eagles are going to make the playoffs.

lol and keep rooting on your tebow...way to jump on that bandwagon.. that guy is gonna be a backup this time next yr, followed by the mission field in Africa the next yr... gl with that

[warriorfan707]

shut up dunce. Go back to talking about how your lame eagles are going to make the playoffs.

This fukking clown should have his posting revoked. What a moronic fruitcake.

[dlunc3]

with all the rule changes, this is a qbs league now... stop the run all you want, it wont matter..when you are against a qb like brees, you better be able to trade punches.. just as the saints and packers rolled the last two years, an offense led by brees, rodgers or brady will roll again this year

[dlunc3]

This fukking clown should have his posting revoked. What a moronic fruitcake.

says the guy who calls a 7 day week a "short week" and a first yr head coach better then a head coach with a sb ring

keep pounding the blazers second half and telling everyone to put their souls on it

[dlunc3]

ill just say it now while im here so i dont need to stop back in after the game Saturday...

Warriorfan BURIED once again

[Holeaway]

Go Niners

[GamblerSpirit]

The Niners will most likely water down the field and literally slow down the Saints' passing attack on that muddy field. I am rooting for the Saints to get smashed.

[warriorfan707]

ill just say it now while im here so i dont need to stop back in after the game Saturday...

Warriorfan BURIED once again

sure whatever loser

[dlunc3]

way to dodge the points brought up that you have no answer to

[GamblerSpirit]

way to dodge the points brought up that you have no answer to

Who the hell takes you seriously after you were proclaiming the Eagles to go the playoffs after their abysmal start...Do everyone a favor and STFU.

[warriorfan707]

Just ignore this assclown. Doesnt have 200 bucks to become an SBR Pro. Hes a broke loser.

[dlunc3]

you realize your little broncos had the same record right? yet they got lucky the last few weeks of the season to get in? if the giants lost to the jets, the eagles also would have been in the playoffs... yet teams would have actually feared them... pats are rejoicing this weekend knowing little tebow is on his way

[dlunc3]

there is your screenshot for the winner this Saturday... will be adding more shortly

sorry i have better things to do with my time then trying to become the coveted "SBR PRO" and compile points keep wagering your points on the niners this weekend... luckily for you they are free... ill collect my money from my book and even send you a few bucks if needed..

[warriorfan707]

GTFO Noob

[dlunc3]

here you go big boy

[GamblerSpirit]

you realize your little broncos had the same record right? yet they got lucky the last few weeks of the season to get in? if the giants lost to the jets, the eagles also would have been in the playoffs... yet teams would have actually feared them... pats are rejoicing this weekend knowing little tebow is on his way

Dude, you root for Philly teams. You're the scum of the earth in a town voted as THE UGLIEST CITY IN AMERICA and you're being lead by one of the most hated criminals to play in NFL. You WISH Tebow was your qb, but keep priding yourself on being a Philly fanatic. Zero superbowls and we were supposed to be afraid of the Eagles? lmao you really are a moron.

[dlunc3]

yea, philly wishes tebow was their qb

[dlunc3]

since you are both such high rollers and the niners are a lock, lets see your bets on them this week?

weird how you cant show a ticket huh?

[4TH AND STUPID]

Who the hell takes you seriously after you were proclaiming the Eagles to go the playoffs after their abysmal start...Do everyone a favor and STFU.

the eagles came pretty close all things considered, and wouldve been a legitimate playoff contender had they sneaked in.


he made the thread while they were down, and they almost came through.. i think it was a good call

[dlunc3]

the eagles came pretty close all things considered, and wouldve been a legitimate playoff contender had they sneaked in.


he made the thread while they were down, and they almost came through.. i think it was a good call

My claim was though they were 1-4, that the eagles would make the playoffs IF vick could stay healthy... they came pretty damn close, just one game out. If vick coulda stayed healthy, they prob woulda snuck in.. he unfortunately couldnt though, so my claim was wrong.. To be honest, I would make the same claim again today. After week 17, vegas had them #7 in the power rankings following the regular season. Im pleased with the team we have in philly right now, and look forward to big things next yr


either way... this thread is about saints/niners... not sure why philly is even in the discussion?