The Saints’ dramatic 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday abruptly ended a stellar season in which many prognosticated the Saints would reach the Super Bowl. Saturday’s loss was arguably one of the most dramatic playoff games in NFL history, with four lead changes in the last five minutes. Here’s the breakdown on how the Saints various units fared.
Passing Offense: B
Drew Brees torched a much-vaunted San Francisco defense for 465 yards and four touchdown passes. His leading receiver was running back Darren Sproles, who had a post-season record 15 catches for 119 yards and one touchdown. Tight end Jimmy Graham contributed two touchdown catches, including a 66-yard breakaway that gave the Saints the lead with 1:30 to go. Marques Colston snagged nine balls for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Despite the big yardage totals, the Saints had some issues in the air. Brees was intercepted twice, sacked three times and hurried often. The Saints offensive line had problems containing an aggressive San Francisco defensive line.
Rushing Offense: D
The Saints recorded their worst game rushing of the entire season on Saturday, gaining only 37 yards on 14 carries. Three early turnovers, in addition to Pierre Thomas being injured on a helmet-to-helmet hit early in the first quarter, made it tough for the Saints to establish momentum on the ground. The 49ers ferocious running defense, led by linebacker Patrick Willis, allowed little yardage when the Saints did run. The Saints largest rushing play from scrimmage was only 7 yards.
Saints Rushing Defense: C-
The 49ers rushing attack, lead by running backs Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter, came into Saturday’s game ranked number 8 in the NFL in rushing yardage, averaging over 127 yards per game.
On Saturday, they bested that number, picking up 143 yards on 22 carries. All-pro running back Frank Gore led the way, bruising the Saints defense for 89 yards on 13 carries, including a 42-yard run. However, the Saints biggest failure defending the run game came not against Gore, but on quarterback Alex Smith’s 28-yard QB keeper that gave the 49ers the lead in the 4th quarter.
Saints Passing Defense: C-
The weakest element on San Francisco’s attack this year has been their passing game. While quarterback Alex Smith has had the best year of his career, his role has been mostly as a game manager and he had only thrown 17 touchdown passes all year.
On Saturday, the Saints defense frustrated Smith for most of the game, applying constant pressure and sacking him four times. However, they were unable to cover 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, who torched the secondary for 180 yards on seven catches and two touchdowns (including the game winning score).
After Jimmy Graham’s touchdown and the subsequent two-point conversion put the Saints ahead by three with 1:27 left, the 49ers marched down the field and scored. The key play, a 41-yard pass to Vernon Davis, exploited the Saints aggressiveness and inability to cover one-on-one deep in the secondary.
Special Teams : D
Both Courtney Roby and Darren Sproles coughed up costly fumbles, taking the offense off the field and generating points for the 49ers. The Saints averaged a woeful 11.8 yards on kickoff returns and only 9.7 yards on punt returns. The much-heralded 49ers special teams unit lived up to its reputation, creating poor field position for the Saints throughout the afternoon.
Coaching C-
It’s hard to fault the Saint’s offensive game plan. Though they didn’t spend much time attempting to establish the run, the numerous early turnovers and the injury to Pierre Thomas made it difficult to creative a solid ground game.
However, Greg Williams’s failure to dial up defensive packages to stop the 49ers after the offensive had given the Saints two fourth-quarter leads was extremely disappointing. Smith was not even touched on his 28-yard touchdown scamper, a designed quarterback sweep from a slow-footed quarterback that caught the defense completely off-guard. Additionally, Williams’s decision to blitz Smith on the 49ers last drive ended up being disastrous, as it allowed Davis to beat the Saints for a 41-yard gain.
