SAN FRANCISCO — Drew Brees piled up points, yards and accolades in a record-setting season for the New Orleans Saints. Much of the time, Alex Smith did just enough to get the San Francisco 49ers back in the playoffs for the first time in nine years while a dominant defense and kicking game did the rest.
Everybody is curious to see which of the contrasting styles works best in a classic playoff matchup.
Does that old notion that defense wins championships still hold up these days?
“We’re going to find out,” 49ers punter Andy Lee said.
Brees and the Saints (14-3) come to sold-out Candlestick Park today riding a nine-game winning streak after gaining 600 yards in each of their last two games, including a playoff-record 626 yards in last Saturday night’s 45-28 win over the Detroit Lions. Brees threw for 466 yards and completed 33-of-43 passes.
Since the merger in 1970, a team had gained 600 yards in a game only 11 times in the regular season or playoffs before the Saints did it the past two weeks.
The San Francisco defense knows it will have to keep Brees off the field and pressure him at every chance to slow down these Saints.
“They’re built a little bit differently. They’re typically a lot bigger, they’re more physical,” Brees said. “You look at them statistically, No. 1 against the run, they’re putting all kinds of pressure on the quarterback. … They rarely miss tackles.”
The fact that Lee is such an important figure for the 49ers shows just how different these teams are. The Saints didn’t punt once in their playoff opener.
San Francisco (13-3) also relied on David Akers’ single-season NFL record of 44 field goals to return to the playoffs under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers stunned the New York Giants 39-38 at home in the NFC wild-card game in January 2003.
“This is a game where the better defense will definitely win the game,” New Orleans linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar said. “It’s about us stopping them from doing whatever they want to do. They have to play a different brand of ball, and we have to play good in all three phases of the game.”
San Francisco’s dominant D has no flashy nickname, just a balanced attack featuring all-pro defensive tackle Justin Smith, rookie Aldon Smith and talented linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. And, in the secondary, Carlos Rogers and safety Dashon Goldson have six interceptions apiece.
“With two good defenses, I don’t think it’s going to be high scoring,” Rogers said. “That’s what everybody wants to see because it’s the Saints. We don’t give up a lot of points.”
The Saints scored three rushing touchdowns against the Lions, two by Darren Sproles and another from Pierre Thomas. That’s as many as San Francisco gave up during the season, all in the last two games.
New Orleans is a three-point favorite and can already envision that premier matchup with the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game next weekend. Yet Saints coach Sean Payton insists his team found out the hard way last year and doesn’t want to fall in another upset after losing the wild-card game to the Seattle Seahawks.
“When you finish the season and you finish with a tough loss, that’s something you remember and you really remember forever,” Payton said. “There are certain things you learn from. You understand the finality of this time of the year, and you never take things for granted.”
The 49ers plan to stick with what got them this far. They should be fresh and healthy after a week off as the NFC’s No. 2 seed.
