Saints on grass

[Flyingiguana]

it was happening earlier in the season where someone would be in smith's face once he turns his head to look downfield.

 

[MrChangoT97]

Homefield advantage will have a effect on the 49ers WINNING!

 

[deep9er]

I hope they don't just give it away but the season has been great and if the better team wins I can't get upset. I think it is just the 49ers' bad luck that they are running into the hottest team in the league for their first playoff game. The Niners did everything possible to get the best advantage they could in the playoffs; that they got unlucky enough to catch the Saints first is just the way the chips fell.

yep.

regarding "unlucky enough to catch the Saints", yeah, we all respect their passing offense. but for me, all the play-off teams would be tough games anyway.

in a sense, we already 'avoided' one tough team by having the bye. to reach the SB, you can't keep avoiding tough teams.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

That hot team is O.K. That hot team might not be playing next week if the Lions hold onto at least two of those picks. You see, the thing about Brees is that he'll give you some chances to beat him, you just have to take advantage of it, in Lions case hold onto the picks. We won't drop those picks, plus we'll bring more pressure. The Saints also aren't that good against the pass and will be looking at film of the preseason. You know they are going to try their hand with the blitz. Harbaugh and Roman know this and will be getting the ball out of Smith's hand in under 2 seconds. Our biggest thing will be to hold onto the passes. If we can do that then we'll basically be playing keep away from a great offense. We are capable of executing this plan and sending the Saints marching back to N.O. with a loss. The playaction pass will be our bestfriend that day.

The fact that the Saints blitz a lot concerns me. Our offensive line has shown no aptitude to be able to pick up blitz schemes. They've really struggled against teams that blitz. As for them bringing more pressure than the Lions did, I sure hope so. Ndamokung Suh has got to be the easist player to block in the league. He is so stupid.

 

[deep9er]

The fact that the Saints blitz a lot concerns me. Our offensive line has shown no aptitude to be able to pick up blitz schemes. They've really struggled against teams that blitz. As for them bringing more pressure than the Lions did, I sure hope so. Ndamokung Suh has got to be the easist player to block in the league. He is so stupid.

ANY team blitzing us is a concern, same as if we blitz back.

we've gone thru their blitz in pre-season, the Ravens, the Cardinals (similar style D as Steelers), and the Steelers themselves. if we haven't learned anything by now, we deserve to lose.

IMO they HAVE gotten better and it won't be like that pre-season game. its not only the O-line, pass protect involves the TE's and RB as well.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

It's hard to blitz when you have to tread water. Soak that field!

In honesty the blitzes don't concern me. Think they will be anticipated like early in the year after that pre-season game. Think we ran into trouble later in the year when blitzes weren't expected as much and caught the offense off guard.

Wouldn't be surprised to see a Balt style three step drop short pass attack to start the game. If Alex can hit a deep sideline pass early it could potentially be a game changer. That's probably my biggest concern that he air-mails those opportunities with playoff nerves.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Brees is going to shred the 49ers secondary. This is a secondary that was only 5th in the NFL in holding opposing QBs to a 73.6 passer rating. They only ranked 2nd in the NFL with 23 interceptions. And their pass rush, they barely ranked 7th with 42 sacks.

As for Smith, he has to contend with a defense that ranked 19th in sacks and 28 in interceptions. When you think of Smith, who had the least amount of interceptions in the NFL with 5, having to throw against a defense that intercepted 9 passes all year, it's down right scary

Well-executed.

 

[tzill]

ANY team blitzing us is a concern, same as if we blitz back.

we've gone thru their blitz in pre-season, the Ravens, the Cardinals (similar style D as Steelers), and the Steelers themselves. if we haven't learned anything by now, we deserve to lose.

IMO they HAVE gotten better and it won't be like that pre-season game. its not only the O-line, pass protect involves the TE's and RB as well.

There's that word that keeps coming up, every time one of you guys quotes the CONCERN TROLL.

Weird.

 

[Yadahell]

Wouldn't be surprised to see a Balt style three step drop short pass attack to start the game. If Alex can hit a deep sideline pass early it could potentially be a game changer. That's probably my biggest concern that he air-mails those opportunities with playoff nerves.

Smith seems to play better at home. You typically don't see as many high passes there. His QB rating at home was 99.8 during the regular season. I'm hoping its that good or better on Saturday afternoon.

 

[jordan20_3]

guess we should forget to mow the lawn that week. have some horses run around the field for a bit. that should slow them down, heck sproles might even fall into a hole in the field

LMAO

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Smith seems to play better at home. You typically don't see as many high passes there. His QB rating at home was 99.8 during the regular season. I'm hoping its that good or better on Saturday afternoon.

His QBR is much better at home, too. I'm still somewhat skeptical of QBR, but in Smith's case given the high number of sacks he has taken, I think it's a more accurate measure than pure rating.

Smith's individual home QBRs are 71.2, 41.4, 98.2, 87.2, 67.7, 69.5, 68.7, and 79.0. Even by the less forgiving QBR standard, Smith is a pro bowl QB at home, with only one game below average. Four of his eight road games resulted in numbers under 30.

QBR ranks: Smith, Skelton step up - NFC West Blog - ESPN

 

[Kinzu]

I will say the Saints scare me more than any other team in the NFC playoffs, and maybe I'm crazy but a re-match with the Giants concerns me more than a match with Green Bay. If we can beat the Saints I like our chances with Green Bay, but the Giants seem to be clicking and they can hit the big plays on offense and play better D than either the Packers or Saints.

With that said I would still much rather play the NFC Championship game at home than on the road.

 

[MW49ers5]

I will say the Saints scare me more than any other team in the NFC playoffs, and maybe I'm crazy but a re-match with the Giants concerns me more than a match with Green Bay. If we can beat the Saints I like our chances with Green Bay, but the Giants seem to be clicking and they can hit the big plays on offense and play better D than either the Packers or Saints.

With that said I would still much rather play the NFC Championship game at home than on the road.

Looking at the Saints & 49ers by the numbers the game appears to be a coin flip. I'm with you on the Giants sentiment - they looked dominant in their win over Atlanta.

 

[CalamityX11]

Got to be positive this week, work is hell already....

Got to believe... we will hurt Drew.... we will....

 

[deep9er]

I will say the Saints scare me more than any other team in the NFC playoffs, and maybe I'm crazy but a re-match with the Giants concerns me more than a match with Green Bay. If we can beat the Saints I like our chances with Green Bay, but the Giants seem to be clicking and they can hit the big plays on offense and play better D than either the Packers or Saints.

With that said I would still much rather play the NFC Championship game at home than on the road.

i respect New Orleans but they don't "scare" me, because we're not playing in New Orleans.

yep, the Giants have more defense (ie pressure) and a better run game than Green Bay. Eli isn't consistently hot like Rodgers, but he isn't a slouch either. their passing game can be very good too.

Green Bay has a bad defense (statistically anyway), so although heavy dogs i give the Giants a 45/55 shot.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

i respect New Orleans but they don't "scare" me, because we're not playing in New Orleans.

yep, the Giants have more defense (ie pressure) and a better run game than Green Bay. Eli isn't consistently hot like Rodgers, but he isn't a slouch either. their passing game can be very good too.

Green Bay has a bad defense (statistically anyway), so although heavy dogs i give the Giants a 45/55 shot.

Really? Sounds a little like whistling past the graveyard to me. Not fearing the Saints is a little like not fearing a grizzly bear.

 

[h-hour]

Really? Sounds a little like whistling past the graveyard to me. Not fearing the Saints is a little like not fearing a grizzly bear.

Call me Chuck Norris, but they dont worry me half as much on grass as they do in their dome.

 

[deep9er]

Really? Sounds a little like whistling past the graveyard to me. Not fearing the Saints is a little like not fearing a grizzly bear.

well, we know FOR SURE you're scared stiff, and have been since Saturday.

football has three Units and offense if further broken down into run and pass. if you choose to "shake in your boots" about their passing game, your choice.

again, i respect them but we're not in New Orleans.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

well, we know FOR SURE you're scared stiff, and have been since Saturday.

football has three Units and offense if further broken down into run and pass. if you choose to "shake in your boots" about their passing game, your choice.

again, i respect them but we're not in New Orleans.

I wish I shared your optimism.

 

[h-hour]

I know most will say Im whining when I say this but...the one thing that does concern me is how many bs calls will the saints get in this one? Ive seen it too many times this year where the fan-favorites or, in the saints case, 'feel good story/boo hoo hoo story' teams are getting calls their way. It happened the other night with the Saints, its happens non-stop with the Steelers (though it didnt help them the other night), and it happens with the Packers as well. My concern is we cut this too close and some bs call comes back and bites us in the ass.