This game left me optimistic about our chances in the postseason. (1 Viewer)

[sfbaysaint]

Cool. Not taking it personally. We lost today. No moral victories in this league. I am just saying what I see.

Undertand, I don't live and die with the Saints like I used to, so I guess a loss doesn't hurt as much for me. A lot has happened in my life to where a sports team can't ruin my week anymore. I can look at it more objectively now.

If the Saints are healthy, they are the only NFC team with a 1st ballot hall of fame QB. They have a top coach. They have the best wide receiver in the NFL. Their offensive and defensive lines are full on beasts. They have a pro bowl corner and ball hawking safety (Bell). They are deep as is evidenced by the fact that they can take the so called "best team" in the conference down to the wire with a ton of injuries and beat the "2nd best team" (Seattle) on the road with a back up QB.

So you tell me-- What am I missing?

Packers will have something to say about HOF qb. You are right, saints are a very good team but that got beat by a more complete team. Payton in his post game also said that he is frustrated by missed opportunities and missed assignments... but that is the thing. At this level, few plays make all the difference and saints were not ready.
The biggest surprise to the league today was the niners D got sliced and diced by a supposed sitting duck QB. Biggest surprise to saints fans was that niners scored 48 on the saints D.

 

[Zack Lee]

I'm mad about the loss but 49ers had to use trick plays to beat us. Their vaunted D couldn't stop what we have been running for 13 years.

had Cook not gotten knocked out I think we would have won. He was clearly the biggest part of our game plan today. And I don't have a problem with the trick plays. Shanahan called a fantastic game. But Sean will see that as a challenge and rise to the occasion next time up. You know what they say about how hard it is to beat a team twice in one season. Well we are not the ones in that position now.

 

[Dr. Sting]

Let's overreact to Week 14 in the NFL: The Super Bowl LIV chase is wide-open

Several teams have a legitimate shot at winning a title. The Broncos finally have their quarterback. It's time to overreact to Week 14.

www.espn.com

This ESPN article reinforces my point. This is how we are perceived nationally after the Niners game. This quote really sums it up--

"NEW ORLEANS -- You couldn't watch Sunday's breathless 49ers-Saints game without concluding that either of those teams could beat the other anywhere, anytime. This is an overreactions column, but that is most definitely not an overreaction."

 

[blackadder]

Well, when you think how bad the '17 and '18 seasons started off, how they played against Tampa and Fitzmagic and managed to correct course, it is certainly possible they can overcome the Jekyll and Hyde and play better.

We don't seem to have too many serious injuries so possible we will be pretty healthy.

But if you presume the refs back off or are not big factor, Kamara looks like he will be a shell of himself the rest of way and I'm not sure how to trust the defense to close out a victory in the playoffs.

 

[BooBirdSaint]

We are easily as good as any team in the NFL. There is a ton to be optimistic about. We turned on the offense in a game where the D struggled early. OL was excellent and even though the D struggled they didnt roll over. We have yet to play a game where the defense, offense and ST are all in sync.
The 9ers are likely the most complete team we've faced all season and we went toe to toe. I just hope that the team takes this loss personally and motivates them to elevate their game. If we end up being a road team in the playoffs we will need better results then we've seen in the Payton Brees era.

 

[kanona29]

We fought hard and had a real chance to win this game. We didn't get "destroyed" and this wasn't an "easy win" like the Whiners fans were saying it was going to be all week. I feel really good about the rest of the season if we can get some key players healthy.

Agree with OP's sentiments and this as well.

This game was nothing like I thought it would be...a real Thriller and fight to the end.

If we had the ball last, we would have won. Very equal match and exciting game.

I saw some folks say it was the Game of the Year.

Yes, we lost in the end but it was respectable showing. Some of our own fans on here thought we would get creamed.

Hard fought game, but someone had to lose.

This is one of the few losses where I still feeling highly positive about the overall bigger picture.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

I know this loss hurts, but hear me out. We put up 46 points against the best defense in the league without our starting tight end and a banged up O-line. for most of the game. Our defense had an off day (understatement) and there were some really questionable calls against us. We also had 2/3s of our LB corps out and the Niners came in healthy and Jimmy G had an atypical day that he's not likely to repeat. The Niners are really good. We were supposed to lose this game.

However, I don't believe the Niners can beat us twice, I don't care where we play them. When you have teams at this level it's damn near impossible to beat them twice. Look at what happened to us last year with the Rams. I am more concerned about having to go back to Seatlle to be perfectly honest.

This team is battle tested and the offense is starting to gel. Our D is the best it's been in years. When they heal up, they will return to form. Assuming we're healthy I feel strongly that we'll get them next time. Keep your heads up Who Dat Nation-- better times lie ahead.

We beat the Rams twice last season.

 

[Mississippi Saints Fan]

We haven't seen the D get burned so badly in quite a while. Hopefully it was just an off day. The best thing that could happen is they use this game as a learning experience and grow from it. If the offense keeps up what they are doing and the D gets back to form, we will be playoff ready for sure. When both sides are playing well, I don't know of a team that we can't beat. That said, it will be up to these guys to decide how far we go. There's reason for optimism, and hopefully the players feel the same way.

 

[saint_drago]

I'm mad about the loss but 49ers had to use trick plays to beat us.

They really threw the kitchen sink at us didn't they lol. My goodness. It was like watching a magic show. We tried some trick plays too but ours were more like "Wait, wut?" plays.

 

[RedStickBred]

Count me in as one of those who thought we were going to get killed. Two of our starting linebackers out, our FB out, oline riddled with injuries...and yet we were contenders. Even after Cook went out. If we can get healthy, i think we’ve got a good shot postseason.

 

[bernnjulie]

9'ers defensive game plan was to stop Kamara. Their DE's never tried to rush to the guard side of the OT; they maintained outside leverage in order to follow Kamara into the flat. Freakin' Bosa is a STUD. Also, they spied Kamara with #23 and #24 quite a bit. Sherman was man-to-man with Thomas, everyone played a shallow zone. That's why losing Cook really hurt--he was beating their zone coverage on the seam and post routes all day.

Even with all that,we still put a forty-burger on them, and they showed us their whole playbook.

 

[Saviorbrees]

Brees orchestrated a master piece and we manhandled the number one defense in the nfl by hanging 46 on them but yet you don’t hear a peep about that in the media because niners got the last second field goal win. Was a awesome game and we were in the losing end of it. And I know if I were a niner fan I wouldn’t want to play us again. Can’t wait for rematch when it counts.

 

[Saintsphere]

Who do you trust more in a rematch, Jimmy G or Drew Brees? All I heard all week it that their defense was licking their chops to play against a pocket QB. How did that work out for them?

They have over a decade of film on us and that's the best they got? We've seen their little tricks now. Bring it on.

Unfortunately, I've seen the Saints lose to Rex Grossman, Alex Smith, and Jared Goff, with Drew Brees on the other side. I can't subscribe to a "no way can *inferior QB* outduel Brees again* argument.

I do agree though that there's good reason to maintain optimism about our chances overall.

 

[insidejob]

had Cook not gotten knocked out I think we would have won. He was clearly the biggest part of our game plan today. And I don't have a problem with the trick plays. Shanahan called a fantastic game. But Sean will see that as a challenge and rise to the occasion next time up. You know what they say about how hard it is to beat a team twice in one season. Well we are not the ones in that position now.

Cook getting knocked out was probably the biggest factor on offense that contributed to losing the game. During the game they kept showing the fantasy leaders on the crawl at the bottom of the screen. Cook was #1 for a good portion of the game and only played like one quarter. He was obviously going to be a huge part of the overall game plan, both in getting targeted but also drawing coverage away from CGM and Kamara.

On defense, we obviously missed Alonso and Klein. That was extremely obvious. With those two playing, I think we'd have been able to limit Kittle more than we were. Robertson is a good backup and special teams ace, but that's what he is. He definitely leaves it all on the field, but he just doesn't have enough to begin with. Our front seven yesterday was really reduced to a front five and a half.

All in all, as depressed as I was yesterday after the loss and then having salt rubbed in the wound with Seattle losing, today I feel confident in this team being even more battle tested and capable of beating anyone, anywhere, if we can get close to back to full health. That includes Kamara. That high ankle and then knee sprain that he only missed two games for have to still be having an affect on him. I mean, we can see it with our own eyes. He's getting tackled by the first defender he encounters more often than not but still has the speed to get a big gain when he's got a huge hole to run through.

 

[insidejob]

Unfortunately, I've seen the Saints lose to Rex Grossman, Alex Smith, and Jared Goff, with Drew Brees on the other side. I can't subscribe to a "no way can *inferior QB* outduel Brees again* argument.

I do agree though that there's good reason to maintain optimism about our chances overall.

But those were in years where we had pitiful defenses. Had we had at least Klein or Alonso alongside Davis yesterday, I think our defense would have played much better. Our DL gets all the hype and publicity (well deserved) but our linebackers (when healthy as a group) take advantage of the benefits of having that defensive line doing their job.