Tonight, the San Francisco 49ers hosted the New Orleans in a crucial early-season statement battle for both teams.  Let’s breakdown the action:

First Quarter:

As the game started, things couldn’t have appeared any worse.  The Niners looked like a lamb being led to the slaughter in the game’s first few minutes.  After having a nice kickoff return voided by a holding penalty, the Saints stopped them cold on their first two downs.  On third down, Niners center David Baas commenced to audition for the long snapper position.  The former Michigan guard sailed the ball over quarterback Alex Smith’s head into the end zone.  Smith smartly slapped the football out of the end zone to avoid a touchdown recovery by the visitors, but the Niners already found themselves behind by a safety – and had to prepare to free kick to the Saints (which gave them the ball on a shortened field).

And as New Orleans does so well, it converted its first drive into seven points.  On a steady drive that featured running and passing balance, Drew Brees saw a mismatch as the Saints approached pay dirt.  On a second and goal at the San Francisco 6, Brees located Reggie Bush coming out of the backfield on a choice route – being covered by linebacker Patrick Willis.  Now Willis is a fine player, but there probably isn’t anyone who could cover Bush on a choice route.  Bush shook Willis and was on the receiving end of a 6-yard TD pass from Brees.

Meanwhile, for the vast majority of the first 15 minutes, the home team’s offense was on life support.  Alex Smith wasn’t even looking downfield, and because of that, power back Frank Gore couldn’t find any running lanes.  But the one bright spot for the Niners is that they prevented the Saints from putting any more points on the board.

Score: 9-0, New Orleans

Second Quarter:

As the game progressed, Alex Smith's confidence grew.

As the first quarter ended, Smith started to inch the ball down the field.  He completed a few passes to former Virgina Tech player Josh Morgan.  The 49ers had no confidence in looking downfield, so they adopted another philosophy – dump the ball off close to the line of scrimmage and let the receiver do the rest.  Thus, a momentum change came about, resulting in a 12-play, 82-yard drive that climaxed with a 12-yard TD reception for Gore.

The Niners defense continued to stifle Brees and the Saints.  San Fran came with some pressure to actually penetrate the New Orleans wall of protection around Brees and drop him for a sack. 

With the momentum clearly on their side, the Niners began to embark on another drive midway through the quarter.  They continued to employ the mix of power runs by Gore with short passes to move the ball into New Orleans territory.  With the Niners threatening to take the lead – either by touchdown or field goal – the Saints opportunistic defense came up with a huge play.  On a pass caught by back Delanie Walker, linebacker Jonathan Vilma stripped the ball loose and it was recovered by N.O.’s Malcolm Jenkins.

Score: 9-7, New Orleans

Third Quarter:

Although they experienced heartbreak to close the first half, the Niners kept the pressure on New Orleans.  In New Orleans’ opening series after the break, the 49ers held them in check.  The Saints converted a couple of third downs on the drive, but couldn’t overcome a second down sack by Willis, as he came unblocked through the offensive line.

Then, San Francisco took over – and instantly put the ball in the air.  Alex Smith’s newfound confidence was evident, as he connected with Michael Crabtree – and Crabtree gained several extra yards on the play after making a couple of members of the Saints secondary look foolish.  Smith then hit tight end Vernon Davis for a 41-yarder, carrying the Niners inside the New Orleans 10-yard line.  Three plays later the home team punched it over the goal line to surge ahead.

But in the ensuing possession, the Saints demonstrated the resiliency of a Super Bowl champion.  Brees carefully moved the ball down the field, mixing runs, passes and penalties in an attempt to regain control of the game.  The Saints did so successfully, as Brees ended the touchdown drive with a 4-yard pass to David Thomas.  And just like that, New Orleans was back on top.

The momentum shift continued as the quarter closed.  San Francisco was unable to convert on a third and eight, and punted.  But they made the mistake of not properly covering the punt, giving Bush time to survey his running lanes.  The dangerous special-teamer returned the kick 43 yards to set his team up with a short field to begin the game’s final 15 minutes.

Score: 16-14, New Orleans

Fourth Quarter:

In what was perhaps the most significant defensive series of the game for the Niners, they quickly defused any threat of a New Orleans touchdown.  But due to the good field position obtained by the punt return. Garrett Hartley nailed a 46-yard field goal to push the Saints advantage up to five with 13 minutes left in the contest.

A 30-yard reception by Marques Colston set up Hartley's game-winning kick.

From here on out, it’s more missed opportunities for the Niners.  They moved the ball down the filed admirably, only to see a tipped pass get intercepted by Tracy Porter.

San Francisco held the Saints offense at bay on a couple of different occasions in the quarter.  With five and a half minutes to go, they were on the receiving end of a punt by New Orleans.  The 49ers Phillip Adams muffed the punt, and it was promptly recovered by New Orleans Courtney Roby deep in San Francisco territory.  But once again, the Niners defense does what it can to keep them in the game.  They stuff the Saints at the goal line on third down, forcing N.O. to settle for three points - keeping the deficit at one possession with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation.

Alex Smith marches the Niners down the gridiron so cool and calm that - at least for that moment – he could have been mistaken for Joe Montana.  Finding the open man time after time.  And he also did his best impersonation of Michael Vick, escaping the Saints’ pass rush and using his feet to gain a couple of first downs.  The crowd went into a frenzy as Frank Gore ran a draw play into the end zone to bring the Niners within two.  Smith has experienced the moment of his NFL career.

But wait – San Francisco still had to convert the two-point conversion.  Out of the shotgun, Smith caught Davis on a hitch.  Davis had one foot over the goal line as he gained possession of the catch, but his momentum carried him out of the end zone.  The call on the field was that the conversion was not converted.  But on call that will be the subject of much debate, the officials reversed the call after reviewing the play – and the game was tied with one minute to play in regulation.

We all know that one minute is plenty of time for New Orleans’ usually high-powered offense to strike.  And after some small catches by Pierre Thomas and one big reception by Marques Colston, Hartley lined up for a game-winning 37-yard field goal.  With the odds stacked against them, the Niners continued to battle, as defensive tackle Ray McDonald actually tipped the football on its path through the goal posts. 

Final Score: 25-22, New Orleans

An epic Monday night showdown couldn’t have come any closer than a tipped field goal, but what did it tell us about these teams?

San Francisco has lots of heart.  We could expect that from a team with Mike Singletary as its head coach.  Frank Gore is the sole of the team, but the offense revolves around Alex Smith’s level of confidence.  When he stands strong in the pocket, the 49ers can put points on the board.  Their defense is going to fight and keep them in ball games, just like it did tonight…so any consistent offensive output will go a long way.

New Orleans is still New Orleans, but they have faced two of the better defenses from last year.  They gutted out two tough wins to start the season, and although every team will be giving them their best shot, things figure to get a little easier.  The Saints simply need to remain injury-free, and not let complacency set in as the campaign progresses.

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