Niners to Face Saints in First...and Last?...Playoff Game of 2012
I watched the New Orleans Saints second-half dismantling of my old favorite Detroit Lions Saturday evening with no mixed emotions at all. I really wanted the Lions to win that one. Not only because I used to cover the Lions. Not only because I think their fans deserve better. But also because, selfishly, I figured my Niners had a better chance of beating the winner of the other NFC Wild Card playoff game than the Saints.
But what I saw in the game leads me to believe it's going to be all but impossible for the Niners to beat the Saints. As good as the SF defense is, I don't think it can bottle up Drew Brees. The guy is a machine. He's having an awesome year. I don't see any way the Niners can slow him down, let alone stop him. In what I suspect will be a run-and-gun offensive battle, I expect some league records to fall (they've been doing that a lot already in this remarkable post-season) and for the Saints to come out on top by 10 or more points.
Would I love to be wrong about this! But honestly I just don't see a chance for an SF victory Saturday afternoon at Candlestick. The only real hope would be for the Niners to force two or three early turnovers, score off of them and knock the Saints back on their heels early enough in the game that they have trouble coming back. That could happen, of course; the Niners lead the NFL in takeaway ratio. But I'm not feeling it.
