Saints 32 @ 49ers 36: Who Dat Say!?!
by Hans Petersen on Jan 15, 2012 6:16 AM CST
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Well, here's your final 2011 season edition of Who Dat Say!?! Lots of stories, stats, videos, and analysis of the New Orleans Saints' 4-point loss the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to sift through, on the other side of the jump.
The Saints fought valiantly and never gave up last night, but came up short in the end (we didn't even get overtime to agonize through). Whether you fault scheme or execution, you owe it to yourself to read on and get to the root of it, or at least to curse it out in the comment section (truncated properly, of course). C'mon, you'll feel better afterwards (I think).
There are no post-game quotes this time, as once again when the Saints play on the road, the home team failed to post the press conference transcripts on their team web site. If I can find them later today, I'll post them as a Fanshot.
New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers - 2011 Divisional Playoffs | nfl.com
New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers NFL Game Center. Includes stats, highlights, recap, photos, and the NFL Gamebook pdf.
New Orleans Saints season comes to stunning end vs. 49ers | NOLA.com
Mike Triplett - They overcome 17-point deficit, lose in final seconds.
Saints give away chances, lose late in playoffs to 49ers | sportsnola.com
Chris Seeman - To win their divisional playoff matchup with the New Orleans Saints, most analysts said the San Francisco 49ers would have to turn the game into a defensive-minded slugfest.
Flattened | The Advocate
Sheldon Mickles - Saints rally, give up late TD as 49ers move on in playoffs.
Heartache in San Francisco | wwltv.com
(AP) - Alex Smith matched Drew Brees big play for big play in a furious final four minutes that found the turnover-plagued Saints falling short.
New Orleans Saints Media Page | neworleanssaints.com
Videos of Payton's press conference plus highlights of Graham's and Sproles's last TDs.
Saints-Niners pregame photo gallery | NOLA.com
Photo gallery: New Orleans Saints take on the San Francisco 49ers playoff | NOLA.com
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From the Saints Sideline
San Francisco 49ers defense kept pressure on New Orleans Saints | NOLA.com
Damin Esper - Saints gained plenty of yards but were never in control.
Pierre Thomas injury looked scary for the New Orleans Saints | NOLA.com
James Varney - But the hit was ruled a legal one.
Saints lose Thomas early to concussion, turn Sproles loose | wwltv.com
Bradley Handwerger - The loss of Pierre Thomas on the first series of the game threw a devastating blow to the Saints in their bid to move into the NFC championship game.
Loss of RB Thomas hurts Saints offense | The Advocate
Sheldon Mickles - With running back Mark Ingram already on injured reserve, the New Orleans Saints offense took a big hit on its first possession of Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game with the San Francisco 49ers.
Hard work pays for 49ers | The Advocate
Jay Paris - The New Orleans Saints got beat Saturday on a play that was installed Wednesday — kind of.
New Orleans Saints burned by blitz in final minute | NOLA.com
Jeff Duncan - Reckless play-calling not the only reason Saints lost, though.
Saints can't come up with the one stop they needed most | wwltv.com
Bradley Handwerger - One stop. When Jimmy Graham caught a pass over San Francisco’s Donta Whitner and galloped into the end zone with 1:48 to play and a three-point lead, that’s all the Saints needed.
Rapid Reaction: 49ers 36, Saints 32 - NFC South Blog | ESPN.com
Pat Y. - Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints’ 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday at Candlestick Park.
Saints put too much on Drew Brees - NFC South Blog | ESPN.com
Pat Y. - Drew Brees is capable of many great things. But you can’t go to the miracle well 63 times in a single game and expect it to produce every time.
Some interesting numbers from Saints-49ers game | nola.com
Doug Tatum
Grading the New Orleans Saints offense vs. the 49ers | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum
Grading the New Orleans Saints defense vs. the 49ers | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum
Grading the New Orleans Saints' special teams vs. the 49ers | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum
Grading the New Orleans Saints coaches vs. the 49ers | NOLA.com
Doug Tatum
New Orleans Saints players tweet their thanks to Who Dat Nation after loss | NOLA.com
What the team is saying about its loss to San Francisco 49ers.
New Orleans Saints now must face question on who to retain for next season | NOLA.com
Mike Triplett - Several players and coaches are free agents.
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49ers Postplay
49ers advance to NFC title game, 36-32 over Saints | SF Chronicle
Eric Branch - Thirty years after Joe Montana authored a fairly memorable play in 49ers' history, Alex Smith mirrored the legend.
Alex Smith delivers a dagger to the heart | SF Chronicle
Gwen Knapp - The heir to "The Catch" deserves a stronger nickname than any of the 49ers could dream up on Saturday night.
97 seconds plenty of time for 49ers, Vernon Davis | SF Chronicle
Al Saracevic - With 97 seconds to go in Saturday's game, things looked exceedingly grim for the 49ers.
The story behind the 49ers' winning drive | SF Chronicle
Scott Ostler - After Vernon Davis caught the touchdown pass that sent the 49ers scrambling for mittens and mukluks for a trip to Green Bay, Davis ran off the field weeping like a lawn sprinkler.
Instant Classic: 49ers 36, Saints 32 | 49ers.com
Taylor Price - Alex Smith will remember this day for some time. So will Vernon Davis. So will the entire San Francisco 49ers roster and just about everyone who sat in the stands at Candlestick Park or was glued to the television.
Davis’ Grab Caps Memorable Day | 49ers.com
Taylor Price - Vernon Davis needed a moment.
Notebook: Turnovers Set the Tone | 49ers.com
Alex Espinoza - ‘Twas a victory unlike any other, yet, at the same time, a scene all too familiar for the 49ers faithful.
49ers Game Grades – Niner Insider Blog | SFGate.com
Eric Branch
Rapid Reaction: 49ers 36, Saints 32 - NFC West Blog | ESPN.com
Mike Sando - Thoughts after the San Francisco 49ers' 36-32 divisional playoff victory over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday at Candlestick Park.
Smith, Davis deliver 49ers' epic redemption - NFC West Blog | ESPN.com
Mike Sando - There could be no other way for the San Francisco 49ers.
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V-Roll Roll Call
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It was a team loss. The D played well at times and the offense played well at times.
You can point to the final drive by SF as the failure on the defense. But, the defense had to endure 5 offensive turnovers and really didn’t play too badly until the last half of the 4th qtr. The offense was awesome when they were not turning the ball over.
For me, I am just going to take away that it was a great game and a victory was not meant to be. It hurts, but it was a great season. If only we hadn’t score our last TD so fast.
Hope PT and Roman Harper are ok.
"We've established the run; we've established the pass. Now all we have to establish is another championship!"
"Some say the glass is half empty;
Some say the glass is half full.
I say- 'are you going to finish that beer'?"
Well said phillinwood
The defense broke at the most important time of the game. Late 4th quarter.
I spent 8 years trying to reach him...and then another 7 trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...Evil.
Dr. Sam Loomis Aka (Donald Pleasence)
loss still hurts, but...
what a great season this was. I had a lot of fun watching this team this year, and while a epic comeback win yesterday would have put me into the stratosphere, it wasn’t meant to be. I think having that Super Bowl win in our pocket takes the sting away a bit. If we were still looking for one, I might be curled up in a fetal position.
"But tonight the Superbowl belongs to the City of New Orleans" - Roger Goodell 2/7/2010
It was a great year!
And we are lucky to have a Saints team this good. I hope we can get our defense playing better next year, Drew needs some help.
A good clown is a DEAD clown!
I find it comical that some fans say
" We shouldn’t blitz so much, this ‘bend don’t break’ defense isn’t working. It CAN"T BE a bend, don’t break defense when you are blitzing 50% of the downs. That’s like saying I bought a luxury car because I wanted to save some money.
"We've established the run; we've established the pass. Now all we have to establish is another championship!"
"Some say the glass is half empty;
Some say the glass is half full.
I say- 'are you going to finish that beer'?"
It was a great year.
Next year we need a pass rush from the front four. It’s time to get rid of some of our DEs that don’t produce sacks.
"We've established the run; we've established the pass. Now all we have to establish is another championship!"
"Some say the glass is half empty;
Some say the glass is half full.
I say- 'are you going to finish that beer'?"
posted this on another thread, so apologies for reposting but...
with the season over i am sending out a little prayer to the footballing gods that the saints can somehow find a pass-rushing DE or LB this off-season.
of course, given we will be looking at the 60th pick in the 2012 nfl draft, it will be a minor miracle if we manage to find somebody late in the second round (ie there is a reason von miller and aldon smith get drafted inside the top ten).
alas therefore, it looks like we will have to rely on a free agent signing (oops, not going to happen – DE/LB who get sacks don’t grow on trees and are not easily acquired in free agency given teams aren’t silly enough to let them go) or somebody internal to the organization.
so it seems that we will be restricted to looking in-house. i have a little hope with greg romeus. seventh round pick, but before his injury the guy could flat out get to the QB at college level. I saw a draft projection of the first round of last year’s draft prior to the beginning of everybody’s senior season. of the top 32 in that projection, about 25 went in the first round. romeus was listed around 15th. so here’s hoping that he is fully healed and has some impact at the pro level.
outside of that the only other alternative might be somebody inside the organization flourishing in a new scheme. of course, that seems unlikely on two levels – 1 GW would have to be replaced (ok, maybe somewhat likely); 2 we would need to have somebody within the organization step up…..
any thoughts on this…anybody? bueller?
so, outside of obtaining an elite pass rusher
a lot of people would say- don’t blitz so much. Give the QB More time to find an open receiver.Well, I just don’t see beating good QBs that way. I say cut Will Smith and look for a diamind in the rough. That’s your best bet but it’s a tough task.
"We've established the run; we've established the pass. Now all we have to establish is another championship!"
"Some say the glass is half empty;
Some say the glass is half full.
I say- 'are you going to finish that beer'?"
Great year indeed
Offense was spectacular. Drew Brees is a true leader and a fighter. Nothing wrong with the offense. This will be a good off season to focus on some Defense.
I spent 8 years trying to reach him...and then another 7 trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...Evil.
Dr. Sam Loomis Aka (Donald Pleasence)
well, except for an inability to stick with the run on the coach's part
Having the ball is better than not having the ball. And if you punt,
not only does it mean you don't have the ball anymore—
it means you didn't score, which sucks.
by Hans Petersen on Jan 15, 2012 10:22 AM CST up reply actions
I've never felt so sad after a Saints game.
"How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?"
I really, really believed, and still believe, that the Saints were the best team in the NFL at the end of the regular season.
But, they didn’t play like it for all four quarters yesterday, and the 49ers were good enough to make them pay for it. And losing the way they did? That’s going to sting for a while
And losing the way they did? That’s going to sting for a while
5 turnovers hurt, yet still had a chance. Our prevent defense was sickening.
I’ll tell you this. Any of the 49ers could play for my team any time. Those guys are stingers
I spent 8 years trying to reach him...and then another 7 trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...Evil.
Dr. Sam Loomis Aka (Donald Pleasence)
Not gonna put this one on the D specifically. I’ll first say 5 turnovers, 6 punts. That is 11 missed opportunities for points. As well I lay this at the feet of Greg Williams. This guy has got to learn when pressure needs to be applied and when to sell out to the pass. The biggest thing that I saw with our D all year long is the system that was in place did not work for the personnel. With that said The defense while I am sure stinging should by no means be to down on themselves. Our O and Special Teams had them in a bad place all game long. All in all though I will just say plainly, We got beat. The game did remind me why I hate the Niners though. It reminded me of the old NFC West days. Offseason needs-A new D-Line, A new D coordinator, Safeties who can catch the freaking ball.
I keep thinking of the word 'magical,' " he said. "When you think about the relationship between the Saints and the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans, it was more than just a football game and more than just a football team. The hopes, the dreams and the struggles of that community were all reflected in that football team. It was a great night for the people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region-Roger Goodell
Well said Daniel
Also about the run game. It was abandoned due to they struggled running the ball against that D. It was not very effective when they did
I spent 8 years trying to reach him...and then another 7 trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...Evil.
Dr. Sam Loomis Aka (Donald Pleasence)
Just wanted to send my condolences from the Pulpit
Man that was a heartbreaking defeat. Those turnovers were costly, but I still believed in Brees. I am sorry, but how does the defensive coordinator allow their best play maker to run freely on the last play of the game? I honestly thought you guys had the win. Once, again sorry I had to witness that and SF will get crushed next time around I hope.
by Yardpenalty.com on Jan 15, 2012 11:47 AM CST reply actions
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