New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers Recap

The Saints headed into week 2, knowing that they had just beat the number 2 team in the NFC last year, and that they were about to play a team that was only 2nd in their division. Going into this game the Saints biggest concern would be stopping Frank Gore, and keeping a running game up against a GREAT rush defense. The Saints wouldn't succeed in either.

The 49ers losing to Seattle in the way that they did made many Saints fans, including me, to believe this game would be a three possession game at halftime, but the 9ers brought their A game, and it really showed. Alex Smith played a very solid game, completing over 71% of his passes for 271 yards and a touchdown; he also threw a pair of picks. Brees completed nearly 74% of his passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, no interceptions.

The Saints defense didn't slow down Frank Gore much at all. He rushed for 112 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown; he also caught 7 passes for 56 yards and another touchdown. The Saints entire rushing attack added up to 54 yards on 24 carries, with no scores.

Pierre Thomas was Brees' favorite target, catching the ball 8 times for 57 yards. He also carried the ball 18 times for 46 yards. Marques Colston gained 67 yards off of 5 receptions with a long of 30. The Saints touchdowns came from Reggie Bush, who caught a 6 yard pass for 6, and David Thomas, with a 3 yard score.

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Roman Harper and Tracy Porter each had interceptions, Jonathan Vilma forced a fumble, and Courtney Roby recovered a muffed punt.

Garrett Hartley really pulled through for the Saints, with three field goals, which put the Saints above in a 25-22 win.

Some other notes about the game: The 49ers first drive ended in a fumble that bounced out the back of the end zone for a safety after just three plays. The Saints first possession was topped off with the Bush touchdown, after a 7 play, 46 yard drive. The 49ers turned the ball over 4 times, 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles, the Saints on the other hand, didn't turn the ball over at all.

Game Grades-

Passing: A, would be an A+ if it weren't for a couple overthrown passes, same story as last week.

Rushing: C-, The only thing keeping this from a D or F is the fact that there were no turnovers.

Receiving: B+, Not to bad here, a lot of pressure on Brees made it pretty tough to get accurate passes, didn't see many dropped passes though.

Run-D: C Kind of like the rushing game, the forced fumble is the only thing that keeps this grade at a C rather than a D

Pass-D: B-, Alex Smith shouldn't be able to put up 250+ yards on a secondary as good as the Saints' no pass rush by the Saints really helped Smith out. A pair of interceptions is what keeps this at a B

By Tyler Douglass
ProFootball-fans.com New Orleans Saints Correspondent