49ers fall in Big Easy, despite early 10point advantage and injury to Saints’ Brees.
Four turnovers damage effort in New Orleans
The 49ers couldn’t have scripted a better start.
And the start of the second half also provided reason for optimism.
But not even their brilliant beginning and the absence of New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees for the final two quarters could prevent a 2713 loss to the Saints in the Superdome on Sunday.
The 49ers, who arrived as 10point underdogs after being thinned by injuries, had a 100 lead in the second quarter and didn’t have to face Brees after the future Hall of Famer exited at halftime with a rib injury.
However, the 49ers ( 46), playing with a host of spare parts occupying key spots, needed a nearly flawless performance to stun the
Saints ( 72).
Instead, they had two muffed punts that led to short touchdown drives and Nick Mullens’ twointerception performance included an endzone pick that extinguished any hope in the fourth quarter.
In all, they committed four turnovers and their ghastly special teams also allowed a 75yard kickoff return that led to a field goal.
“I think if we took care of the ball better, we had a very good chance to be in that game,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “But we didn’t and blew an opportunity.”
The Saints, who were ranked fourth in points per game, had a seasonlow 237 yards and went 2for12 on third down. However, the 49ers’ specialteam miscues allowed New Orleans to score 17 points on drives of minus6, 21 and 22 yards.
“We needed a disciplined, sound football game,” Mullens said. “It’s really frustrating when you don’t get that.”
Said inside linebacker Fred Warner: “In order to win game — especially against a great team like that — you’ve got make sure we’re not beating ourselves.”
Before the sloppiness, the 49ers were scintillating.
They began the game with a 13play, 75yard drive that took just more than seven minutes and included three thirddown conversions. Mullens completed 6 of 7 passes for 47 yards and finished the drive with a 4yard toss to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
The march set the tone for a dominating first quarter in which the 49ers had more than first downs ( nine) than the Saints had total yards ( 8).
The 49ers ran 20 more plays ( 233) in the first quarter than did the Saints, who had one threeandout possesion before a second potential possession was erased by a muffed punt. That mistake led to a 32yard field goal by Robbie Gould that gave the 49ers a 100 lead one snap into the second quarter.
“If we could have sustained the type of play that we started out with,” left tackle Trent Williams said, “I think we had this game.”
Instead, the 49ers managed just three points and 195 yards in the final 44plus minutes. What happened? “I think it’s just going against a good defense,” Mullens said. “They did a good job of just shutting us down.”
In other words, the Saints’ fourthranked defense was too much for an offense missing a group that included quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, tight end George Kittle, running back Raheem Mostert and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The 49ers couldn’t provide even a rumor of a running game with three of their top four backs sidelined.
They had 49 yards, averaged 2.0 yards per carry and their limitations were exposed on 4thand1 late in the second quarter: Jerick McKinnon was dropped for a 2yard loss, resulting in a change of possession that set up a 57yard TD drive as the Saints took a 1710 lead before halftime.
Shanahan said, in effect, that he called 25 runs — none of which gained more than 9 yards — to protect Mullens.
“We knew it would be a challenge running the ball today,” Shanahan said. “I was trying to stay balanced as well as I could, so we didn’t become onedimensional and make it tough on our quarterback and Oline and ( lead to) turnovers.”
But the turnovers came, anyway.
Trailing 2010 early in the fourth quarter, the 49ers’ third turnover extinguished their faint chances. Richie James bobbled a punt and the Saints recovered at the 22yard line. They took a 2710 lead three plays later.
The 49ers have doubled their loss total from last year when they were NFC champions. Their chances of defending their title might be microscopic, but they do have a muchneeded bye week coming and they expect to have a few injured players back when they visit the Rams on Nov. 29.
“We’ve got six games left,” Mullens said, “and I feel like we can win games, we can win a lot of games, but you’ve got play disciplined football.”