While the 49ers may have made a switch at quarterback (at least for this week) from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick, the defense kept right on rolling, leading the 49ers past Drew Brees and the Saints 31-21.
Drew Brees continued his NFL record streak of most consecutive games with a TD pass, and he actually threw 5 TD passes. Unfortunately, three of them were to his team and two of them were to 49ers. Brees finished 26 of 41 for 267 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INTs, both returned for TDs. Ahmad Brooks returned one 50 yards for a TD in the second quarter, and Donte Whitner returned the other 42 yards for a TD in the third quarter.
The 49ers also recorded 5 sacks of Brees, including 1.5 by Aldon Smith, improving on his league leading 15 sacks. He is now half a sack away from tying the record for most sacks in the first two years of a career, as he passed Derrick Thomas for second and trails only Reggie White with five games to go.
Kaepernick turned in a solid game, as he went 16 of 25 for 231 yards, with 1 TD and 1 INT, but no sacks. He was significantly boosted by the exceptional performance of the defense and the usually strong 49ers running game. The 49ers racked up 144 yards on the ground, led by Frank Gore’s 19 carries for 83 yards. Kaepernick was part of that attack, as he added 6 carries for 27 yards, including a nice scamper from 7 yards out to open the scoring.
The win moves the 49ers to 8-2-1 giving them a 2 and a half game lead in the NFC West, although they remain a half game behind Chicago for the number 2 seed in the conference.
New Orleans, who had won 5 of their last 6 games, now falls to 5-6 with three tough games ahead, as they go to 10-1 Atlanta next week, followed by a trip to New York to play the 6-4 Giants, followed by hosting the 6-5 Buccaneers. The chances of a playoff spot for the Saints are getting slimmer and slimmer.
