The New Orleans Saints traveled to Santa Clara, California to play their second NFC West opponent in two weeks, the red-hot San Francisco 49ers. The Black and Gold were held scoreless throughout the contest as the Niners came out on top 13-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans received the ball to begin and picked up a first down with Mark Ingram on 3rd &1. On the next play, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner forced the fumble on Saints running back Alvin Kamara. Sam Ebukam recovered the ball for the Niners at the New Orleans 43-yard line.
San Fran held the ball for 11 plays and the drive took 4:54 off the clock. Kicker Robbie Gould made an appearance to give his team the three-point lead after the defense of the Saints made the stop at their own five-yard line.
A few possessions later, New Orleans started in 49ers territory. Taysom Hill’s pass to Chris Olave for 30 yards was ruled a catch on the field; after review, the referees reversed the call to an incomplete pass. Two flags were thrown on the Saints to set up a 3rd & 14. Andy Dalton’s pass deep to Olave was incomplete and the Saints would punt.
Starting at their own 20-yard line, the San Francisco 49ers moved down the field with ease. Jimmy Garoppolo connected with Brandon Aiyuk for gains of 27 and 20 yards to get into the red zone. Elijah Mitchell’s 12-yard run set up the Niners with 1st & GOAL at the six-yard line. The defense of the Saints had a goal-line stand as Garoppolo was tackled at the two on fourth down.
The 49ers on their final drive of the first half scored the game’s first touchdown. Jauan Jennings catch four passes for 42 yards and the score while picking up key first downs and an unnecessary roughness call on Chris Harris Jr. San Francisco led 10-0 at halftime.
San Fran received the ball to start the second half and nearly gave New Orleans prime field position as Alontae Taylor intercepted the pass. Harris was called for defensive holding to negate the turnover and the 49ers a fresh set of downs. Paulson Adebo broke up the third-down pass to Aiyuk and Gould came out for a 46-yard field goal. The made attempt put New Orleans in a 13-point hole.
The Saints had their longest possession of the day. It lasted 12 plays and drained over six minutes off the clock. Wil Lutz came onto the field to try from 48 yards out on fourth down and missed wide left.
Following a punt by the Niners, New Orleans threatened to score again as they had another long-sustaining drive. The Saints got a fresh set of downs due to a roughing the passer call on Hill on fourth down. On 2nd & GOAL from the six, Kamara caught Dalton’s pass and fumbled at the two-yard line and was recovered by San Francisco.
The Saints gave themselves one more chance to stay in the game with a three-and-out by the defense. Holding on a Niners defender set up 1st and GOAL at the four for New Orleans. They decided to throw the ball three times and Dalton got sacked on 4th and GOAL.
San Francisco bled the rest of the clock as the 49ers shut out the Saints 13-0.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: JIMMY GAROPPOLO
Garoppolo played mistake free as he had no turnovers. The 49ers quarterback completed 26/37 passes 222 yards and the game’s lone touchdown.
BIG NUMBER: 4
The New Orleans Saints offense missed out on four scoring opportunities as they had a missed field goal, fumbled at the goal line, turned it over on 4th & GOAL, and had a penalty called against them to take them out of field goal range as the 49ers shutout the Black and Gold 13-0.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints (4-8) will travel for a Monday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6). The kickoff for that game will be at 7:15.