New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers

It has not been an easy trip here for either of these teams, one against all odds, including most of their closest fan believed they could actually win and keep it going, and the other, starting the season off with a big loss, followed closely by 2 losses to the worst teams in the league.

For the New Orleans Saints and the San Francisco 49ers, this is what an entire season of hard tackles, long practices and bone crushing plays have lead them, two games from the big one! The Saints have already been there recently, 2009 to be exact, but for the 49ers, this is uncharted territory for almost the entire team, given the fact that they have not had a winning season in over 5 years.Under rookie NFL coach Jim Harbaugh the 49ers have done the almost impossible, they turned a dying program into a playoff contender in a matter of months.

The New Orleans Saints are coming off their Wild Card win over the Detroit Lions, where QB Drew Brees came through for an amazing 33 of 43 for 466 yards and 3 touchdowns, he routed his team back from an early deficit with the help of wide receivers Marques Colston, who has 7 catches for 120 yards and Robert Meachem who caught 4 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Running back Pierre Thomas ran the ball 8 times for 66 yards and scored once, while back up running back Darren Sproles carried the ball 10 times for 51 yards and found the end zone twice on the day.

The San Francisco 49ers can not only be happy for their season, their playoff seed, but for the first time in so long, they can finish a season with their heads held high, knowing that only a handful of teams made it to where they ended up and the change they instilled will never be forgotten. This Cinderella story would only be picture perfect with a Super Bowl ring, something most of these players never thought they would ever get to see, they have more then what it takes, ending the regular season as the second best team in the league with a record of 13 win and only 3 loses, with an 8 game winning streak in the middle. With the #1 run defense and the #16 pass defense they hold opponents to under 235 total yards a game, while ranking 8^th in rushing yards averaging over 128 yards a game, their power runner Frank Gore has been the horse that leads them through the mud.

This game could not be more opposite; one team has the best defense and the other the best offense, one can’t stop anyone but prides themselves on simply scoring more the other team, and the other who lives by field goals but has only allowed 1 running touchdown all season and has kept the other team to under 20 points a game. The QBs are different, the wide outs are different and the run game is nothing alike. In the past, all the wise ones said that Defense wins the games, cause if you can’t stop them, it’s up to the clock to decide, but nowadays offense seems to run the show, high scoring, high flying games get noticed more and seem to draw all the attention away from the shutouts.I like the 49ers, they simply have a magic this year that is un-silenced and if anyone can beat the high powered Saints, well… it would have to be the all star cast from San Francisco.