NFL Preseason Preview: 49ers vs. Saints Game Picks

Written by Jake Thompson
Friday, 12 August 2011 17:20

Our 49ers vs. Saints preseason preview will include a look at the odds and some NFL picks.

The New Orleans Saints (0-0) will play host to the San Francisco 49ers (0-0) in this week 1 NFL preseason game, and we are ready to handicap the clash to let our readers know how the action will unfold.  Online sportsbooks have the home-team Saints as 2.5-point favorites on the spread, while the total sits at just 35.5.  The opening line for the 49ers vs. Saints game was New Orleans -3 and a total of 37, so there has been quite a bit of movement since the odds debuted.  Close to 70% of tracked bettors are taking the Saints and we’ll let you know if John Q. Public is making the correct choice.

This one is fairly easy to figure out from the New Orleans side since they are a fairly established team with plenty of veterans.  Quarterback Drew Brees will likely only see a single series and the Saints will probably score and take the early lead.  After that, I don’t see the backups doing much and I doubt this squad scores very much after the 1st quarter is up.  Backup quarterbacks Chase Daniel, Sean Canfield, and Ryan Colburn are all young and I doubt the coaching staff runs anything more than a basic offense that will move the ball sparingly.

San Francisco’s prospects are a bit more interesting.  New coach Jim Harbaugh is letting the starters go a bit longer as they learn his complicated offense, and backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick should see plenty of time when Alex Smith leaves the game.  That being said, defenses are generally ahead of offenses at this stage of the NFL preseason and the 49ers have had limited preparation time to run these plays.  I think that San Francisco will open up their offense quite a bit more than the Saints, but ultimately it won’t result in big plays just yet.

I’d probably take a shot at the 49ers if I had bet earlier and had gotten the +3 odds, but right now the best play has to be on the under at 35.5.  Between the Saints not having much reason to go all out and the 49ers likely to be ineffective with the learning curve of their new offense, this one just smells like a low-scoring game that is dominated by the defenses.  New Orleans has put up big points in some previous NFL preseason games but I think the positional battles and new faces on the 49ers’ defense will prevent that from happening.

49ers 10

Saints 13

NFL Preseason Record: 1-0