In some ways, it’s a small miracle the shorthanded SF 49ers held their own against a high-powered New Orleans Saints team in Week 10, preventing head coach Sean Payton’s lethal offense from doing the same kind of damage it did to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a week prior.
Yet the Niners, now 4-6 after falling to the Saints 27-13 last Sunday, still created more problems than solutions en route to the defeat. San Francisco’s run game was wholly ineffective, while special teams proved to be disastrous. Four Niners turnovers, including two muffed punts recovered by New Orleans, proved to be the difference.