49ers defense looks to stop Brees, red-hot Saints

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Drew Brees piled up points, yards and accolades in a record-setting season for the New Orleans Saints. Much of the time, Alex Smith did just enough to get the San Francisco 49ers back in the playoffs for the first time in nine years while a dominant defense and kicking game did the rest.

Everybody is curious to see which of the contrasting styles works best in a classic playoff matchup.

Does that old notion that defense wins championships still hold up these days?

“We’re going to find out,” 49ers punter Andy Lee said.

Brees and the Saints (14-3) come to sold-out Candlestick Park on Saturday afternoon riding a nine-game winning streak after gaining 600 yards in each of their last two games, including a playoff-record 626 yards in last Saturday night’s 45-28 win over the Lions. Brees threw for 466 yards and completed 33 of 43 passes.

Since the merger in 1970, a team had gained 600 yards in a game only 11 times in the regular season or playoffs before the Saints did it the past two weeks.

The San Francisco defense knows it will have to keep Brees off the field and pressure him at every chance to slow down these Saints.

“They’re built a little bit differently. They’re typically a lot bigger, they’re more physical,” Brees said. “You look at them statistically, No. 1 against the run, they’re putting all kinds of pressure on the quarterback. … They rarely miss tackles.”

The fact that Lee is such an important figure for the 49ers shows just how different these teams are. The Saints didn’t punt once in their playoff opener.

San Francisco (13-3) also relied on David Akers‘ single-season NFL record of 44 field goals to return to the playoffs under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers stunned the New York Giants 39-38 at home in the NFC wild-card game back in January 2003.

“This is a game where the better defense will definitely win the game,” New Orleans linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar said. “It’s about us stopping them from doing whatever they want to do. They have to play a different brand of ball and we have to play good in all three phases of the game.”

There have been several noteworthy playoff games featuring teams with opposing styles.

In the NFC championship game after the 1999 season, St. Louis’ “The Greatest Show on Turf” group of Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce and Marshall Faulk held on for an 11-6 victory over the defensive-minded Buccaneers.

In the 1991 Bills-GiantsSuper Bowl, New York’s talented defense held off Jim Kelly and the Bills' “K-Gun” offense for a 20-19 win.

More recently, a Giants defense led by Michael Strahan pulled off a 17-14 victory over the undefeated Patriots' Tom Brady and Co. to win the 2008 Super Bowl.

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