Rematch with 49ers could erase bad memories

    There are 512 regular-season games played each season in the National Football League. Few will be more compelling than this Sunday’s 49ers at Saints.
    The Saints and their fans can still see tight end Vernon Davis running down the middle of the field in single coverage against safety Malcolm Jenkins. The 47-yard completion set up a touchdown pass from Alex Smith to Davis that won the game for San Francisco, 36-32, to end the 2011-12 season.
    Inexplicably, the 49ers drove 85 yards in the final 1:32 for victory.
    The Elias Sports Bureau said the 49ers became the first team to take the lead twice in the final three minutes of an NFL playoff game.
    One week later, the 49ers lost at home to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game. The Giants then beat the Patriots to win a second Super Bowl title in four seasons.
    In the meantime, the best team in the NFL (the ones in black and gold) sat home. The New Orleans Saints were undone in San Francisco by five turnovers and the inability to get a defensive stop when they needed it.
    The loss at San Francisco kicked off the most turbulent offseason in Saints history. Head coach Sean Payton welcomed the departure of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who joined Jeff Fisher in St. Louis.
    Two months later, Williams and Payton became the central figures in the bounty scandal. Payton was shelved for one season and Williams indefinitely, although most expect him to return in 2013.
    Linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for all of the 2012 season. He sued NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for defamation and won a stay of his suspension.
    Now, 10 1/2 months later, the two teams collide, much like Saints running back Pierre Thomas and 49ers safety Donte Whitner did on the 2-yard line on the first possession of January’s game.
    The styles of play could not be more different. Through the NFL games of Nov. 11, the 49ers had 243 pass attempts. The New Orleans Saints had 230 completions.
    The 49ers were allowing less than 300 yards a game. The Saints were allowing just under 500 yards a game.
    Through nine games, the Saints had allowed 273 points, the 49ers 123. The Saints had scored 287 points, the 49ers 213.
    The 49ers have the brash leader, head coach Jim Harbaugh. The Saints have their brash interim leader, head coach Joe Vitt.
    Vitt refuses to take any credit for the Saints’ current stellar play, noting that the Saints were routed at Denver in the first game after he returned from his six-game suspension. Vitt tackles every day – along with any media that happen to be a part of it.
    When asked a question he doesn’t like, Vitt’s retort is, “What is this, the Warren Commission?”
    That would be the committee that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
    But since he has returned, the Saints suddenly look like the Saints.
    Two very good teams who don’t care for each other will take the field Sunday at the Superdome. Of the 512 games played each season, few are special. 49ers at Saints is one.
    Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at edaniels@clarionherald.org.