Back in August, there was a mini-controversy after the 49ers faced the Saints because New Orleans blitzed San Francisco in their first preseason game like it was the second round of the playoffs.
After Saturday’s divisional round win against New Orleans, the 49ers were thankful for the experience. They had seen it all before.
“Thankfully, they blitzed us in the preseason game and really gave us some good film to study,” offensive coordinator Greg Roman told Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “We pretty much had the whole montage of blitzes.
“They’re really good at what they do and they came up with one or two that gave us problems during the game. Thankfully, most of them we saw in the preseason.”
That’s about as close as an NFL coach comes to trash talking. Those words will spice up the Rams-49ers rivalry next year with Gregg Williams now joining the NFC West in St. Louis.
Maiocco writes that the Saints blitzed 32 times in 46 pass plays against the 49ers Saturday. San Francisco settled down their protections by the end of the game.
As Saints safety Malcom Jenkins said, New Orleans lives by the blitz and dies by the blitz.
We think Roman was just tweaking Williams, but it seems the Saints died in small part because Williams and the Saints staff tried to prove a point back in August.