New Orleans Saints: A side-by-side comparison of NFC’s best two teams

Defense

Defense seems to be at the core of both of these successful squads so far this season.

With Brees down, the Saints’ defense is the unit that secured at least three of the five wins behind Bridgewater. On the other side, the Niners have had arguably a top-two defense all season, anchored by their strong secondary and emphasis on team tackling.

With the loss of Kwon Alexander to injury, the Niners front seven appears to be less talented than the Saints defensive seven. Prior to Alexander’s injury, the Niners were already 22nd in rush yards allowed per game.

Conversely, the Saints haven’t given up a single 100-yard rusher all season while going up against the likes of Ezekiel Elliot and Leonard Fournette. Bosa has definitely established himself as a force off the edge, but it’s apparent that the Saints defensive line with Jordan, Davenport, Rankins and their rotation of others has more overall star power.

In the secondary, however, there has been some inconsistency from time to time. Allowing Hopkins to put up big numbers in week one and allowing some big down-field plays has made this defensive unit a liability at times.

The players, especially Lattimore, have proven to be more adept as the season has gone on, but they as much as they are stalling drives they aren’t putting up big statistics.

San Francisco is currently leading the Saints in sacks (30 to 24), interceptions (10 to 3) and have allowed 64 fewer points to opponents to this point in the season.

New Orleans has been playing great defensively and stepping up in big moments, but San Francisco is a complete defense with the ability to stall opponent defenses and create offensive opportunities.

It will be interesting to see if SF can uphold its impressive statistics and hot start going up against stronger offenses in the second half of the season. They still need to take on the Seahawks (x2), Packers, Ravens, and Saints.