By winning an absolute barn-burner on the road, the San Francisco 49ers proved they can win the Super Bowl after defeating the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
If you had the over in Sunday afternoon’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints, then good for you! That game so went over, as 49ers outlasted their former NFC West rival by beating the Saints on the road, 48-46. A Robbie Gould made PAT was the difference in one of the most thrilling games we’ve seen in the NFC this year. What else did we learn from it?
Well, the NFC playoffs may not run through the Mercedes-Benz Superdome after all, as the 11-2 49ers have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the 10-3 Saints. The Saints are a good team but are pathetic in their NFL history away from the Superdome in their postseason history. Potentially not having home-field advantage in the NFC may ruin their chances of reaching Super Bowl LIV.
As for the 49ers, this game was a sheer testament of will. They had lost last week on the road vs. the AFC favorite Baltimore Ravens by a field goal. Fate would have it that Gould’s made try would be the difference in this clash of NFC titans. Because San Francisco proved it can win a high-octane thriller away from Levi’s Stadium, the 49ers have proved that they can win the Super Bowl.
Winning in New Orleans is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL. To do so in a manner that goes against how San Francisco typically beats teams with a great defensive gameplan, we can feel confident about the 49ers’ chances to hang with anyone, anywhere and eke out a barn-burner if they have to. Being able to win in multiple ways is the best preparation to win the Super Bowl.
It should be noted that this will go down as Jimmy Garoppolo’s greatest game to date as the 49ers’ starting quarterback. Many people had questioned if he had what it took to carry the 49ers if his defense struggled in a ball game. He delivered a gem of a performance in a game against a team the 49ers had to beat to stay alive in the quest for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Garoppolo completed 26-of-35 passes, 349 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. He averaged 10.0 yards per passing attempt and boasted a strong passer rating of 131.7. In short, he proved he could hang with future Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Brees at his own game in his own building. Garoppolo is more than just a good-looking quarterback, he’s winning ball games.
Of course, the NFC may not run through San Francisco this January, as the 49ers need to beat the division rival Seattle Seahawks on the road in Week 17 if they even want to win the division. Winning multiple playoff games on the road is so difficult, but Garoppolo and 49ers proved that they cannot only play left-handed but play very well when their recipe for success isn’t available.