San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh backs Frank Gore to face New Orleans Saints’ blitz–NFL News
Recalling the preseason meeting between the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints in which the latter emerged victorious, 49ers’ coach, Jim Harbaugh, said on Monday, January 9, 2012, that running back, Frank Gore, will have to play a vital role in dealing
with the opponents’ blitz.
The Saints completely overpowered the 49ers and did not allow the offence to get settled in the preseason matchup, rattling San Francisco by using different blitz packages.
Now when the regular season is done and over with, both the teams are scheduled to play in the postseason game on Saturday, January 14, as Harbaugh has cautioned his players to stay alert and judge the opponent’s moves before taking any decision.
“The Saints are a hug-rushing team. And then they’re going to send backers to cover and then they’ll rush to cover once they see that the back is in protection, they’ll continue to rush and add extra heat. So, it’ll be very important for Frank to have a
great game blocking as it will for all of our guys, including our receivers,” Harbaugh said.
Gore is 49ers’ leading rusher.
This season, he had 1,211 rushing yards and eight touchdowns to his credit.
After being defeated by the Saints in the preseason game, the 49ers’ performance in the regular season was remarkable.
They won 13 games to lead the National Football Conference (NFC) – West division and enter the playoffs as the second seeded team, leaving the Saints behind.
Their confidence was outstanding and despite Saints’ thrilling run, they do not seem scared of them anymore.
Meanwhile, a few players gave a shocking statement on Monday when they said that they were aware of the Saints’ blitzing strategy.
Saints offensive plays are called by Gregg Williams, who is known for his aggressive play calling.
Living by his reputation, he called plenty of blitzes and restricted the 49ers’ offence to scoring only three points.
49ers’ cornerback, Carlos Rogers, who has played for Williams when both were with the Washington Redskins termed that he, knew what plays Williams would be calling.
San Francisco guard, Jonathan Goodwin, who has also played for the Saints, said that he was not surprised to see his former team in an aggressive mode.
"For me knowing Gregg, I wasn't surprised. First practice in training camp Gregg blitzes. It wasn't a surprise for me. That's what he likes to do. Gregg bringing pressure is not a surprise to me."
It will be interesting to see what strategies these two sides use to counter each other. The 49ers are the best defensive team of the league, whereas the Saints are one of the leading offensive sides.
While the 49ers have made it clear that they will be preparing hard to control the blitz, they have also clarified that they are not bothered by the preseason loss against the Saints.
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