When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, November 9, 2014
Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX.
LINE: Saints –4.5. O/U: 49.
PREDICTION: Saints 26, 49ers 24
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Oddsmakers currently have the Saints listed as 4-point favorites versus the 49ers, while the game’s total is sitting at 49½.

It’s no surprise that New Orleans has played better defense since outside linebacker Junior Galette picked up his play with four sacks over the last four games. “We always believed in ourselves,” said Galette, who has six sacks this season after having 12 in 2013. “We didn’t listen to the white noise, and just kept working as a unit and didn’t point any fingers.” Running back Mark Ingram (431 yards, six TDs) is looking for his third consecutive 100-yard game while tight end Jimmy Graham (46 receptions for 518 yards and five scores) continues to be the primary target for Brees (2,524 yards, 15 TDs, eight interceptions).

New Orleans won its last outing, a 28-10 result against the Panthers on October 30. The Saints covered in that game as a -3-point favorite, while the 38 combined points took the game UNDER the total.

Team record: 4-4 SU,4-4 ATS
New Orleans is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
New Orleans is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Orleans’s last 5 games
New Orleans is 9-1-1 ATS in its last 11 games at home

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick lost a fumble at the goal line as San Francisco fell to the Rams and has experienced an inconsistent season despite throwing for 1,956 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is aware the 49ers have scored just one total touchdown in the second halves of their four losses but offers no explanation. “No, can’t put our finger on it,” Kaepernick told reporters. “We just have to go out and execute better.” The defense ranks second in the NFL in total defense (291.9) with cornerback Perrish Cox (NFC-leading four interceptions) and strong safety Antoine Bethea (two interceptions, team-leading 43 tackles) playing well.

San Francisco was a 13-10 loser in its last match at home against the Rams. They failed to cover the -10.5-point spread as favorites, while the total score of 23 sent UNDER bettors to the payout window.

Team record: 4-4 SU,3-5 ATS
San Francisco is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
San Francisco is 17-7 SU in its last 24 games
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Francisco’s last 11 games
San Francisco is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games on the road

The post 49ers vs. Saints Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.

The team will hold practice at the Saints’ facility at 5 p.m. ET, after the San Francisco 49ers complete their practice.

The Ravens will leave the team hotel at 2:45 p.m. ET and head to Tulane to get dressed and gather their equipment. The Ravens will then conduct their walk-through, which they call AACT (Alignment, Assignment, Cadence, Technique), outdoors for approximately 20 minutes.

After that walk-through, the Ravens will board the buses, in their practice uniforms and gear, and travel to the Saints indoor practice facility to conduct a full practice and special teams work.

“This wouldn’t have worked out if the coaches didn’t know each other,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh told ESPN.

Brother Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers practiced Wednesday at the Saints’ facility.

“The field at Tulane University was a little hard. The wind was OK, but we would rather be inside for the timing of our passing game,” Harbaugh told ESPN.

The Ravens practiced for nearly two hours on a makeshift 80-yard field stretching across the outfield at Tulane’s Greer Field baseball stadium and dealt with wind gusts up to 24 mph.

Besides getting approval from the 49ers, the NFL also had to give the Ravens approval to make this arrangement. After negotiations between the two teams and the league, the accommodations were made for Thursday and Friday. There is less of a conflict on Friday because both team’s practices are shorter.

Quarterback Joe Flacco told ESPN that the wind didn’t bother him too much, but said “If we are going to be playing in a dome we might as well practice inside.”

Rather than the heavy wind, Flacco said the “major issue” was the “pounding on the turf” the Ravens’ receivers and defensive backs were taking.

Baltimore had the option of working at the Saints’ indoor facility late in the afternoon or early Wednesday evening, after the 49ers finished. But John Harbaugh said Wednesday he and the players preferred to practice on schedule in mid-afternoon.

The post Ravens moving practice indoors appeared first on IdealCapper.

It was during the Giants’ 20-17 overtime victory in San Francisco last season that Williams fumbled two punt returns, including one in overtime that led to Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning field goal.

After that game, Jacquian Williams and Devin Thomas both admitted that the special teams were well aware of Williams’ concussion history.

“The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, to take him out of the game,” Jacquian Williams said after the win.

So after the Saints’ bounty scandal exploded, Kyle Williams figured the Giants might be disciplined as well.

“When the bounty stuff came out and [former Saints defensive coordinator] Gregg Williams had said the same things, basically, they went for his neck with that and they took that to the absolute highest level they could,” Kyle Williams told reporters Wednesday in New Orleans. “But it was almost like when the Giants said it, it was not a big deal.

“That’s the only thing that kind of shocked me. I thought that would have the same reaction because it was the same exact thing.”

The Giants said they never went after Kyle Williams’ head. His first fumble came after a punt bounced off his leg and Thomas recovered. And the second turnover came when Jacquian Williams poked the ball out from the side, leading to another Thomas recovery.

Even though Kyle Williams wasn’t hit in the head on those two fumbles, the 49ers’ punt returner said the Giants did hit him in the head during the game. But he wouldn’t go as far as to say that the Giants were purposely aiming for his head.

“They got me,” Kyle Williams said. “They definitely got me.”

The Niners returner is currently on injured reserve but is with the team at the Super Bowl. He said he is not bitter or upset with the Giants.

“Guys try to put guys out of the game every single game,” he said.

Gregg Williams was heard on an audio tape that was part of the NFL’s investigation into the Saints’ bounty scandal directing his players to target Kyle Williams before a Saints’ game against the Niners.

“We need to find out in the first two series of the game (about) that little wide receiver, No. 10 (Williams), about his concussion,” the former Saints defensive coordinator said on the tape. “We need to f—— put a lick on him right now. He needs to decide. He needs to f—— decide.”

That’s why Kyle Williams thought the Giants might be disciplined after hearing what Jacquian Williams said and how Thomas also said, “He’s had a lot of concussions. We were just like, ‘We’ve got to put a hit on that guy.'”

“The only thing that was crazy to me was that nothing came of it,” the Niners returner said. “That was the only thing. Because I fully expected it to because of what just had happened with the Saints. When that came out I was like, Oh, OK there’ll be the same type of thing.’ But there was nothing.

“I don’t know if that was because (the Giants) won (the Super Bowl), or if it just wasn’t a big deal. But I just thought it would be exactly the same type of thing.”

The post Williams: Lack of penalty shocking appeared first on IdealCapper.