And when the Saints appeared to seal the win in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle combined for an epic drive with less than a minute remaining to put kicker Robbie Gould in position to kick the game-winning field goal.
Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said it best after the Niners' 11th victory of the year.
"That was a dogfight," the veteran told reporters after the game. "I'm tired. ...I've never been so excited about a five-hour plane ride. I'm going to take a good nap there."
Sanders has plenty of reasons to be tired. After all, he hauled in seven catches for 157 yards and a touchdown, which played a huge role in San Francisco being able to offensively match what quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints were doing on the opposite end.
But Sanders also managed a bit of trickery, too, tossing an incredible 35-yard touchdown on a trick play to a wide-open running back, Raheem Mostert, at the six-minute mark of the second quarter:
"We ran it like five times [at practice]," Sanders added about the play. "The last time we ran it, I actually threw a duck. I was like, 'man, don't throw a duck in the game' because that's going to be on ESPN's not top 10. I was able to execute it today.
"After I threw the pass, I knew Kyle [Shanahan] was like, 'please don't throw a duck again.' After I threw it and saw he caught it, I just put my hands up and was like, 'yeah, that felt good.'"
Sanders and the 49ers offense accumulated 516 net yards, which was just enough to beat the Saints' 465 total yards. And the back-and-forth nature of the game was reason enough for Sanders and the rest of his teammates to be exhausted, both emotionally and physically.
Don't worry. Niners fans are probably feeling the same way, too.
Written By:
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
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