New Orleans Saints vs San Francisco 49ers Match Player Stats On Nov 06, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Nov 6, 2016

Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes as the surging New Orleans Saints defeated the reeling San Francisco 49ers 41-23 Sunday afternoon at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Brees completed 28-of-39 passes for 323 yards and connected with rookie Michael Thomas for two touchdowns and Mark Ingram for one.

The Saints (4-4) won for the fourth time in five games while the 49ers (1-7) came off their bye week and lost their seventh game in a row.

Ingram, benched during a victory against Seattle last week after losing a fumble for the second consecutive week, ran for 158 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown run, on 15 carries. He led a 248-yard rushing effort, the most in coach Sean Payton's 11 seasons in New Orleans.

Phil Dawson's 46-yard field goal cut the Saints' 11-point halftime lead to 31-23 early in the third quarter.

But after New Orleans failed to score in the third quarter, Brees' 32-yard touchdown pass to Thomas and rookie Wil Lutz's 41-yard field goal pushed the lead to 41-23 midway through the fourth quarter.

The Saints outgained San Francisco 571-486 and created four turnovers compared to none for the 49ers.

Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed 24 of 39 for 398 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

After Dawson made a 49-yard field goal to give San Francisco an early 3-0 lead, the Saints' offense went to work.

Tim Hightower ran 4 yards for a touchdown and, after Brian Robertson intercepted Kaepernick, Brees threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Thomas to give New Orleans a 14-3 lead after one quarter.

The Saints added another score when Brees threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ingram, but less than two minutes later Kaepernick threw a swing pass to DuJuan Harris, who turned it into a 47-yard touchdown. That left New Orleans with a 21-10 lead with 5:56 left in the first half.

On the next play from scrimmage, Ingram ran a career-long 75 yards for a touchdown. Dawson made a 48-yard field goal and Kaepernick threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vance McDonald before Lutz kicked a 26-yard field goal, leaving New Orleans with a 31-20 halftime lead.

NOTES: Two key Saints players returned from broken legs as CB Delvin Breaux and rookie first-round DL Sheldon Rankins played Sunday. Rankins had been sidelined since training camp and Breaux got hurt in the season opener against Oakland. ... The Niners failed on a scoring opportunity early in the second quarter when Harris was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the New Orleans 29. Later in the quarter Harris caught the first touchdown pass of his career. ... Saints LT Terron Armstead left in the first half because of a left leg injury and did not return.