By Dean Michaels, NFL Writer

NFL 2013 Week 11: 49ers Travel to New Orleans to Take on the Saints

Two of the NFC's best meet this Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. The Saints lead the NFC South with a 7-2 record while the 49ers are in the postseason hunt with a 6-3 mark.

The 49ers and Saints meet for the 74th time with the 49ers leading the all-time series, 47-24-2. San Francisco has won each of the last two meetings, including a 31-21 victory in New Orleans last year.

The 49ers have won five of their past six games, scoring at least 30 points in all five wins. However, San Francisco looks to get back on track following a 10-9 loss last week in a defensive struggle against the Carolina Panthers at home. Colin Kaepernick struggled at quarterback as the 49ers' offensive line was unable to control Carolina's defense. The Panthers ended up with six sacks and seven hits. Kaepernick went 11 for 22 for 91 yards with an interception and was sacked six times for a 42.0 passer rating. Frank Gore had 16 carries for 82 yards, accounting for most of San Francisco's 151 total yards.

On defense, the 49ers were led by a strong performance from veteran linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who tied his career high with 3.0 sacks on the day. Cornerback Tramaine Brock recorded his team-leading 4th interception and linebacker Patrick Willis added 11 tackles and a sack. The 49ers held Panthers QB Cam Newton to 169 passing yards, going 16 of 32, an interception and four sacks for a 52.7 rating

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints are coming off of a dominating 49-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys

The offense put up a franchise-record 625 total net yards and set an NFL single-game record with 40 first downs. QB Drew Brees once again led the offense completing 34-of-41 passes for 392 yards with 4 TD passes, 0 INTs and a 139.0 passer rating. The Saints also rushed for 242 yard. Mark Ingram carried the ball 14 times for a career-high 145 yards (10.4 avg.) with one touchdown. Pierre Thomas contributed 87 yards (5.1 avg.) on 12 carries with one TD. Thomas also had seven receptions for 24 yards with one touchdown.

WR Marques Colston enjoyed a breakout performance with seven receptions for a team high 107 yards and one touchdown, while RB Darren Sproles rushed for a touchdown and also had seven receptions for 76 yards, including a 28-yard TD.

Defensively, the Saints held the Cowboys to 193 total net yards. The pass rush harassed Cowboys QB Tony Romo, as he managed to throw for only 128 yards and was sacked 3 times.

Prediction

The 49ers have a 3-1 road record this season. However, those 3 road victories have come against teams that are a combined 9-20 (@ St. Louis 35-11, @ Tennessee 31-17, @ Jacksonville 42-10). San Francisco's lone road loss came against the Seahawks in Week 2 by a 29-3 margin.

The Saints Week 9 road loss to the Jets appears to have served as a wake-up call as evidenced by the dominating performance on both sides of the ball against Dallas.

On offense, 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick is struggling. And coming off a physical hard-fought loss to the Panthers doesn't help either. New Orleans' defense won't hold San Francisco to a mere 9 points, but they'll be dominating enough.

More importantly, the Saints are almost invincible at the Superdome. Since 2008, the Saints have posted a 34-11 home record, including their 5-0 start this season.

Expect the New Orleans Saints to dominate the game with their explosive offense which ranks 2nd only to the Denver Broncos in scoring, passing yards and total offense this season.

Saints 35, 49ers 17

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NFL 2013 Week 11 - San Francisco 49ers Travel to New Orleans to Take on the Saints