49ers vs. Saints: Key matchups that’ll decide Week 12 outcome

The 49ers host the so-so Saints in Week 12, but these matchups will ultimately decide whether or not the Niners keep their winning streak alive.

Plenty of the teams the San Francisco 49ers have faced this season have been, well… weird.

That’s a good way to describe the Niners’ Week 12 opponents, the 4-7 New Orleans Saints, who aren’t necessarily excellent in any one particular category on either side of the ball, but they’re not overly terrible at anything either.

However, there are a lot of inconsistencies.

Case in point, New Orleans’ run defense has given up 1,453 yards over 11 games, which is seventh most but has to take into account a number of other teams that have played just 10 games. Allowing 4.6 yards per attempt, tied for ninth most, one might figure the Saints aren’t too good against the run.

Over their last three games, however, the Saints have given up over 184 rush yards per contest.

That feeds right into what head coach Kyle Shanahan will want to do, and not surprisingly, that’s one matchup of the ones we’ll break down that’ll determine whether or not San Francisco beats New Orleans this Sunday.

49ers vs. Saints matchup No. 1: Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell vs. New Orleans run defense

The 49ers went from facing one bad run defense, the Los Angeles Chargers, back in Week 10 to squaring off a good Arizona Cardinals run defense, while both teams flip-flopped in their efforts against the pass.

The Niners had to use the pass to set up the run last week against Arizona, but Shanahan might be able to get back to his proverbial “bread and butter” against a Saints team that has allowed at least 130 rush yards in four of its last five games.

Football Outsiders ranks New Orleans’ run defense 20th in the league entering Week 12, meaning San Francisco should have no trouble feeding its top two running backs, Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell.

A week ago, McCaffrey was the dual-threat star and netted over 100 yards, but Mitchell was the second-half “closer” and led the 49ers with 59 yards on nine carries, many of which broke Arizona’s defensive back.

Any replication of those efforts will likely do the Saints in, too, so look for the ground game to be a key factor for the Niners on Sunday.