Talk about wisdom of the crowd. There aren’t many observers on the outside looking in who like the New Orleans Saints on Sunday — according to NFL expert picks surveyed by NFL Pickwatch, an overwhelming majority of 98% of game picks favor the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12, as of Friday morning at 9 a.m. CT. That leaves just a 2% minority of brave souls who are going against the current.
It’s a bold strategy; let’s see how it works out for them. The Saints are catching the 49ers at a bad time. San Francisco rallied after their midseason trade for star running back Christian McCaffrey and a recent bye week to win three games in a row. They don’t have many names on the injury report, they’ve found their identity, and they’re averaging 8.2 more points per game since the McCaffrey trade. They’re dangerous, even if quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has some well-known limitations as a passer.
Things are improving for the Saints, who saw many of their injured players practice on at least a limited basis this week. They’re coming off a much-needed win last week with some momentum behind them. But they’re still a 4-7 team with all the flaws that record implies. It’s not likely Andy Dalton can sustain his sky-high efficiency from a week ago. With the 6-4 Niners up next, they’ll need to pull out all the stops for an upset.
