This looks to be a very interesting football game in the Bayou.  The 49ers have won two games in a row while the Saints have lost two in a row on the road.  The 49ers will likely look to get the ball into RB Frank Gore’s hands as much as possible in this game as he has 412 combined rushing and receiving yards already this season.  The Saints linebackers will have issues in dealing with Gore as the Saints are allowing 133.3 yards rushing per game and 5.3 ypc this season.  If QB J.T. O’Sullivan gets time to throw the ball (he has been sacked 13 times this season) against the Saints the Niners should be able to move the ball well against a Saints’ defense that is allowing 258.7 yards passing per game this season.

The Saints will come out throwing the ball as they always do but who will be catching the passes from Drew Brees this week?  With Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey out for this week and the next couple look for Reggie Bush to even be more involved in the passing game if that’s possible seeing how he has already caught 26 passes this season.  Bush has accounted for 412 combined rushing and receiving yards this season but the Niners have a pretty good linebacking corps to deal with him.  The Niners will be blitzing a lot (they have 8 sacks) to try to pressure Drew Brees into rushing into some mistakes.

PREDICTION:  SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 34, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 30

J.T. O’Sullivan has really stepped up this season after beating out Alex Smith and Shaun Hill for the starting QB job for the Niners in 2008.  Despite being sacked 13 times this season already O’Sullivan stands in the pocket and delivers the football with zip on it.  He has completed 50 of 75 passes (66.7%) for 705 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 interception (104.6 QB Rating).  He also has done well running the football as he has rushed for 65 yards on 14 carries (4.6 ypc) this season.  He looks like he could be the leader of the offense that the Niners have been looking for since Jeff Garcia left town.

The 49ers have CB Shawntae Spencer for the season after he tore the ACL in his left knee.  He only had made 2 tackles so far this season for the Niners.  Spencer will be replaced by either Tarell Brown or Donald Strickland.  Brown has 5 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he has 1 interception so far this season.  Strickland has also played somewhat well this season as he has finished with 4 tackles and a pass defensed.

The 49ers dominated the Lions last Sunday in Frisco.  J.T. O’Sullivan had another solid game for the Niners against the Lions as he completed 16 of 23 passes for 189 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  He also carried the ball 8 times for 32 yards (4.0 ypc).  Frank Gore was also very busy in this game as he rushed for 130 yards on 27 carries (4.8 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 4 passes for 32 yards (8.0 avg) in this game.  Delanie Walker (24-yarder) and Isaac Bruce (6-yarder) both added TD grabs.  The Niners finished up with 182 yards rushing on 39 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 23 passes for 188 yards.

The defense was outstanding for the Niners in this football game.  Linebacker Patrick Willis led the Niners in tackles with 6 in this game.  DE Justin Smith stuffed the stat sheet with 4 tackles, a sack and a interception.  Reserve linebacker Roderick Green also had a big game with 3 tackles and 2 sacks.  The Lions finished up with 116 yards rushing on 20 carries (5.8 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 31 passes for 124 yards.  The 49ers are now 2-1 on the season with this win.

This is a game that has a lot of bad blood involved in it.  Niners’ offensive co-ordinator Mike Martz held the same post with the Lions last season but he was fired in the offseason.  QB J.T. O’Sullivan also was a Lion last year as he backed up Jon Kitna.  The 49ers should be able to do whatever they want on offense in this game as the Lions are allowing 220.5 yards rushing per game and 240.0 yards passing per game this season.  With that in mind look for Frank Gore to get the ball quite often as he already has 250 yards from scrimmage this season.  QB J.T. O’Sullivan already has 516 passing yards this season and he will likely spread the ball around to a lot of receivers with Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce getting most of the downfield passes.

The Lions must be able to run the football against the 49ers to keep their offense on the sidelines.  Rookie Kevin Smith and Rudi Johnson will likely get most of the carries against a Niners’ defense that is allowing 139.0 yards rushing per game this season.  It appears however that this game could dissolve into a shootout and the Lions’ are equipped to throw the ball downfield with WRs Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams, Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey.

PREDICTION:  SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 41, DETROIT LIONS 34