49ers-Saints outcome raises questions about each team’s defense

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Last year, when the Rams beat the Chiefs in a 54-51 barnburner, there was gnashing of teeth about the gashing of the defenses, with cries that one game had set football back by decades. Yesterday, when the 49ers outlasted the Saints at the buzzer of a 48-46 college basketball game, few were offended by the lack of defensive excellence.

So what’s the difference, other than the fact that only 11 fewer points were scored? As explained on PFT Live, the Rams and Chiefs racked up 105 points via offenses that operated with little resistance (although the game entailed an underrated number of solid defensive plays), and while points scored in the Superdome on Sunday largely came from offensive masterminds cracking the defensive code and coming up with ways to spring guys for long gains and touchdowns.

It ultimately could be a distinction without a difference. High-scoring games necessarily mean that defenses failed to execute their primary missions, and there’s reason to be concerned whenever a short-list Super Bowl contender surrenders that many points.

Then again, the Rams made it to the Super Bowl after giving up 51 points in November, allowing only 13 against the Patriots. And the Rams scored 51 fewer points in Atlanta than they had mustered against Kansas City.

So, ultimately, it’s just one game. And far more important than the points scored was the outcome, with the 49ers jumping (coupled with Seattle losing) from No. 5 to No. 1, and the Saints falling from No. 1 to No. 3 on a jumbled and muddled NFC playoff tree that will be flashing and changing and shifting throughout the holiday season.