49ers’ 5 keys to winning without Purdy, Kittle at New Orleans Saints

NEW ORLEANS – Open with back-to-back road wins, then finish deep in the playoffs, maybe even the Super Bowl. That is the 49ers’ script for odd-numbered years, or so it has played out in 2019, ’21 and ’23.

That history surely will spark boundless optimism Sunday if the 49ers beat the host Saints to follow up a season-opening comeback win in Seattle.

A harsh reality check, however, is that they’ll burrow into the Superdome without quarterback Brock Purdy and tight end George Kittle, who sustained injuries in the Week 1 win and could be sidelined into next month.

Such is life in the NFL, where injuries wreak havoc, perhaps even more so with the 49ers. Ironically, the 49ers had to cancel a joint practice in last year’s training camp with the Saints because of injury attrition.

The Saints are undergoing their own roster upheaval. For as much talk as the 49ers’ defense has generated with a new cast around Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, the Saints entered this season with 25 new players under first-year coach Kellen Moore.

Here are five keys to victory for the 49ers (beyond “1. Do. 2. Not. 3. Get. 4. Hurt. 5. Anymore.”):

1. 2017 DRAFT REUNION

The 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey and the Saints’ Alvin Kamara are two of the NFL’s most versatile running backs, and they’ve been that since arriving in the 2017 NFL Draft. Look for each offense to rely on them more than their quarterback.

McCaffrey sidestepped last week’s calf issue to wrack up 142 yards (69 rushing, 73 receiving) in the opening win at Seattle. It was his 31st career game with 50-plus rushing and 50-plus receiving yards, the second-most behind Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk’s 41.

Such production isn’t anything new for McCaffrey or Kamara. Their stats, since 2017, when McCaffrey was Carolina’s first-round pick out of Stanford and Kamara was New Orleans’ third-rounder out of Tennessee:

McCaffrey: 6,456 rushing yards (52 touchdowns, 1,339 carries), 4,539 receiving yards (29 touchdowns, 533 catches).

Kamara: 6,824 rushing yards (61 touchdowns, 1,554 carries), 4,774 receiving yards (25 touchdowns, 575 catches); he has played 20 more games than McCaffrey. Kamara debuted Sunday with 45 rushing yards (and a touchdown) and 12 receiving yards

2. QUARTERBACK MATCHUP

Neither quarterback has won an NFL start inside the Superdome. So don’t rule out a tie. But seriously …

Spencer Rattler went 0-6 as a second-round rookie last year, and last Sunday’s 20-13 loss to Arizona dropped him to 0-7 as the Saints’ starter. Rattler, a 2024 fifth-round pick, kept that job after beating out Tyler Shough, a rookie second-rounder.

Rattler is only 6-foot with a career 57.3-completion percentage (four touchdowns, five interceptions). But he can move, and the 49ers notoriously struggle with quarterbacks who can escape the pocket (21.9 yards per rush).

“This quarterback, I’m telling you, he’s going to be a household (name) by the end of the year,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said. “He’s a twitchy athlete, he has a heck of an arm, he’s very decisive, he’s accurate.”

Mac Jones, Purdy’s replacement, will be making his 50th career start, and although he’s played in over half the NFL stadiums, this is his Superdome debut, even tracing to his three years at Alabama. Jones is 20-29 as a starter, including a 10-7 mark as a 2021 Pro Bowl rookie for the Patriots, who took him 15th overall after the 49ers audibled in the draft process to select Trey Lance No. 3.

After three years in New England and last season’s seven spot starts in Jacksonville, Jones arrived this spring and matured well into Kyle Shanahan’s scheme, up until an Aug. 16 knee sprain ended his 13-of-16 preseason performance in Las Vegas. Should Jones go down in this game, then it could be Adrian Martinez claiming his first win, in the Superdome or anywhere in the NFL.

3. PROTECT JONES BETTER

Jones is not considered as mobile and elusive as Purdy, who sustained a left-shoulder injury on a second-quarter hit Sunday before his toe injury on a scramble just before halftime.

Warning: Left tackle Trent Williams is battling a knee injury, after uncharacteristically allowing six pressures in the season opener. Left guard Ben Bartch and right guard Dominick Puni are also battling knee issues.

Purdy was pressured on 57.9% of his drop-back passes in the opener, the highest single-game rate of his career. He responded by going 13-of-20 for 126 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions and a sack.

The Saints’ pressure might best come from Cameron Jordan, a 15th-year veteran out of Cal who had 1 1/2 sacks in Sunday’s opener, as did Carl Granderson. Former 49ers defensive end Chase Young has been sidelined by a calf injury.

“It is going to be a good front. Cam definitely hasn’t slowed down,” right tackle Colton McKivitz said. “It’ll be a good challenge for us up front. And obviously with Brock being out, we are going to have to be at our best on Sunday.”

4. 49ERS D-LINE VS. SAINTS O-LINE

Like the Seahawks a week ago, the Saints present a homegrown offensive line, but with four first-round picks: left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (2025), left guard Trevor Penning (2022), right guard Cesar Ruiz (2022) and right tackle Taliese Fuega (2024); Fuega hurt his knee in the Saints’ opener and was limited in practice this week.

The 49ers’ revamped defensive front came through in the clutch in the season opener, or at least Nick Bosa did in producing a strip-sack fumble recovery in the final minute to clinch that victory.

“We put some really good effort on tape. That was a big emphasis of ours,” Bosa said. “The run game, we held up well. There’s a lot to improve on.” Seattle’s two-back combination of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet totaled just 67 yards (3 yards per carry).

Top draft pick Mykel Williams recorded one tackle in 39 snaps as a versatile lineman, to which Bosa said: “He’s stout, strong. He needs to clear up some things in his head to allow him to play faster, but he has the tools.”

Bosa was a rookie in that 2019 epic win in New Orleans and did not play in the 2020 encore because of an ACL tear.

5. KICKER’S FIRST IMPRESSION

Eddy Piñeiro, Jake Moody’s overdue replacement at kicker, played the past three seasons for the Carolina Panthers, so he has experience kicking in their NFC South rival’s historic dome. “It was fun. It’s a little dark, not too many lights. But it’s loud,” said Piñeiro, whose 88.1 field-goal percentage ranks fourth in NFL history; ex-Niner Robbie Gould is ninth (86.5%).

In New Orleans’ season opener last Sunday, the Saints blocked a field-goal attempt in the final five minutes. That is a reminder to note that Moody was not the sole culprit of the 49ers’ special teams blunders in recent years, and porous protection resulted in a blocked field-goal attempt Sunday in Seattle.

“At the end of the day, I’ve got to make kicks, and if I don’t, I’ll be out of here,” said Piñeiro, who also drew interest from Atlanta. “Thank God this opportunity came up and this is what I wanted. … At this point, I want to win. This was the best opportunity. I wanted to go somewhere we can win and this is the place.”