A painful but good read...An oral history of the 49ers-Saints epic 2012 playoff game

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One week later Goodwin was back in New Orleans for the teams’ first preseason game. Those warm-ups usually are forgettable affairs in which coaches rehearse their most basic plays. This one was not. Playing their first game under Harbaugh, the 49ers were surprised to find themselves being blitzed mercilessly by Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. They managed only 98 passing yards and lost 24-3.

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Times-Picayune columnist Jeff Duncan: I’ve never gotten an official answer on that. But there has been a rumor, I’ll say that. This is from someone that’s involved with the team, so it’s not like a fan thing. I heard that it wasn’t Gregg Williams’ call to do that, it was Sean Payton’s call. And the reason Payton wanted him to do it was I guess there’s some unwritten rule that you determine how you’re going to play the game. This could be complete b.s., but this is from someone close to the team. And he said that Harbaugh didn’t return Payton’s calls on that subject and that miffed Payton. So it was Payton’s way of showing the new kid on the block how they do it in the NFL.
Strief: The way I remember it being explained to me is: Jim Harbaugh refused to accept the phone call. And he refused to accept any rules. …. And I think eventually Sean went back and said, “He doesn’t want to talk. So there’s no rules. Do whatever you want.” And Gregg’s response was, “Awesome. I’m going to hit the quarterback on every play.” Because that’s what Gregg does.

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With the 49ers now leading 29-24 after a failed two-point conversion, the Saints took over with 2:07 left. Brees found Sproles and Colston for first downs. Then he reared back and threw downfield for Graham. Both Willis and Whitner went for the ball and missed.

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Duncan: I just remember thinking, this is going to be one of the greatest plays in the history of the organization. No question. When it occurred, the way it occurred, the comeback. It seemed like it was going to be the exclamation point on maybe the greatest Saints win in the franchise’s history, certainly in the playoffs.

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Goodwin: I remember thinking, “I can’t believe he’s blitzing us!” Of course, (Gregg Williams) doesn’t know this, but in practices it used to seem like when we were in two-minute drives we would get a lot of checkdowns. So Alex making that throw kind of caught me off guard. But I guess it was partly because we were getting blitzed.

Strief: To this day, I think it’s maybe the most devastating play that I was a part of because it just didn’t make any sense in that moment to let that offense and what it was move down the field like that. Which they hadn’t been able to do all day. It was a frustrating deal. And that’s what made that game so fun: things kept happening that you never anticipated could happen. And it happened over and over and over again.

Duncan: That game was definitely the low-water mark for Gregg Williams. Because they kept getting leads and they couldn’t get stops.

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Strief: It was the one stadium that after that game I forbid my family from ever visiting. We had several players’ wives, girlfriends have things taken off of them at the game. It was an aggressive crowd that you felt on the bench. Which was really unique, not what I thought it was going to be. … My guests had to leave in the third quarter.

Hale: I can tell you it has left a bitter taste in Saints fans mouths to this day. You’ll still hear people say, “We’ll never go back to San Francisco. Worst crowd ever. Downright dangerous. Not just rude but downright dangerous and nasty.”

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