The highly entertaining and intriguing first round of the NFL playoffs are officially in the books and the second round looks to be just as an intriguing with some potentially epic matchups. The one matchup in the second round that could be the most intriguing is the New Orleans Saints heading to the Bay Area to take on the NFC West division champion San Francisco 49ers.

It would be hard to argue that the New Orleans Saints aren’t playing like the best team in the NFL right now as they have just been red-hot in the second half of the season. As if finishing the regular season with Drew Brees breaking Dan Marino’s passing record and lighting up the division rival Atlanta Falcons for the NFC South division title wasn’t impressive enough, Sean Payton’s squad put on a show in the NFC Wild Card against the Detroit Lions.

With a big win over the Lions in the first round, the Saints seem ready to make that run for a second Super Bowl title in three years, but they will have to get through the defensive-minded San Francisco 49ers in order to do it. Ironically enough, the 49ers’ defense isn’t making headlines right now as head coach Jim Harbaugh has been talking about the Saints’ blitz-heavy defense.

The one thing that the 49ers have been concerned about all season long has been the offense failing to put points on the scoreboard. Alex Smith and company have played much better than expected this season, but whether or not they can keep up with the potent offense of the New Orleans Saints remains to be seen.

This second-round matchup will be a fairly even showdown, but only because the 49ers’ defense has played so well this season. The Saints are definitely the better team at this point, but San Francisco will be looking to move on to face either the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers or the resurgent New York Giants.

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