METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints remain undefeated at home and have lost just three times all season. So, it might be a bit of nitpicking to say that playing on the road could be their downfall.
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"You win 13, 14 games now, and you're trying to find something," Saints coach Sean Payton said Sunday. "When you start playing well on the road and home, you're probably a better team, and we've been able to do that. This will be a good challenge for us. Not just playing on the road, but traveling west."
After beating the Detroit Lions 45-28 at the Superdome in an NFC Wild Card Game, the Saints will visit the No. 2-seeded San Francisco 49ers for their game next Saturday. Of New Orleans' three road losses this season, two were on natural grass, the surface the team will play on at Candlestick Park, where the 49ers went 7-1.
"I think the Tampa Bay and St. Louis losses really helped us prepare ourselves on the road," Saints wide receiver Robert Meachem said.
But the Saints will have history against them. They have never won a road playoff game, the neutral-site 2010 Super Bowl notwithstanding. The Saints have lost twice at Chicago, at Minnesota and at Seattle, which came in last season's wild-card round.
As for the team's road struggles this season, they provide a cautionary tale.
On NFL Network
"NFL Replay" will re-air the
Saints' 45-28 OT win over the
Lions on Thursday, Jan. 12 at midnight ET.
The Saints had to come from behind to beat the Carolina Panthers 30-27 on Oct. 9. A week later, the Saints lost at Tampa Bay 26-20, failing to convert a scoring chance in the final minutes when quarterback Drew Brees threw an interception in the end zone. Then, on Oct. 30, the Saints lost to the then-winless Rams 31-21 in St. Louis.
In all, the Saints' five lowest-scoring games have come on the road, three of the five coming outside.
Knowing that, Payton will change up the schedule. After normally traveling on Saturday for road games, the Saints will leave for San Francisco two days before the game, going on Thursday after practice and then participating in a Friday walk-through at Candlestick Park.
The idea is to give the players a day to acclimate to the two-hour time difference while also getting a feel for the field.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
