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San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

The San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints open up the 2011 NFL preseason schedule Friday night at the Louisiana Superdome. 

San Francisco will open up the Jim Harbaugh era tonight and is coming off a disappointing 6-10 season under former head coach Mike Singletary.  The 49ers are busy installing a new offensive system under coordinator Greg Roman, who spent two years with Harbaugh at Stanford.

In 2010, the 49ers posted a 4-0 preseason record, marking the 5th time since joining the NFL that the team had a perfect mark in exhibition play, with the last time coming in 1992. 

With a new coaching staff, the focus in the opener will mainly be on evaluating the roster and preaching proper execution.  Starters are expected to play about 20 to 30 snaps before giving way to the second and third teams.

Fans are most excited to see rookie quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was selected in this year’s NFL draft to be the franchise’s future offensive leader.  He was drafted to ultimately replace embattled starter Alex Smith.

Smith was expected to be a star in the NFL at this point, as he was selected No. 1 overall in the 2005 NFL draft, but things have simply not panned out.  It’s almost surprising to many that he returns to camp this year.

One of the strengths that Harbaugh has focused on during camp is Smith’s ability to make plays in the red zone, completing 30 of 42 passes, while throwing nine touchdowns and zero interceptions.

New Orleans is eager to step back on the field and erase the memory of its Wild Card loss in Seattle as 9.5-point road favorites.  The Saints will be facing the 49ers for the first time in exhibition play since 2003 and for the third time overall.

Quarterback Drew Brees did lead the Saints to a 25-22 win over the 49ers at Candlestick Park in Week 2 of the 2010 season, as he comes off a year of throwing 4,620 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Under head coach Sean Payton, New Orleans is 11-10 in preseason play.  The Saints were 2-2 SU in 2010, including a 3-1 ATS mark. 

One of the main focuses in camp has been to improve a running game that finished 28th in rushing a year ago, as starter Chris Ivory returns after gaining 716 yards, while the team used its No. 1 draft pick to select Alabama rusher Mark Ingram. 

The Saints also signed free agent Darren Sproles to replace the departed Reggie Bush, as he will be a major weapon on third down and on the special teams unit.

At the time of this writing, New Orleans is a 2.5-point home favorite and the total stands at 35.5.