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Saints seek third straight victory against 49ers

Oct 28, 2007 - 10:56 AM New Orleans (2-4) at San Francisco (2-4) Sunday 4:15 pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- After an 0-4 start, the New Orleans Saints dug themselves a deep hole, but they are beginning to show signs of life.

The Saints seek their third straight victory on Sunday, when they visit the reeling San Francisco 49ers in a battle of teams heading in opposite directions.

New Orleans ranks 27th in scoring (16.8) this season after leading the NFL in total offense last year. But the Saints got their first win two weeks ago in Seattle and followed it up last week with a 22-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Reggie Bush rushed for only 54 yards on 17 carries but bulled his way into the end zone from four yards out for the go-ahead score with just over five minutes remaining.

The Saints have scored 50 points in their last two games after managing just 40 points in their first four contests.

"The big thing is understanding that at this point of the season, you're still wanting to see improvement and wanting to get better from week to week," Saints coach Sean Payton said.

"There are still areas that we can improve on. Nonetheless, I felt like we played with real good energy and I thought we played physical and that was encouraging."

Now, the Saints look to take advantage of another struggling opponent to inch closer to .500.

San Francisco is coming off a 33-15 loss to the New York Giants and has dropped four straight following an 0-2 start.

The frustration could be reaching a boiling part for the 49ers. After the game running back Frank Gore questioned the play-calling off Jim Hostler, who is in his first season as San Francisco's offensive coordinator.

"Norv Turner, he's been doing it for a while," Gore said. "Whenever he said something, we wanted to do it. Now I feel that a lot of people, when Coach Hoss calls something, it gets in the back of their heads, 'Is he calling the right play?'"

The 49ers hope to have quarterback Alex Smith, who has missed two games with a right shoulder injury, back this weekend. But Gore's status is uncertain after he injured his ankle against the Giants.