49ers Look to Light Up Candlestick Against Saints

After opening the season 11 days ago with a win, defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints (1-0) head to San Francisco’s Candlestick Park to meet the 49ers (0-1) in their second primetime game of the season. The Saints put up an uncharacteristically low 14 points against the Vikings last week, the lowest in a win during Sean Payton’s tenure as coach. Payton and QB Drew Brees will be looking to get back to 2009 form and off to a 2-0 start for the first time in Saint’s history.

San Francisco, on the other hand, is coming off an ugly loss to the Seahawks. QB Alex Smith went 26 of 45 for 225 yards and two interceptions last week. Questions abound around the chemistry with top receiver Michael Crabtree and tight end Vernon Davis, both who missed the full pre-season while running back Frank Gore was held to just 38 yards on 17 carries by Seattle.

FOX Business has evaluated the win/loss and stock market statistics over the past 20 seasons of Monday night NFL games and come up with a Monday Night Markets [MNM] rank for each team based on their record and the prior week’s market activity. Let’s take a look at what the markets have to say about tonight's tilt.

The Dow Industrials ended last week up 1.39% and the S&P 500 was up as well, closing out the week with a gain of 1.45%. The Bulls shook off losses after an unexpected drop in consumer sentiment rallying behind strong earnings from tech giants Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) and Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM). Economic data also eased worries of a slowdown in China while deflation concerns were abated after import prices for August rose higher than expected.

Over the past 20 years, the Saints have played 18 Monday night games and based on our calculations have a Monday night rank of .286 when the Dow closes the prior week up, and .500 when the S&P 500 is up, giving the team a MNM rank for this week of .393.

During the same 20-year period, the 49ers have played 38 Monday night games and have a rank of .826 when the Dow is up and .706 when the S&P 500 is up giving them an MNM rank this week of .766.

So, despite what seems like a mismatch, Monday Night Markets picks the San Francisco 49ers to beat the visiting New Orleans Saints tonight.

2010 Monday Night Markets picks: 2-0

Week 2 FBN Staff Picks:

          Chris Cotter

The 49ers will retire Jerry Rice’s jersey on this night, but the added emotion won’t translate into a win over the Saints. The defending Super Bowl champs made a lot of mistakes in a Week 1 victory over the Vikings, yet still beat a stout defensive unit. San Fran will play hard and make it close, but Drew Brees, Heisman-less Reggie Bush, and the Saints prevail.

          Robert Gray

The Saints will keep marching in San Francisco tonight. Drew Brees has too many weapons in the passing game plus Reggie Bush is seeking redemption on the national stage after forfeiting the Heisman Trophy. Then there’s the ball hungry Saints defense that exposed Brett Favre’s lack of preparation last week and shut down the NFC’s most explosive runner in Adrian Peterson. Expect them to focus on stifling San Fran’s Frank Gore in similar fashion and clamp down on tight end Vernon Davis. San Francisco’s offense was out of sync in Seattle, and the defense allowed the Seahawks to soar at will through the air. Brees & Co. must be champing at the bit.