The Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints arrive at Candlestick Park on Monday. Bring 'em on, Vernon Davis said.
"I strongly believe we have the better team going into this game,'' the 49ers tight end said Saturday.
A better team than New Orleans? The Saints won the title last season behind Drew Brees, the game's MVP, and are coming off a season in which they went 7-1 in road games.
"It's exciting because we know that they're competitive,'' Davis said. "But we're not worried about them being Super Bowl champion or anything like that."
Asked about the prospect of being covered by Pro Bowl strong safety Roman Harper, Davis said: "Is that No. 41? No, I don't think he can check me man-to-man, one-on-one."
Davis' bold talk comes days after Mike Singletary made brash statements in an interview with KPIX. When host Dennis O'Donnell asked Singletary about trying to stop Brees, the coach responded with: "We will stop Drew Brees. Next question." Singletary also said: "We will not try to move the ball against the New Orleans defense. We will move the ball and we will score."
Singletary's comments sounded vaguely like a Joe Namath-type guarantee, but the coach rankled at the use of the G-word on Saturday. "I didn't say anything about a guarantee, OK? I just said we would stop him."
He added: "As a coach, as a player, or however you look at it, I'm certainly not going to go into the game thinking we're not going to stop
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him. If that's the case, I need to stay at home.
"So (Brees) knows that we're going to come out there and try to stop him. So what does that mean? We're going to get our game plan together and do the very best job that we can of going out there and stopping Drew Brees and that offense. And I don't know any other way to put it."
The 49ers have long pined for continuity on the offensive line, but injuries could result in another patchwork job on Monday. Chilo Rachal (stinger) is listed as doubtful, with either Adam Snyder or Barry Sims in line to fill in at right guard.
If Rachal can't play, left tackle Joe Staley would be the only lineman left in his spot from a year ago. Rookies Mike Iupati (left guard) and Anthony Davis (right tackle) are new to the lineup, and David Baas has moved from guard to center in the wake of an injury to starter Eric Heitmann.
Vernon Davis, often called upon as a blocker, acknowledged the unit has to band together. "We're going to have a few flaws because of the young linemen. They're trying to get acclimated,'' he said. "They're learning. You have to respect that.
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