On November 25, 2012, the San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints 31-21 in the Superdome with Colin Kaepernick making only the second start of his NFL career. Kaepernick ran for one touchdown and threw for another, but the game turned on two interceptions of Drew Brees that went back for touchdowns: Ahmad Brooks’s 50-yard return with 31 seconds left in the first half and Donte Whitner’s 42-yard return early in the third quarter. San Francisco also sacked Brees five times.
The 49ers arrived 7-2-1 and left 8-2-1. The Saints had climbed back to 5-5 after an 0-4 start, winning five of six, and the loss dropped them to 5-6.
Why Kaepernick was starting
Alex Smith had been the starter all season. He took a hit to the head against the Rams on November 11, a game that ended in a 24-24 tie, and was diagnosed with a concussion. Kaepernick started the following Monday night against Chicago and completed 16 of 23 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a 32-7 win. Smith was medically cleared the day before the game, but Jim Harbaugh gave Kaepernick the first-team practice work and the start, with Smith as the backup.
After the game Harbaugh said he had not wanted to rush Smith back after symptoms that lingered for more than a week: “I’ve had some bad experiences, not going to put a guy back out there who has symptoms like he had.” He would not say who would start the next week. It turned out to be Kaepernick, and Smith never started another game for San Francisco.
A first half of mistakes on both sides
Kaepernick opened the scoring on the 49ers’ second possession. A 40-yard catch-and-run by Mario Manningham and a 13-yard completion to him put the ball at the New Orleans 7, and Kaepernick ran it in around left end with 7:28 left in the first quarter. Brees answered with a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Thomas.
Early in the second quarter a Saints punt changed the game the other way. Ted Ginn Jr. muffed it at the San Francisco 12 and Rafael Bush recovered at the 11. Two plays later Brees hit Marques Colston for a 10-yard touchdown, and New Orleans led 14-7.
The last minute of the half produced two interceptions in 12 seconds. With 43 seconds left, Kaepernick threw deep for Kyle Williams and Patrick Robinson picked it off at the New Orleans 44. On the Saints’ second snap, Brees threw over the middle for Jimmy Graham; Brooks, a linebacker, stepped in front of the pass at midfield and ran 50 yards for the tying touchdown with 31 seconds left. Halftime: 14-14.
Whitner’s return and a 14-point cushion
San Francisco took the second-half kickoff and scored in six plays. On third-and-2 from his own 28, Kaepernick threw deep down the left side to Delanie Walker for 45 yards. Kendall Hunter ran 21 yards to the 6, and Kaepernick flipped a 6-yard touchdown pass to Frank Gore.
New Orleans got the ball back and gave it away almost immediately. Justin Smith sacked Brees for an 8-yard loss, and on second-and-18 Brees threw deep down the middle for Colston. Whitner intercepted at the Saints’ 42 and returned it all the way. Colston was hurt on the play. In 42 seconds of game time the 49ers had gone from 14-14 to 28-14.
Brees led one more touchdown drive, with a 43-yard completion to Lance Moore setting up a 2-yard pass to fullback Jed Collins that made it 28-21 with 7:24 left in the third. The Saints never got closer.
Closing it out with the pass rush
David Akers kicked a 27-yard field goal with 7:53 left to make it 31-21, after a 25-yard third-down catch by Walker and 24 yards from Gore on two carries moved the 49ers inside the 10. After that the 49ers pass rush took over. Aldon Smith and Justin Smith shared a sack on the next snap; Brooks and Patrick Willis split another on third down; and on fourth-and-11 Brees’s deep pass for Joseph Morgan fell incomplete. After Akers missed from 50 yards, Brooks sacked Brees again, and a fourth-and-4 throw to Moore fell incomplete.
The 49ers then handed to Gore six times on their final possession. A Gore touchdown was wiped out by a holding penalty, and Malcolm Jenkins blocked Akers’s 33-yard try with 1:13 left; the Saints’ Brodrick Bunkley was disqualified on the play. Brees moved New Orleans to the San Francisco 37 in the final minute, but the clock ran out.
Every scoring play
| Time | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st, 7:28 | Kaepernick runs 7 yards for a touchdown | 49ers 7, Saints 0 |
| 1st, 1:56 | Brees passes 6 yards to David Thomas for a touchdown | 49ers 7, Saints 7 |
| 2nd, 7:58 | Brees passes 10 yards to Colston for a touchdown (after Ginn’s muffed punt) | Saints 14, 49ers 7 |
| 2nd, 0:31 | Brooks returns a Brees interception 50 yards for a touchdown | 49ers 14, Saints 14 |
| 3rd, 12:24 | Kaepernick passes 6 yards to Gore for a touchdown | 49ers 21, Saints 14 |
| 3rd, 11:42 | Whitner returns a Brees interception 42 yards for a touchdown | 49ers 28, Saints 14 |
| 3rd, 7:24 | Brees passes 2 yards to Collins for a touchdown | 49ers 28, Saints 21 |
| 4th, 7:53 | Akers kicks a 27-yard field goal | 49ers 31, Saints 21 |
By the numbers
| 49ers | Saints | |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Colin Kaepernick, 16 of 25, 231 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 0 sacks; 6 carries, 27 yards, 1 touchdown | Drew Brees, 26 of 41, 267 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions (both returned for touchdowns), 5 sacks |
| Top receivers | Delanie Walker, 3 catches, 81 yards; Mario Manningham, 5 catches, 69 yards; Bruce Miller, 3 catches, 37 yards | Darren Sproles, 7 catches, 65 yards; Lance Moore, 3 catches, 61 yards; Marques Colston, 4 catches, 36 yards, 1 touchdown |
| Rushing leaders | Frank Gore, 19 carries, 83 yards; Kendall Hunter, 4 carries, 28 yards | Chris Ivory, 8 carries, 34 yards; Mark Ingram, 10 carries, 27 yards |
| Sacks | 5 (Aldon Smith 1.5, Justin Smith 1.5, Ahmad Brooks 1.5, Patrick Willis 0.5) | 0 |
| Turnovers | 2 (interception, muffed punt) | 2 (two interceptions, both returned for touchdowns) |
What came next
Four days later, on a Thursday night in Atlanta, Brees threw five interceptions and no touchdown passes in a 23-13 loss, ending his record run of 54 straight games with a touchdown pass. The Saints finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs.
Kaepernick kept the job. The 49ers lost the following week in St. Louis on Greg Zuerlein’s overtime field goal, but they won the NFC West at 11-4-1, beat Green Bay 45-31 and Atlanta 28-24 in the playoffs, and lost Super Bowl XLVII to Baltimore 34-31. Smith was traded to Kansas City the following spring.
The 2026 connection
Both teams play Sunday in Week 10. The 49ers (7-1) visit the Cowboys (4-5) in the late afternoon game, and the Saints (3-5) host the Panthers (3-5) in an NFC South game in the early afternoon window.
The scoring plays, drive notes and player numbers above come from the official play-by-play and game data.
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