Photos via sf49ers.com

For both the New Orleans Saints and the 49ers, this season has suuucked.

There's no worse feeling in fandom than unmet expectations. And both of the NFL's gold-helmeted teams have seen the bottom drop out of their dreams for the 2007 season.

* New Orleans vs. San Francisco
Sunday, October 28, 2007. 1:00 PM, PST.
Week 08
The Battle Of Fool's Gold

After being counted out of the 2006 season post-Hurricane Katrina, the Saints made an unlooked-for offensive surge with rookie Head Coach Sean Payton calling the shots, won an utterly surprising amount of games, and plowed all the way to the NFC title game.

(Including mooshing the 49ers 34-10 in Week 13 at the Superdome, kneading the Niners around like a gramma gently working meatloaf into shape. Speaking of which, all the money spent on rebuilding the Superdome could have been better spent in the community of New Orleans. Football is a sport -- it can wait -- but people still need our help in New Orleans. It's not like FEMA is gonna get the job done. Donate to standard-checked charitable organization with this link. Do what you can. Now, back to the column.)

Since that final game of 2006 in Chicago, the [nu ˈorliənz] American football franchise has fallen hard. The weak secondary wasn't really improved in the offseason. Their hard-charging RB Deuce McAllister is lost for the year with an injury. Opposing defenses have been able to fluster QB Drew Brees, disrupting the triggerman of Payton's accuracy-requiring offensive scheme.

After dropping the first four games, the N'orleans ship may be righting with two straight wins over the underwhelming Seahawks and the shattered Falcons. Now as they come to town to battle the offense-starved Niners, the Saints are hoping to build escape velocity away from the gravity well of their 0-4 start.

And how 'bout them Niners? Oh, boy; talk about a mirror image of the Saints' start. There were those two cardiac wins against the newly-reset-but-still-pitiable Arizona Cards and the muddled Rams at the start of the season before the fact that our new offensive coordinator couldn't call a game to save his own life became apparent. Come back, Norv, all is forgiven!

Both of these teams were supposed to make the playoffs. Both of these teams had high hopes for 2007. Both of these teams have revealed themselves on the field to have intrinsic flaws. And one of these teams will walk off the field at Candlestick 'round 4:00 PM tomorrow with their record 2-and-5, one notch further than where they expected they could be.

Next up on your American Football Spectacular: The Raiders face off against the mullet and mustache of Head Coach Jeff Fisher, the "he-just-knows-how-to-win" of Powder Blue Jesus, and the rest of the Tennessee Titans