NEW ORLEANS — The 49ers beat the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees on Sunday in a track meet of a game that featured a you’ve-got-be-kidding me fourth quarter in which the biggest play was made by their Pro Bowl tight end.
Does that sound vaguely familiar?
Yes, the 49ers’ instant-classic 48-46 win over the Saints at the raucous Superdome evoked memories of their epic divisional-playoff win over New Orleans in January 2012.
Left tackle Joe Staley mentioned that game after a contest in which the team combined for 981 yards, 53 first downs and nine touchdown passes.
“It kind of reminded me of the playoff game at Candlestick,” Staley said. “… It was back and forth the entire time.”
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A key difference: Eight years ago, tight end Vernon Davis cried after he caught the game-winning touchdown in a 36-32 win over the Saints that featured 33 points in the final eight minutes.
On Sunday, tight end George Kittle screamed after his violent 39-yard, fourth-down catch-and-run with less than a minute left set up Robbie Gould’s 30-yard field goal as time expired.
3 notables
RB Raheem Mostert: He followed a 146-yard rushing performance with a 10-yard, 69-carry effort that included a 10-yard TD run and a 35-yard scoring reception on a pass from WR Emmanuel Sanders.
SS Marcell Harris: Subbing for starter Jaquiski Tarrt, Harris whiffed on a tackle on TE Jared Cook’s catch-and-run 38-yard score and he failed to cover TE Josh Hill on a 3-yard TD.
WR Deebo Samuel: The rookie had a 31-yard run, a 25-yard catch and finished with 109 yards on seven touches.
Kittle’s catch was was part of a frenzied fourth quarter in which 26 points were scored in the final nine minutes to cap an afternoon stuffed with offensive haymakers.
Staley, the only remaining 49er to play in the playoff game in which the Saints took the lead on a Brees’ touchdown pass with 1:37 left, had an is-this-happening-again feeling Sunday: The Saints took a 46-45 lead on Brees’ 18-yard strike to Tre’Quan Smith 53 seconds left.
“It was kind of eerie how they scored late,” Staley said, “and we still had to come down and get some points.”
The 49ers were one play away from not replicating that postseason win.
However, on 4th-and-2 from their 33-yard line with 39 seconds left, Garoppolo threw a short pass to Kittle in the left flat and Kittle, well, went to work.
He caught the pass just beyond the first-down marker, met Marcus Williams at the Saints’ 48-yard line and shoved the safety for 20 yards down the left sideline while Williams was aggressively yanking at his facemask.
Three plays later, the 49ers walked out with a win.
“George, he’s just the best in the world,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It took them to almost rip his neck off to even bring him down. I mean, he’s the best in the world. You can’t really say anything other than that.”
But plenty more was said about Kittle’s play.
“That was grown-man stuff,” running back Matt Breida said.
Said cornerback Richard Sherman: “He’s like ‘regardless of the facemask pull, I’m going to bully you all the way to the end zone.’”
And Garoppolo: “Once he caught it and turned upfield and squared the guy up, I didn’t know what he was going to do. (But) I knew the guy was in a bad situation.”
Sunday’s game didn’t have the loser-goes-home finality of the 2012 tussle, but it had huge implications for the NFC playoff race and a postseason feel with the ear-splitting home crowd causing three false-start penalties by the 49ers. The 49ers improved to 11-2 and the Saints dropped to 10-3, meaning a potential January rematch would likely be at Levi’s Stadium.
“That was definitely one of my favorite places to ever play football,” Kittle said. “It was an absolutely insane environment.”
And both quarterbacks, each of whom threw for 349 yards, were absolutely brilliant.
Garoppolo completed 26 of 35 passes with four touchdowns and an interception that bounced off Emmanuel Sanders’ hands. He rallied the 49ers from a 13-point, second-quarter deficit.
Brees completed 29 of 40 passes with five touchdowns and had a 1-yard scoring run. He rallied the Saints from a nine-point hole with nine minutes left.
As with Alex Smith eight year ago, who outdueled Brees in for his first playoff win, Garoppolo made another statement to skeptics who have wondered about his franchise-QB ability.
“He played big time,” Sherman said. “He played like the best quarterback in football today. He beat a legend … That was a shootout and he got the last shot.”
Said McGlinchey: “It showed that he’s the top in the league in what he’s a capable of doing … We’ve known that for a long time and I don’t know why everybody on the outside has doubted that.”
On Kittle’s catch-and-run down the left sideline, Staley tried to sprint in position to provide a touchdown-sealing block, as he memorably did against the Saints at Candlestick on Smith’s 28-yard, fourth-quarter dash down the left sideline.
However, Staley, now 35, is coming off a broken fibula and he was clearly dealing with back issues Sunday. The former high school sprinter noted he doesn’t possess the “wheels” he once did, but he was just thrilled the final result mirrored that other back-and-forth slugfest against the Saints.
“It’s just fortunate that we had time left on the clock and we were able to execute,” Staley said, “and thank God we have George Kittle.”
Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch
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