PRO FOOTBALL : Saints Kick Monkey Off Their Backs : NFC: Andersen’s 49-yard field goal gives New Orleans a 16-13 victory over 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers entered Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints having won nine of the last 11 games between the teams.

But San Francisco Coach George Seifert was anything but confident.

“When you get into a game with them that’s close, it’s an ominous situation,” Seifert said. “You know who’s out there on the sidelines.”

Seifert was referring to Morten Andersen, who kicked a 49-yard field goal with five seconds left to give New Orleans a 16-13 victory.

The Saints (4-0) have a two-game lead over the 49ers (2-2) in the NFC West.

“We’ve had so many games like that where they’ve found a way to win at the end, it was such a nice change for us to find a way,” Saint Coach Jim Mora said. “It’s seemed like we’re always at the other end, fighting our heads off for 60 minutes and then losing.”

Said Andersen: “I think the monkey’s off our back at last.”

Vaughn Johnson had 13 tackles and nine assists for the Saints. Rickey Jackson had three of New Orleans’ six sacks and Gene Atkins and Toi Cook made big plays in the secondary.

Quarterback Wade Wilson drove the Saints from their 23 to the 49ers’ 32 in a little over a minute after a 30-yard field goal by Mike Cofer tied the score with 1:14 left.

Wilson, who completed 18 of 32 passes for 170 yards, started the winning drive with a shovel pass to Dalton Hilliard for nine yards, then connected with Eric Martin for 15 and scrambled for seven. He completed another nine-yard pass to Martin to set up Andersen’s winning kick.

San Francisco’s tying drive, which covered 68 yards in 15 plays and ate up 7:23, was kept alive by a fourth-and-four pass of 11 yards from Young to Brent Jones to the Saints’ 28. Seven minutes earlier, the 49ers had been stopped in nearly the same situation when Atkins knocked the ball away from John Taylor on a quick pass from Young, who completed 22 of 30 passes for 194 yards.

“It’s tough getting into the end zone against them,” said Ricky Watters, who gained 135 yards in 25 carries for the 49ers.

“There’s some very good players out there on the other side. You get the field goal to tie it up, but I don’t feel good about that because I felt that we could have gotten a touchdown.”

The Saints dominated most of the first half, keeping the 49ers out of their territory, but they led by only 10-3 at halftime.

New Orleans took a quick lead on Andersen’s 33-yard field goal, set up by Cook’s recovery of Taylor’s fumble on the first series.

Derek Brown, who rushed for 88 yards, scored on a one-yard dive in the second quarter to end a 68-yard, 10-play drive that gave the Saints a 10-0 lead.

The 49ers finally got going after that, driving 71 yards in nine plays to set up a 34-yard field goal by Cofer with 6:54 left in the half.