SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- If only it was that easy for the New Orleans Saints.

Defeated on a regular basis by San Francisco for years, the Saints are refusing to read much into the 49ers' season-opening 41-3 loss at Jacksonville.

Maybe if they beat San Francisco on Sunday and snap their six-game losing streak to the 49ers, they can draw some conclusions but not before.

"A lot of people get bent out of shape about the score," said New Orleans coach Mike Ditka, whose team opened with a 19-10 win over Carolina. "It's silly. ... The 49ers are still the 49ers. They're still the team to beat."

At this point, the 49ers only hope so after last week's deflating start.

San Francisco has won 11 straight regular season games following a loss and will be trying to avoid consecutive losses to start a season for the first time since the strike-shortened 1982 season.

"We've got to play better than we did last week," said 49ers linebacker Winfred Tubbs, a former Saint who tired of losing and came to San Francisco as a free agent two years ago.

"It's not the 49ers way. Every game we go into, we have to put ourselves into position to win and last week we didn't do that. Yeah, we've got something to prove this week."

The Saints may be without running back Ricky Williams, who was listed as questionable after aggravating a left ankle injury last week, but Lamar Smith stepped in to play well, averaging 5.1 yards on 13 carries.

More questions surround San Francisco's running game, which went nowhere as part of a dismal offensive showing against Jacksonville.

San Francisco, the league's top-ranked offense last season, got only 69 rushing yards on 14 carries by Charles Garner and Lawrence Phillips, who are trying to fill the void left by the loss of injured Garrison Hearst.

Young, sacked four times and under constant pressure, had his worst passing day in nine years as San Francisco's starter, completing 9-of-26 for 96 yards with two interceptions and a fumble.

And in New Orleans, the 49ers face a defense that broke through Carolina's line for seven sacks.

"Two years ago, we had an excellent running attack and we protected Steve with the running game," 49ers offensive coordinator Marty Morhinweg said. "Any time you run the football, it makes other aspects of the offense a little easier. It protects the quarterback more, it controls the game, it controls the clock.

"So if you're asking me if we need a running game, yes, we do. And we'll get one. We'll find one."

Phillips, who missed the second half last week with a concussion, said the running game just needs more time and opportunity.

"When we ran the ball, we ran it pretty well," he said. "But we got behind and started throwing the ball. Charlie had a few good runs in there, so I don't think we put the run game to the test as far as the whole game."

One area the Saints intend to put to the test is San Francisco's secondary, whose shortcomings were exposed by the Jaguars. Jacksonville's receiving tandem of Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith combined for 14 catches for 217 yards, playing primarily against 5-7 corner Mark McMillian and 5-8 corner Darnell Walker.

"Every team has got their weaknesses," said Saints quarterbacks Billy Joe Hobert, who had a 67-yard TD pass to Keith Poole last week.

"It's just a matter of having the ability on your team to exploit that weakness. Certainly, defensively with (Merton) Hanks gone, they have some inexperience out there on the corners, and they're certainly not as big as you'd like to see most corners. But they do have a lot of talent. They're a very good football team and what happened in Jacksonville was a fluke, so we better be ready."

The 49ers also have been working Craig Newsome and R.W. McQuarters at the corners this week and both could see more playing time in place of McMillian and Walker.

The Saints will be up against San Francisco's 17-game home winning streak, including a 16-0 mark in coach Steve Mariucci's two seasons. The 49ers also averaged 32.6 points per game at home last season and didn't score less than 25 in any one contest in San Francisco.

"We can't make assumptions because of what's gone on in the past. We've got to get it done each week," Mariucci said. "We can't rely on what's been done in the past. It has nothing to do with this team. You produce with this team, this year in these games. That's what counts."

NEW ORLEANS Season schedule and results

SAN FRANCISCO Season schedule and results

September 12 Carolina W 19-10 September 19 @San Francisco 4:05pm ET October 3 @Chicago 1:00pm ET October 10 Atlanta 1:00pm ET October 17 Tennessee 1:00pm ET October 24 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET October 31 Cleveland 1:00pm ET November 7 Tampa Bay 4:05pm ET November 14 San Francisco 1:00pm ET November 21 @Jacksonville 8:20pm ET November 28 @St. Louis 1:00pm ET December 5 @Atlanta 1:00pm ET December 12 St. Louis 1:00pm ET December 19 @Baltimore 1:00pm ET December 24 Dallas 3:05pm ET January 2 @Carolina 1:00pm ET

September 12 @Jacksonville L 3-41 September 19 New Orleans 4:05pm ET September 27 @Arizona 9:00pm ET October 3 Tennessee 4:15pm ET October 10 @St. Louis 1:00pm ET October 17 Carolina 4:15pm ET October 24 @Minnesota 1:00pm ET November 7 Pittsburgh 4:15pm ET November 14 @New Orleans 1:00pm ET November 21 St. Louis 4:15pm ET November 29 Green Bay 9:00pm ET December 5 @Cincinnati 1:00pm ET December 12 Atlanta 4:15pm ET December 18 @Carolina 4:15pm ET December 26 Washington 8:20pm ET January 3 @Atlanta 9:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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