SAN FRANCISCO -- The best road team in the NFL over the past three seasons is coming to Candlestick Park on Friday to get acclimated to the surroundings.Is that a sentence you expected to read?After all, so much as been made this week about the New Orleans Saints being a different team outside of the Superdome. But the fact is that the Saints are one of just two NFL teams -- the Philadelphia Eagles are the other -- with a winning road record each of the past three seasons.
During that time, the Saints have compiled an NFL-best 18-6 record in road games, including a 25-22 victory over the 49ers at Candlestick as defending Super Bowl champs in Week 2 last season.
So, sure, the Saints have not scored as much away from the Superdome. In nine home games, the Saints averaged 41.5 points per game. In five outdoors road games, the Saints averaged 25.8 points. The Saints were 5-3 on the road this season.RELATED: New Orleans Saints 2011 scheduleresults
The Saints traveled to the Bay Area on Thursday evening. On Friday, they have a walk-through practice scheduled at Candlestick Park. The Saints and 49ers meet on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in an NFC divisional-round matchup."The years we've played well on the road, we've been a better football team," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I think more recently we've done real well on the road. Starting in '09, '10 and '11, we're a team that's traveled a lot better and had success on the road. The years we struggled, we weren't as good as a team."Oftentimes that comes with a dome team, more than surface or home and away. One of the things we felt was important for us to be successful that we were going to have to not only play well at home, but we're going to have to travel and play well and fortunately we've been able to do that."The Saints are 0-4 on the road in the club's playoff history, including a 41-36 loss at Seattle last January against a Seahawks team that won the NFC West with a 7-9 record.
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