Putting quarterback Drew Brees into a tough situation is like sticking Clark Kent in a phone booth. The New Orleans Saints passer transforms into something super both on third down and in the red zone.

Brees leads the NFL with a 132.0 passer rating on third downs. He also leads the NFL from inside the 20-yard line with a 138.7 rating.

That's bad news for a 49ers defense that has struggled at times to make stops when it counts. The Arizona Cardinals, for example, hogged the ball for nearly 23 minutes in the second half to secure a Week 1 victory.

The 49ers can't let it happen again today in New Orleans against an offense that ranks fifth in the NFL with a 43.2 conversion rate on third downs.

"Brees is very good in the red zone. He's very good on third down and always has the most first downs in the league. Those three areas are critical," 49ers coach Mike Nolan said.

On third downs, Brees is 20 for 27 for 282 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. In the red zone, he is 8 of 9 for 70 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Saints coach Sean Payton said his team spent Wednesday night game-planning its third-down attack against the 49ers.

"You're going to see zone coverage, you're going to see man and you're going to see pressure," Payton said. "As a quarterback, you've got to be able to diagnose quickly what you're getting."

RAIDERS

OAKLAND STILL LOOKING FOR BREAKTHROUGH

The Oakland Raiders aspire to be a good team.

Coach Lane Kiffin has heard players discuss making the playoffs, something that was laughable when he arrived last season.

Putting the Raiders and playoffs in the same sentence today still inspires chuckles from most.

The first step toward that would be actually beating a playoff-caliber team.

The Raiders last beat a team that made the playoffs Nov. 20, 2005, at Washington.

Until the Raiders prove they can beat teams that aren't at the bottom of the standings, they will, more often than not, find themselves in that same bottom-feeding lot.

Last week's game was an example of what good teams don't do — and of what the Raiders have done a lot of recently.

They blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter at Buffalo, a team that looks like a contender.

Now here come the San Diego Chargers, who lost in the AFC championship game last season and found their swagger with a 48-29 win Monday against the New York Jets after an 0-2 start.

Kiffin hopes the Raiders aren't fooled by the Chargers' 1-2 record, which mirrors Oakland's.

"Coming off a game where I felt we should have won where we gave it way, didn't finish, I like that we don't have some team coming in here that's a so-called weaker team," Kiffin said. "This is one of the best teams in the league, and our guys don't have time to sit around and pout about last week because we'll get blown out if we do."

Kiffin has leaned on the cliche of adversity making a team stronger, as he has coached amid rumors team owner Al Davis will fire him at any moment.

The Raiders have faced plenty of adversity on the field, too. Denver drilled them in the season opener, 41-14. And when it appeared the Raiders had begun to mature and were in position to win at Buffalo, they collapsed.