It was the game that carried the highest expectations in Week 14, and neither the New Orleans Saints nor the San Francisco 49ers let anyone down. Granted, fans for the former are heartbroken after seeing the latter steal a harrowing victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but the fight was a wire-to-wire heavyweight brawl wherein neither would concede to defeat until the clock hit all zeroes.

Momentum swung wildly between the two teams throughout the game, but the final oscillation is what will have everyone talking all week and likely longer, because that's when tight end George Kittle helped carve out a sizable notch in the belt of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Having matched the legendary Drew Brees shot for shot, the 49ers needed Garoppolo to find one more round in his chamber after Brees -- with the aid of Michael Thomas and in the absence of an injured Jared Cook -- marched the Saints down the field to take a 46-45 lead with under a minute remaining in regulation.

After reeling in an eight-yard reception on first down, the Saints defense -- which struggled all day to contain the 49ers -- forced two consecutive incompletions to force Garoppolo into a fourth-and-2 situation from the San Francisco 33-yard line, and with only 39 seconds left to mount a heroic finish.

And then it happened. Kittle stepped out of the phone booth, caped and ready.

For his part, the All-Pro says it'll take more than one defender to bring him down, even if they have a hand full of facemask as free safety Marcus Williams did -- leading to an additional 15 yards being tacked onto the play and further aiding Kittle and the 49ers move into range for a chip shot, walk-off field goal.

"Our tight end coach [Jon Embree] always says, 'Don't let one guy tackle you'," Kittle said, via The Sacramento Bee. "That's my mindset, just try to run through him, try to carry him as far as I can."

No wonder Garoppolo's eyes lit up when he dropped back to make the throw, seeing Kittle streak across the field with only man coverage assigned to him.

"I knew the (defender) was in a bad situation out there," he noted. "[George] is a beast with the ball in his hands."

As the above highlight shows, Garoppolo is telling no lies.

The 49ers are once again in the No. 1 spot atop the NFC with their win over the Saints and a Seattle Seahawks loss on "Monday Night Football" to the Los Angeles Rams. With the Green Bay Packers now hot on their heels in the No. 2 seat, securing home field advantage to avoid being forced into the frozen tundra of Wisconsin in January will be paramount, despite the 49ers having a 6-1 road record in 2019.

They want the road to the Super Bowl to go through Santa Clara, and they'll get their way if Garoppolo, Kittle and Emmanuel Sanders -- the latter easily being a candidate for Player of the Game against the Saints -- continue to dominate as they have been.