NEW ORLEANS — For Brad Seely, the 2012 season has been eerily reminiscent of 2001. In both years, he saw the established starting quarterback suffer an injury and lose his job to his second-year backup, then he watched the young gun lead his team to the Super Bowl.

Seely was the special teams coach with the Patriots in 2001 when Drew Bledsoe was hurt in Week 2 and Tom Brady took over; he holds the same position now with the 49ers, and saw Alex Smith, injured in Week 9, supplanted by Colin Kaepernick.