San Francisco 49ers fans were understandably concerned about how the team would perform against the Los Angeles Rams in Australia on Thursday night. Defensive end Nick Bosa had not played in the preseason. Receiver Mike Evans and running back Christian McCaffrey had missed time. The offensive and defensive lines had also struggled in the preseason games.
Yet during the game I kept posting a version of the following to my chat group of thirty years:
[Name of 49er player!] Yes! Yeah, baby!
The result wasn't shocking—the Niners are a talented team—but the way they won and how many players performed was somewhat surprising. Below are some noteworthy things, some good, some bad, from the game.
Mike Evans
Evans was general manager John Lynch's big offseason acquisition. He was supposed to transform the wide receiver room. He is the best receiver quarterback Brock Purdy has ever had. But Evans had been dinged up in training camp, so the Faithful had to wait to see whether reality would match hope.
Verdict: a resounding yes. Evans had six catches for 49 yards, a touchdown, several key first downs, and he looked like a dominant receiver who will change the way defenses prepare for San Francisco.
Deebo Samuel
Samuel was a late signing this summer after receiver Ricky Pearsall was lost for the season. Deebo's performance has dropped every year since his monster 2021 season. The question was whether he had regained any of that form. Reports from training camp said Deebo showed up in excellent shape and seemed hungry. Would this be the case?
Again, a resounding yes. While Deebo will likely never have another season like he did that magical year, he had six catches for 48 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 12 yards. He is also now the 49ers' kickoff returner, and with the new rules, he looks like the perfect choice. His 45-yard kickoff return to start the second half set the tone for the rest of the game.
How many touches would Christian McCaffrey get?
For years, fans have worried that CMC is being overused, and for years head coach Kyle Shanahan has said he "would like" to use him less. He and Lynch have drafted or signed several running backs, but none has inspired enough trust for Shanahan to follow through.
Enter this year's third-round pick, Kaelon Black.
I am shocked to be able to write the following sentence:
A fully healthy Christian McCaffrey had 15 touches in the game.
And that is in the context of an offense that was playing well and needed to burn clock time with the run.
McCaffrey looked at the top of his game, rushing for 6.8 yards per carry, almost double his average last year.
And Black looked terrific, too, pounding the ball and showing good speed. He also had 15 touches and a very healthy 4.6 yards per carry. If Shanahan keeps this rotation somewhat the same for the year, the Niners' running backs will be fresh seventeen weeks from now.
Gracen Halton
In the beginning of the game, the defensive line was a sieve. The Rams' backs ran through gaping holes. The problem was the interior. Defensive tackle CJ West got the start, but on the Rams' lone touchdown run, a 5-yarder by Rams back Kyren Williams late in the 2nd quarter, West was manhandled, leaving a huge hole for Williams to run through.
But then rookie defensive tackle Gracen Halton entered the game. Though they rotated, Halton ended up with significantly more snaps (31 to 23) and was (literally) at the center of the goal-line stand that denied Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford the 12 inches he needed for paydirt.
In the first half, Los Angeles rushed for 6 yards per carry, but in the second half (before Rams coach Sean McVay threw in the towel and pulled L.A.'s starters and the Niners pulled theirs), the 49ers defense held the Rams backs to just 2 yards per carry. The addition of Halton was dramatic.
The offensive line was competent
The most maligned unit on the team (and with good reason), the 49ers' offensive line was adequate at the beginning of the game, but the run game struggled. At one point, Shanahan had called 16 passes versus four runs, remarkably lopsided for a coach who prefers something closer to an even split. But toward the end of the half, the unit seemed to work together, and CMC and Black started making headway.
The numbers in the passing game were good, too—at least on paper. The line gave up no sacks and only two quarterback hits, but Shanahan designed the attack for mostly quick throws that did not allow the Rams' pass rushers time to apply pressure. He also had backs and tight ends chip the edge rushers to slow them down.
The only fair judgment is that we won't know how good or weak the pass protection is until Purdy has to make more deep throws.
Have the offseason additions fixed the pass rush problem?
According to this game, not much. It was Nick Bosa's first game back, though, and he made some good plays. While the team had no sacks, they did have eight quarterback hits. New Niners defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa had four of them, and inside push was badly lacking last year. We won't know for a few weeks how much that part of the game has improved, but there is some hope.
How much would George Kittle and Nick Bosa play?
Neither tight end George Kittle nor Bosa was announced to be playing until a day or so before the game, and Shanahan said he would have to be smart with them. Kittle ended up playing just under half the snaps, and Bosa was about the same.
But both played well and showed no signs they couldn't get back to their dominant levels.
Milestone
One thing that went unnoticed before the game was that star linebacker Fred Warner entered the contest only a few tackles behind Niners Hall of Famer Patrick Willis' franchise record of 950. Early in the game, Warner surpassed that and is now atop the leaderboard.
The torch passed from one beloved Hall of Famer to a (hopefully) future one.
It doesn't get much better than that.
Injuries again
Rookie wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, who looked so promising in the preseason, went out with an ankle injury in the first half. The team won't know how bad it is until they return to San Francisco and can get an MRI. We just have to hope it isn't bad.
Back-up tight end Jake Tonges went down with a knee injury and needed some help coming off the field. As with Stribling, we won't know its seriousness for a few days.
Overall, the 49ers played well, though they showed plenty of rust at times. Evans, Deebo, and CMC all had bad drops, and Purdy did not see a defensive back undercutting a route and threw his one interception, but overall they played good football.
The season is long, but there are about ten days until the next game. That's time for the team to get back, get some rest, and prepare for that contest against the Dolphins.
And it's ten days for the Faithful to enjoy this win.
Mentioned in this article: Kaelon Black, Nick Bosa, Mike Evans, Gracen Halton, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Osa Odighizuwa, Ricky Pearsall, Brock Purdy, Deebo Samuel, De'Zhaun Stribling, Jake Tonges, Fred Warner
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