Injury-riddled Niners ground Jets in blowout Win

Week 2 - Even before Sunday's game between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers, things have been grim for the defending NFC Champs who have had to deal with multiple key injuries in the first weeks of the 2020-21 NFL season. But nothing would have prepared them for what they would endure in Week 2. In a battle between two teams coming off Week 1 losses and seeking their first win of the season, the 49ers were once again quick to jump out to an early lead on Sunday when running back Raheem Mostert turned the first snap of the ball game into an 80-yard touchdown. It would be one of the few moments enjoyed by the team collectively as the Niners' luck quickly turned once again. After losing their superstar tight-end George Kittle in the first half in Week 1 to a sprained knee that also kept him out of this one, Kyle Shanahan's 49ers endured a myriad of injuries in the first half on Sunday. Perhaps none greater than the injury suffered by second-year defensive-end and last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year: Nick Bosa. During a 13-play drive that ate up 6-minutes and 43-seconds and ended in a Jets field goal, Bosa went down with an apparent left knee injury that required him to be carted off the field. Two plays later, fellow d-lineman and former first-round pick Solomon Thomas would also need to be carted off the field with a similar knee injury. MRI results would confirm what the team had feared for both players -- a torn ACL. Adding insult to injury to a banged up 49er defense that had already ruled out both Dee Ford (neck) and Richard Sherman (calf) in the days leading up to Sunday's game. 

Things on the offensive side wouldn't be a whole lot better as both Jimmy Garoppolo and Raheem Mostert went to the locker room before halftime with ankle and knee injuries respectively. Making matters worse, neither player would return in the second half. While it wasn't apparent when Mostert had suffered his injury, the injury to Garoppolo occurred during San Francisco's second possession of the game on a low-hit sack that brought Jimmy G to his knees. While he would play through it for the remainder of the half after team trainers wrapped extra tape around his ankle, Garoppolo took multiple hits and was shown limping around in obvious discomfort. Even then, he managed to find tight-end Jordan Reed for a pair of passing touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the second quarter. It would be a memorable day for Reed who filling in for injured Kittle, had went a total of 673 days in between touchdowns since his last score on November 2018 with the Washington Redskins. 

Opening the second half with backup QB Nick Mullens under center, the 49ers quickly found themselves in a 3rd and 31 situation before Jerick McKinnon exploded for a 55-yard run that got the 49ers into enemy territory and allowed them to kick a 46-yard Robbie Gould field goal. San Francisco's second drive on offense with Mullens at the quarterback position wouldn't be as lucky as he was intercepted on a tipped-pass intended for McKinnon, which the Jets would turn into another field goal. Any chances the Jets had of pulling off a late comeback were put to bed when McKinnon made a house-call from 16-yards out to give his team a 31-6 lead in the 4th quarter. New York would get a garbage-time touchdown late in the 4th quarter when QB Sam Darnold escaped pressure before finding receiver Braxton Berrios for a 30-yard score to make it a 31-13 final. 

While the 49ers' first win of the season would come at a great cost after losing multiple players to injury, the team saw a much different story play out on third down than the one that left them with a loss in Week 1. Kyle Shanahan's offense converted on 53% of third downs on Sunday, compared to just 18% a week ago. As expected with their starting running back Le'Veon Bell sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Jets went with a steady diet of Frank Gore in the run game as the long-time 49er and the franchise's all-time leader in rushing, carried the ball 21 times for 63-yards on Sunday against his former team. In comparison, San Francisco got 92-yards rushing on 8 carries from Mostert before his injury and another 77-yards on 3 carries from McKinnon in an all-around efficient performance for the 49ers run game. While Sam Darnold passed for 179-yards and a touchdown on 21-of-32 pass attempts, Garoppolo threw for 131-yards and two TD's on 14-of-16 passing before missing the entire second half. Mullens finished the game completing 8-of-11 passes for 71-yards and a pick. 49ers rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk made his NFL-debut and finished with two receptions for 21-yards, but it was Jordan Reed who stole the show in the 49ers receiving game with 7 catches for 50-yards and 2 TD's, his first multi-TD game since Week 7 of the 2017 season. 

Week 3 - Several 49er players took to Twitter after the game to express their distaste for the newly installed artificial-turf at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium following the numerous injuries suffered in Sunday's win. Whether those complaints fall on deaf ears or not, it's virtually impossible that anything will be done before kickoff in Week 3 as the Niners will return to that very field when they face the New York Giants (0-2). Coming off a loss in Chicago to the Bears, the Giants clawed their way back from a 17-0 halftime deficit before running out of time and falling in regulation, 17-13. Similar to the Niners, the Giants also had a rough day in the injury department on Sunday as they lost their superstar running back Saquon Barkley for the year with a torn ACL, the same injury suffered by Bosa and Thomas. Both teams will be thin at running back when they meet next week, as the 49ers found out on Monday that they'll be without both Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman in Week 3 with knee injuries. Before having to leave Sunday's game, Mostert set another record with his speed. A week after clocking in at a speed of 22.73 mph, the fastest speed by a ball carrier since 2018, Mostert did himself one better by setting another record and reaching 23.1 mph on his game-opening touchdown run, the fastest since 2016. Shanahan and company hope Mostert is just one of the many players they're able to replace as they'll have no other choice than to live by the, "next man up" mantra for at least the next week. As for Jimmy G, it appears the team dodged a bullet and will make a game-time decision on whether backup QB Nick Mullens will need to start in his place or not. 

Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest