Week 1 - After suffering the heart-wrenching loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 54, the San Francisco 49ers dubbed the 2020-21 season their self-proclaimed "Revenge Tour" in an effort to settle some unfinished business following their 4th quarter collapse that left a bad taste in the mouths of Niner players and fans alike. On Sunday, their season and so-called tour got off to a rough start as the 49ers were upended by Kyler Murray and the visiting Arizona Cardinals. With fires raging up and down the west coast and more specifically the state of California, the 49ers were forced to take extra precaution all week during practice with the air quality reaching unhealthy to nearly hazardous levels in the Bay Area. But if that wasn't enough cause for concern come game day, the team's depleted receiving corps would surely do the trick. With last year's rookie standout Deebo Samuel placed on the team's Injured List and expected to miss the first three weeks of the season while still recovering from a broken foot and 2020 first-round pick Brandon Aiyuk nursing a hamstring strain, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo played every bit as uncomfortable as some feared he would without two of his starting receivers. And he nearly lost his superstar tight-end as the 49ers had an injury scare with Pro-Bowler George Kittle.
As for the Cardinals who are much improved from a roster standpoint compared to where they were a season ago, Arizona was one of the busiest teams in the league over the offseason and easily made the biggest splash on offense with the acquisition of wide-out DeAndre Hopkins from the Houston Texans. Pairing an elite receiver in his prime with a bright young talent like Kyler Murray should pay dividends as well as cause fits for the 49er defense for many years to come. Hopkins would waste no time making his presence felt with his new team as he hauled in a career-high 14 catches for 151 yards. The newest member of the Cards dwarfed his teammates in receiving yards as no other Cardinal tallied more than 34-yards. But it was the play-making ability of Murray that ultimately led to the 49er defense scratching their head after Week 1.
San Francisco got off to a good start on both sides of the ball as a Robbie Gould field goal from 52-yards out got the Niners on the board early following their first possession. After a forced punt on Arizona's first possession, Garoppolo made quick work of the Cardinals defense as he found running back Raheem Mostert with a pass up the middle for a 76-yard touchdown, a career-long for both parties. Blowing by Arizona rookie Isaiah Simmons for the easy score, Mostert was clocked at a top speed of 22.73 mph on his way to the end zone, the fastest by a ball carrier since 2018. With another stop on defense, this time on a three and out, the 49ers seemed to be in business yet again before Arizona forced a three and out of their own that resulted in a blocked punt. One play later, the Cardinals cashed in on the miscue for a 10-yard touchdown by Chase Edmonds. Looking to extend their lead, the 49ers marched all the way down to the 1-yard line before a gutsy decision by head coach Kyle Shanahan to go for it on 4th and goal. Electing to hand it off, Mostert was stuffed at the goal line for a turnover on downs. Luckily for the 49ers, Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez missed his first of three field goal attempts which failed to tie the game. After an interception by Niners safety Jaquiski Tartt on Arizona's next possession, both teams would exchange field goals as San Francisco took a 13-10 lead into the half, despite going 0-for-6 on third down.
The Cardinals would open the second half by suffering a second missed field goal by Gonzalez, but the Niners would fail to get much going on offense themselves as their only two possessions of the third quarter resulted in punts. Starting things off in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals would benefit from a costly unnecessary roughness penalty on a bogus late-hit call on the sliding Murray on 2nd and 21. The speedy Murray would eventually make the defense pay by using his legs to rush for a 22-yard touchdown to give Arizona their first lead of the day. In need of an answer, the 49ers would get just that in the form of a 5-yard touchdown reception by running back Jerrick McKinnon. Setup by a 41-yard connection from Garoppolo to his fullback Kyle Juszczyk, McKinnon who had gone 966 days since playing in his last game following multiple injuries and setbacks, scored his long-awaited first touchdown in a 49er uniform to put his team back on top. Trailing 20-17, Murray and the Cardinals offense continued to chip away at the 49er defense in the fourth quarter as Arizona had a DeAndre Hopkins touchdown erased as the replay review determined the receiver was down just shy of the goal line. Unbothered by the reversal, Kenyan Drake ran up the middle on the very next play to punch in the go-ahead score.
Given one final chance with just over five minutes remaining, the 49ers had the clock in their favor and all three timeouts remaining if they had a last-minute come-from-behind win at home against Arizona in mind for the second consecutive season. Garoppolo and company would march to the 16-yard line with less than a minute remaining, before a pair of incomplete passes intended for Trent Taylor were broken up, resulting in a game-sealing turnover on downs. Though Garoppolo steered clear in the giveaway department, he made a few errant passes and took three sacks before finishing 19-of-33 for 259 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, while his counterpart completed 26-of-40 passes for 230 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. However, Murray's real damage came on the ground as he tallied a game-high 91 yards rushing to go along with his rushing touchdown. Kenyan Drake added another 60-yards on the ground on 16 carries. With the aforementioned DeAndre Hopkins leading the game in both receptions and receiving yards, Raheem Mostert lead the way in both receiving (95) and rushing yards (56) for San Francisco.
Super Bowl hangover? Probably not, but it appears this unprecedented season without any preseason reps to help prep for could take longer to adjust to than initially thought for Kyle Shanahan's reigning NFC Champs. Also worth noting is just how much the team fed off of the raucous crowd of Levi's Stadium a season ago as the seats at Levi's were empty on Sunday and likely will be all season long due to the pandemic. The inability to convert on third downs early on and the team's failure to prevent Murray from running free and creating plays with his feet were ultimately what did the Niners in in the opener, not to mention their short-handed offense that clearly misses both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in the receiving department.
Let the early season overreaction begin!
Week 2 Preview - The 49ers (0-1) will take to the road for the first time this season when they pay a visit to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to face the New York Jets (0-1) in Week 2. Coming off a 27-17 loss against the division rival Buffalo Bills, the Jets who will be without Le'Veon Bell (hamstring), will call upon future Hall of Fame running back Frank Gore whom 49er fans are quite familiar with as he spent 10 seasons with the franchise from 2005-2014 and was named to 5-Pro Bowls. The fan favorite who to this day still has a red and white photo of the No. 74 as his Twitter avatar to honor his former teammate and the recently retired Joe Staley, says he still holds the 49ers organization and their fans near and dear to his heart. The same could be said about Gore for the Faithful as the 37-year old back just surpassed Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for the 3rd most games played in NFL history at the RB position (227). Having been at or near the bottom of the AFC Eastern Division standings for four of the past five seasons now, the Jets were absolutely obliterated in the time of possession battle in their Week 1 loss to Buffalo, as the Bills controlled the ball for 41:16 compared to New York's 18:44. However, if the Niners plan to have similar success with the ball in their possession, they'll need to do a much better job on 3rd down if they want to avoid falling in an early 0-2 hole, as they converted only 18% compared to Arizona's 50. After shipping away their best player in Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks, the Jets are a rebuilding team that is still multiple seasons away from truly contending for a division title. That said, I'd expect a big day for the 49er defense and an all around bounce back performance for Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco team, even if they're without tight-end George Kittle who suffered a sprained knee and will be further evaluated for Sunday's game.
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