49ers Thrash the Fish in Home-Opening Win

Week 2 - Making the long trip back home from Melbourne, Australia following their dominant Week 1 victory over the rival Los Angeles Rams, the (1-0) San Francisco 49ers returned to Levi's Stadium for their home-opener against the (0-1) Miami Dolphins. In what would be a match-up between the oldest team in the league (SF) versus the youngest (Miami), Sunday's bout between the 49ers and Dolphins would also feature the largest Pro Bowl gap entering a game in 29 years with San Francisco showcasing a combined 55 career Pro Bowls among their roster (most in the NFL) compared to Miami's 1 (fewest in the NFL). Those numbers would show throughout the game as the more experienced team prevailed when it was all said and done. But not before a number of fan favorites made their return to Levi's on Sunday when receiver Deebo Samuel and linebacker Dre Greenlaw put on the red and gold again in front of the 49er Faithful after both players played elsewhere a season ago. 

Kicking off a first half that featured a combined zero punts, the Dolphins would attempt to take an early lead with a field goal try on the game's opening-possession, before kicker Riley Patterson's 51-yard field goal try sailed wide right. Taking over with good field position across the 40-yard line, the home team would ignite what would ultimately be a busy day for the 49er offense as a 13-play drive was capped off by a 1-yard rushing touchdown from running back Christian McCaffrey. Miami would make a game out of it for at least the first half by answering with a field goal on each of their next two drives including one before the half, but when the Dolphins settled for three points, the 49ers continued to answer with seven. San Francisco would only maintain two possessions in the first half, with both resulting in a touchdown as quarterback Brock Purdy who grew up a big fan of Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins, rushed it in himself to give his team a 14-6 advantage at the half. 

As impressive as the Niners were on offense in the first half, their defense raised some eyebrows as they were unable to get off the field with Miami having success with long drawn out first half drives. Those drives would be mostly fueled by running back De'Von Achane who had a career-high 14 carries in the first half. However, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris would have the San Francisco defense playing much better football to open the second half as they nearly pitched a shutout the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the 49ers offense picked up right where they left off to open the second half, scoring touchdowns on each of their next three drives. Needing only four plays to find the end zone coming out at the half, tight-end George Kittle bookended the drive with a 40-yard reception followed by a 12-yard touchdown grab. Their next possession would require double the amount of plays but ended in a similar result as fullback Kyle Juszczyk hauled in a 6-yard touchdown grab to keep the scoring going. 

After a turnover on downs by the Dolphins, the 49er offense again made quick work of their opponent by needing only two plays to find the end zone for a fifth consecutive time. Setup by an impressive play from Brock Purdy who faked a pass before running away from a defender to eventually find receiver Mike Evans who picked up 27-yards and nearly scored himself had he been able to stay in-bounds. One play later Christian McCaffrey would find the end zone for the second time on the afternoon. San Francisco's scoring frenzy would end there as they scored touchdowns on their first five drives to start a game for the first time since 1991. Making the record books elsewhere, McCaffrey's second touchdown of the game would also be the 100th touchdown of his career, becoming the fourth fastest player to reach the century mark in TD's behind only Ladanian Tomlinson (89), Emmitt Smith (93) and Shaun Alexander (96). McCaffrey would reach the mark in 114 games, one game fewer than Jerry Rice's 115. The two touchdowns on the day would also give him 50 in his career with the 49ers, joining only Marshall Faulk and Randy Moss as the only other players in NFL history to record 50 or more touchdowns with multiple teams. 

Already leading 35-6, the 49ers' first punt of the day would come with 10:36 remaining in the fourth quarter. Looking to end things there, the San Francisco defense would come 2:30 away from holding their opponent from scoring in the second half for the second consecutive game to start the season, but a garbage-time touchdown on a 77-yard bomb from Dolphins QB Malik Willis to receiver Ryan Miller would make it a 35-13 ballgame as the 49ers milked the clock and brought it home from there. The emphatic win would make a franchise first for San Francisco as they opened the season with two wins by 20+ points each. Unlike their game a week ago against the Rams when the 49ers were able to win despite not being able to get to the opposing quarterback, the San Francisco defense was able to tally four sacks on Sunday against Malik Willis, while also keeping their own quarterback on his feet without allowing a single sack for the second consecutive week. 

Brock Purdy finished with another impressive line by completing 20 of 22 pass attempts for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns to go along with another touchdown on the ground. Purdy would also lead his team in rushing by finishing with 30 yards on three attempts. Running backs Kaylon Black and Christian McCaffrey, each finished with 25 and 23 yards rushing, respectively. Tight-end George Kittle would look a lot like his normal self after returning to form following a quiet Week 1 by leading his team in receiving with 80 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. Among those receptions would be career reception No. 600 for Kittle who stands alone with the 2nd-most receptions in 49ers franchise history behind only the great Jerry Rice. Kittle is also just the 8th tight-end in the Super Bowl era to reach that number in his first 10 seasons and the third fastest (126 games) behind only Travis Kelce (110 games) and Jason Witten (125 games), some rather elite company for the longtime 49ers tight-end. 

Week 3 Preview: The 49ers will play host to the (1-1) Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 as they look to improve on their early season success with what would be their third win of the season and second win in the division. After pulling off an upset win on the road over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, the Cardinals returned home for Week 2 where they were manhandled by the Seattle Seahawks by a final score of 31-7. In that loss, Cards QB Jacoby Brissett was held to under 100 yards passing on the day (95) and Arizona's defense had no answer for Seattle's top receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba who hauled in 9 passes for 155 yards and 3 touchdowns. If Brock Purdy can continue his hot start, the 49er offense may be in store for another big day on offense come Sunday. 

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49ers Cruise in Australia with Season-Opening Win over Rams

Week 1 - For the first time in NFL history a regular season game would be played in Australia as the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams opened up their season in Melbourne at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of a packed house as 100,021 fans poured in to watch one of the NFL's longest-standing rivalries. Slated to be a dandy, the 49ers and Rams came into the match-up after splitting their season series a season ago at a game apiece before finishing the year with identical 12-5 records. Selling out the stadium, the many fans in attendance would make it the seventh-largest crowd ever for a regular season game in NFL history. With the NFL announcing early on during the offseason that the Rams would host a regular season game in Australia, rumors began to swirl that it was the 49ers that they would choose to bring along with them, in hopes of eliminating the pro-49er crowd that has made a habit of taking over L.A.'s SoFi Stadium, appropriately nicknamed, "Levi's South." But even after having the 49ers tag along to open the season some 9,000 miles away, making this the furthest two teams would ever travel for an NFL game, San Francisco would make Melbourne their home for a full week in preparation for the game and would steal the show come gameday. 

While 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made it a point to arrive in Melbourne early to adjust to the 17-hour time difference, Rams head coach Sean McVay took an entirely different approach, landing only 28-hours before kickoff in hopes of keeping his guys on a more familiar schedule before making the trip back home. The Rams even went as far as sending sleep experts to Australia in advance. But in McVay's defense, the quick turnaround did work for them last season when making a trip to London, England with less than 30 hours before kickoff in what was a dominant 30-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, albeit the flight to Melbourne is 6 hours longer. Despite being the "road team", the 49ers virtually served as NFL ambassadors, embraced their time in Melbourne by hosting various community events in and around the city and stole the support of the locals. Those newfound supporters would have plenty to cheer for come kickoff as the 49ers made early statements on both sides of the ball. 

With San Francisco winning the coin-toss, the Rams opened the game on offense where they would be met by Fred Warner and the 49er defense. Returning to his first bit of NFL action since suffering a broken ankle a season ago, Warner did not miss a beat on Thursday as he came up with a pass-breakup on L.A.'s first play from scrimmage before eventually finishing with a game-high 11 tackles. Forcing a three and out on the Rams' opening-possession, the 49ers would come out on offense and put up a 15-play drive that lasted over 7-minutes. Despite having some success and marching inside the red zone, the 49ers were held to a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. With both teams exchanging punts on their next possession, the Rams got their first taste of success after a big play on a 41-yard gain from All-Pro receiver Puka Nacua who corralled a deep pass and broke a pair of tackles to help set his team up inside the red zone. Two plays later running back Kyren Williams would help give the Rams a 7-3 lead with a rushing touchdown from 5-yards out on the first play of the second quarter. Making history with what would be the NFL's first Australian regular season touchdown, it would be the only scoring L.A. would do as the 49ers took the wheel from there. 

In what would ultimately be a strong performance from 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, one of the lone mistakes on the day by the San Francisco offense would come on a pass intended for tight-end George Kittle that was intercepted by the Rams defense. With the Rams marching and already in field goal range, the league's reigning MVP Matthew Stafford threw up a questionable pass intended for Nacua that was picked off by 49ers cornerback Renardo Green. It would be a nice bit of redemption for Green who was benched the last time we saw the 49ers defense in action against the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional round of the playoffs back in January. Green's big stop would keep the Rams off the board and helped turn the tide for the 49ers before the half. Turning the turnover into points, Purdy launched a deep ball into the end zone and into the arms of a streaking Demarcus Robinson as the former Ram hauled in the 39-yard touchdown grab to give the 49ers a 10-7 lead heading into halftime. 

The 49ers would receive some unfortunate news before coming out to begin the second half when rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling who dazzled during training camp and in the preseason for San Francisco after being selected in second round of April's Draft, was ruled out with a leg injury. Stribling would fail to log a single reception in his NFL debut and had to be carted off the field. With Stribling out and joining a list of other absent 49er receivers including Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco would need contributions from their other receivers, notably Deebo Samuel who returned to the team during the offseason after a year away. Deebo would get that memo to start the second half as he returned the second half kickoff 45-yards to give his team stellar field position to begin the half. A pair of big runs by running back Christian McCaffrey on the first two plays from scrimmage and the 49ers were already within striking distance. Several plays later, Purdy would connect inside the end zone with one of his newest teammates in Mike Evans as the future Hall of Fame receiver hauled in the 2-yard touchdown grab on third and goal. 

With the Rams down 17-7 and looking to answer, Stafford and company began to march and made it all the way to the doorstep before being stopped at the 1 on 4th down as the San Francisco defense came up with a huge goal-line stand to force the turnover on downs. Making it to the 3 yard-line on 2nd down, the 49ers held their ground on three straight downs to come up with the stop. Making matters worse for L.A., Shanahan's 49ers would march 99-yards on 12-plays before finding the end zone again as Purdy scrambled to his right and threw a strike to Deebo Samuel to take a 24-7 lead. Any hopes the Rams had of a comeback evaporated on their ensuing possession when Fred Warner punched the ball free from Rams tight-end Tyler Higbee to force a fumble recovered by defense. The Niners would cash in the turnover for another Eddie Piniero field goal, increasing their lead to 27-7 with under 10-minutes remaining in regulation. Things on offense would continue to sour for the Rams as their next possession ended in a turnover on downs, paving the way for what would end up being a 27-7 win for San Francisco. 

Without overreacting and buying too much into things only one week into the season, you have to like what you saw on the side of the 49ers, while also having some concerns on the side of the Rams who opened up the season as heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl this season. After making a big splash during the offseason by making multiple trades to beef up the defense, the Rams' newly acquired Myles Garrett who is coming off winning the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year Award after setting the league's single-season sacks record with 23 a season ago, was shutout in the box score, failing to log a single sack and was held without a single tackle for only the 4th time in his career. After missing most of the team's training camp with knee swelling, the Rams have decided to shutdown Garrett for now by placing him on the team's Injured Reserve list while he undergoes arthroscopic knee surgery that will cause him to miss at least the next four games. The 49ers can relate to the injury bug as they learned on Tuesday just two days before gameday that they would be without second-year defensive-tackle Alfred Collins for the year after he tore his patella tendon during practice.  

Elsewhere, the 49ers' newly hired defensive coordinator Raheem Morris made a great first impression with his new club while facing the team he helped win a Super Bowl with in 2022 under the same title. Morris' defense spearheaded by Fred Warner and Nick Bosa who returned from injury, held the NFL's best offense from a season ago to 290 yards of total offense and just one score. The 7-points allowed by San Francisco's defense mark the fewest-points in 85 games started by Matthew Stafford (including the playoffs) with the Rams. Finishing the game with 155 yards passing, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, Stafford saw his streak of consecutive games with a passing touchdown come to an end on Thursday at 17 games. In fact, the Rams were the only team in the NFL to not score double-digit points in Week 1 and currently stand as the only win-less team in the NFC Western Division thru the first week after Seattle claimed a season-opening win over New England and the Cardinals pulled off the upset over the Chargers. Helping the 49ers claim their largest win over the Rams since Week 10 of the 2021 season, Brock Purdy threw for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns after shaking off the early interception. Having dealt with a groin injury during training camp, receiver Mike Evans got the nod and made all the difference for the 49ers passing game. Tying for the team-lead in receptions with 6 for 49 yards and a touchdown, Evans moved up to 20th on the NFL's all-time receiving yards list. 

San Francisco's Pro-Bowl tight-end George Kittle also returned to the field nine months after tearing his Achilles on January 11, making limited contributions on the stat sheet (2 receptions, 12 yards), but his infections energy and stellar run blocking made huge differences elsewhere. Rookie running back Kaelon Black who was drafted in the third round of April's Draft, made a strong first impression while sharing duties in the backfield alongside Christian McCaffrey, rushing the ball 14 times for 65 yards, compared to 68-yards on 10 carries from CMC. 

Week 2 Preview: The 49ers will make the long-distance trip back home to the Bay Area for Week 2 where they will host the (0-1) Miami Dolphins at Levi's Stadium. With the Niners coming off their fourth straight season-opening win, head coach Kyle Shanahan will look to keep things rolling just days after the team announced they came to an agreement to extend Shanahan's contract that was due to expire after the 2027 season. With multiple fan favorites returning to the field to play in front of the Faithful including Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and George Kittle who all suffered season-ending injuries a season ago, and both Deebo Samuel and Dre Greenlaw who agreed to return to the 49ers during the offseason after trying their luck elsewhere for a season last year, Levi's should be rocking come kickoff.

The Miami Dolphins enter the meeting as a rebuilding team and are coming off a 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. After bringing in free-agent quarterback Malik Willis in the offseason and hiring first time head coach Jeff Hafley, the Dolphins have plenty of work to do before they're expected to begin contending again in the AFC East. Looking to keep those Dolphins at bey come Sunday will be All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner who is coming off an 11-tackle performance against the Rams which helped him become the all-time 49ers' franchise leader in tackles, passing the newly inducted Hall of Famer Patrick Willis for sole possession of first place. 

One player who will not suit up for San Francisco will be rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling who is expected to miss a month of action with a deltoid sprain in his ankle. While surgery is not currently planned, it remains a possibility while the team seeks other medical opinions. 

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