49ers Dominate Seattle in first Win of the Season

Week 2 - With the start of a new era in Seattle for the Seahawks as former quarterback Russell Wilson has moved on after being traded to the Denver Broncos, no team in the NFL is more relieved of Wilson departing the Emerald City than the San Francisco 49ers. In his 10 seasons in the NFC West, the Wilson-led Seahawks tormented the rival 49ers to the tune of 16-4 record since drafting Wilson in the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Also relieved of Wilson's departure is Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan who has witnessed his team lose 8 of 10 meetings against the Seahawks with Wilson under center. With Wilson now gone and a new-look Seattle team to focus on, the 49ers welcomed in their division rival with payback on their minds for all the years Seattle had their number and their sights set on getting in the win column for the first time this season. 

After taking it to their former franchise quarterback a week ago on Monday Night Football, the Seahawks appeared to be in good hands with Geno Smith taking the reigns, but the suffocating San Francisco defense proved to be too much for Seattle's signal-caller on Sunday. Greeted by more inclement weather in their home-opener as rain fell for most of the afternoon, the conditions weren't nearly as bad as they were a week ago in Chicago when the 49ers were upset by an inferior Bears team, but they were again less than ideal for a team looking to put a stamp on the 2022 season. Getting back on track in every way imaginable were the 49ers who looked like their normal selves at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, pitching a shutout on defense and playing a much cleaner game after being ravaged by penalties in the season-opening loss. But before the final whistle would blow on Sunday, plenty of drama would transpire, most notably at the quarterback position. 

From the onset of the offseason to the final snap of the preseason, the 49ers' quarterback controversy between Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo would hit a fever pitch in the days leading up to the regular season when the team failed to deal Jimmy G and instead announced the his return as both sides agreed to restructure his contract and bring him back for the final year of his five-year deal signed back in 2018. Keeping Garoppolo around in the event of a monumental collapse under Lance or even worse a major injury, coach Shanahan would be forced to make the switch much sooner than anyone expected, including the pundits who've been calling for Lance's downfall from the moment he was named the team's starter during training camp. After getting off to a hot start on both sides of the ball as the Niners opened the game with a field goal and got a stop on defense, the San Francisco offense was knocking on the door again when the Niners' young QB would require medical attention. 

On a designed-run, Lance rushed up the middle for a 2-yard gain on 2nd and 8, when his right lower-leg was rolled up on underneath him. With Lance laying in pain, his teammates immediately called for help as the team's medical staff quickly rushed onto the field where they would provide assistance. With his leg in an air cast, Lance would be carted off the field as a somber mix of whistles and cheers serenaded the 22-year old quarterback who was carried thru the tunnel. Once play resumed, Garoppolo would take over under-center as the offense again settled for a Robbie Gould field goal. After forcing another Seattle punt, the 49ers would finally find the end zone when Garoppolo hit a wide-open Ross Dwelley along the left side-line for a 38-yard touchdown. Filling in at tight-end for the injured George Kittle who missed his second consecutive game to start the season due to a groin injury, Dwelley caught only one pass on Sunday, but made the most of his lone opportunity as the sounds of fog horns rang throughout the raucous Levi's Stadium crowd. 

The 49er defense would get in on the fun when they forced back to back interceptions, with the first on a deflected ball off the hands of Niners safety Talanoa Hufanga and into the bread basket of Tashaun Gipson. Hufanga was everywhere on Sunday and played like a man possessed, making play after play along the defense. They would follow up that takeaway with another when a bit of trickery backfired on the Seattle offense. Threatening to score their first touchdown of the afternoon, the first career pass attempt from running back DeeJay Dallas was one he would regret throwing as Chavarius Ward who was San Francisco's big free-agent grab during the offseason, came up with the big turnover. The 49ers would again fail to turn the turnover into points, but they would get the ball back right away when a pair of Seahawks ran into one another on the ensuing punt. Recovering the ball and capitalizing on superb field position, the 49ers would cash in at the goal-line with a run up the gut from fullback Kyle Juszczyk to give his team a 20-0 lead at the half. 

Coming out of the locker room at halftime with more of the same dominance on both sides of the ball, the 49ers forced a Seattle punt on their first possession of the half before setting up for a 20-yard field goal. What appeared to be a chip-shot for Gould, ended in a blocked field goal, generating the lone highlight of the day for Seattle as the ball was recovered and returned to the house for a special-teams touchdown. It would mark Seattle's first blocked field goal for a touchdown since December 23, 2012 vs SF, ending a span of 147 games without. While the touchdown appeared to give Seattle new life, especially after forcing a punt on San Francisco's following possession, the 49er defense continued to show no mercy against the Seahawks offense as they forced a pair of punts of their own before Jimmy Garoppolo and company embarked on a 16-play drive that chewed up over seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Making it all the way to the 1-yard line and facing fourth and goal, Jimmy G put an exclamation mark on the game as he plowed up the middle for the game-sealing touchdown before being helped to his feet and embraced in the end zone by his teammates. 

Treating the Niner Faithful to some home-cookin, San Francisco claimed their first win over Seattle since December 29, 2019 to snap a 4-game losing-streak, doing so in front of the home fans by a final score of 27-7. Filling in nicely for the injured Elijah Mitchell, backup running back Jeff Wilson carried the ball 18 times for 84 yards, with wide-back Deebo Samuel adding another 53 yards on the ground on four carries, plus another 44 yards on five receptions. Garoppolo connected on 13 of 21 pass attempts for 154 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Geno Smith threw for 197 yards and an interception for Seattle, with Tyler Lockett hauling in 107 of those yards receiving, and Rashaad Penny finished as the team's leading rusher with only 15 yards on six carries. With only two sacks recorded in the game, both would come from San Francisco's Nick Bosa to give him 3 QB sacks on the year. With wins on Sunday from the 49ers, Rams and Cardinals, all four teams in the NFC West sit at 1-1 thru the first two weeks. 

Week 3 Preview: Paying a visit to the Mile High City, the 49ers and Broncos will face off on Sunday Night Football against an old foe in Russell Wilson. One of the more impressive showings by the San Francisco defense in their dominant win over Seattle on Sunday was their ability to stop the run, which is something they will hope to carry into their meeting with the Broncos in Week 3, specifically against Wilson who has made a living out of hurting the 49er defense with his feet. In easily the biggest trade of the offseason, the acquisition of Russell Wilson which was followed by a hefty payday (5-years, $245 Million) has not yet panned out for Denver who after losing their season-opener to Seattle, needed some late-game heroics to sneak by the rebuilding Houston Texans, 16-9 at home. Not to mention first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett has looked every bit as a rookie head coach thru his first two games at the helm. With Denver off to a sluggish 0-for-6 start in red zone opportunities to start the season, Kyle Shanahan's 49ers are making the trip to Colorado just in time before the Broncos figure things out this year, if they figure things out at all. 

After losing Elijah Mitchell for up to eight weeks with an MCL sprain, the 49ers will be without another running back in rookie Tyrion Davis-Price who suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday that will cause him to miss at least a few weeks. The injury to two running backs in as many weeks is alarming given how many games are left, but also opens the door for fellow rookie running back Jordan Mason who was signed as an undrafted free-agent and Marlon Mack who was signed just last week to the practice squad after the injury to Mitchell. Also, it was reported on Monday that Trey Lance underwent successful surgery to repair two injuries to his right ankle and is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2023 season. The injury is unfortunate as it stunts the growth of a young player very much in need of all the reps he can get and further delays the development of the inexperienced Lance who will now have to wait quite some time before he's able to hit the gridiron again. 

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9ers Overcome double-digit Deficit to Beat Arizona

Week 11 - Looking to put their first loss of the season behind them and get back on track in the win column, the San Francisco 49ers (8-1) would hope for a much smoother outcome than the one that nearly ended in an upset against the Arizona Cardinals (3-6-1) two weeks earlier in Glendale. But from the opening drive on, it was Kliff Kingsbury's Cardinals squad that once again got off to the hot start. Leaving Kyle Shanahan shaking his head, his 49er team would allow Arizona to jump out to a quick 10-0 lead as the hole eventually grew deeper with San Francisco soon falling behind, 16-0. But having shown all season that they can answer the call when facing adversity, the Niners would eventually wake up on both sides of the ball to overcome the 16-point deficit, their largest of the season.

Having caused fits for the 49er defense virtually all game long in their Thursday night match-up back in Week 9 which ended in San Francisco narrowly edging Arizona by a final score of 28-25, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray once again gave the Niners a headache, despite not padding the stat sheet. When he wasn't firing the ball off with impressive arm-speed or weaving around defenders, Murray was using his legs to get out of trouble and pick up a first down. However, it was the self-inflicted miscues that doomed San Francisco early on as a 41-yard penalty by Richard Sherman on third and long allowed the Cardinals to score their first points. Taking over in the red zone, Arizona was held to a field goal, but found themselves ahead, nonetheless. Drive no. 2 for Arizona would look a lot like deja vu as Sherman was called for a second pass-interference penalty that once again gifted the Cardinals with a trip to the red zone. Only this time, Murray and company would capitalize with a touchdown as a wide-open Larry Fitzgerald scored to make it 9-0 following a failed extra-point attempt. With the ball across midfield, Shanahan would dial up an early decision to go for it on 4th & 5, but the Niners were stopped in their tracks on an incomplete pass to Raheem Mostert.

After exchanging punts, Arizona added to their lead to start the second quarter as Murray connected with Pharoh Cooper for his second touchdown pass of the half. Serving as a wake-up call, the 49ers would finally begin to string together some offense of their own as a big play was made when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo found Richie James Jr. on a screen-pass that the receiver turned into a 57-yard gain. Making their first red zone trip of the afternoon, it would be there that backup tight-end Ross Dwelley stepped up in the absence of George Kittle who was ruled out for a second straight game while nursing ankle and knee injuries suffered in the earlier meeting against these Cardinals. Fitting the bill, Dwelley would score each of the first two 49er touchdowns on the day and had another touchdown called back on an offensive-holding penalty. It would be a career day for the undrafted tight-end after entering the game with zero TD receptions in his first 20 career games. The Niners would inch closer to make it a one-possession game just before the half as Chase McLaughlin slipped a field goal through the uprights just before the half. Making the needed adjustments at the half, the Niners would open the third quarter with a bang as a 52-yard gain on the first play of the half helped set the table for San Francisco to take their first lead of the game on Garoppolo's second end zone connection to Dwelley.

San Francisco's next possession seemed just as promising as the offense marched into the red zone, but the drive would go up in flames when a head-scratching decision by Garoppolo ended in an interception as his pass went directly to a defender. Scoring only a field goal out of it, Arizona was able to reclaim the lead before Garoppolo began to work his magic in the passing game. With a big play to get his team into enemy territory by rookie receiver Deebo Samuel who logged his second consecutive 100-yard performance, the drive was capped off by a touchdown pass from Garoppolo to Kendrick Bourne. But the Cardinals would answer on their ensuing possession as Kyler Murray scored on a quarterback-keeper from 22-yards out. With Arizona back up by a field goal with under seven minutes remaining, Garoppolo was intercepted for a second time when he threw a pass out of the reach of Dwelley and into the hands of a Cardinals defender. Taking over before the two-minute warning, Garoppolo would redeem himself by marching his team up the field before finding one of the most unlikeliest of heroes. With under a minute remaining, into the game came Jeff Wilson Jr. who on the first play he saw, caught a pass with an acrobatic grab that he ran up the middle with 22-yards for the go-ahead touchdown. But a lot would happen in the final 31 seconds as both teams would be given a chance to put the game away for good.

Any chance of a Cardinals comeback appeared to be put to rest when the 49ers pounced on a fumble on Arizona's first play following the Wilson Jr. touchdown. But three short rushing attempts and a failed 4th & 1 attempt, gave Arizona the ball one last time as 6 seconds remained. Needing a bit of late-game heroics to pull off the miracle, a quick pass from Murray to Fitzgerald ended with the veteran receiver trying a lateral that was eventually fumbled and picked up by San Francisco's D.J. Reed who scooped up the ball and took it in for the easy score as time expired. The final score of 36-26 would not be indicative of how the game panned out for both teams as the Cardinals fought tooth and nail to once again hand Shanahan's Niners a hard fought win that they had to work for until the final seconds of the game-clock. And with the Niners' run game shutdown for a second consecutive week as running back Matt Breida sat out due to injury, Garoppolo would again be forced to get things done thru the air. Finishing with 424 yards and 4 touchdowns, Garoppolo joined 49er greats Joe Montana and Steve Young as the only quarterbacks in franchise history to throw for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns in a single game. Before Jimmy G's remarkable performance on Sunday, the last Niner QB to put up such numbers was Young in 1993 and the 400+ yards are the most by a 49ers team since Week 13 of the 199 season.

Noteworthy: Given the many weapons the 49ers have had on offense this season, one interesting stat from Sunday's win, is that all four of San Francisco's touchdowns were scored by undrafted players: Dwelley, Bourne and Wilson Jr.

Week 12 Preview - Summing up their three-game homestand, the 49ers (9-1) will welcome in Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (8-2) as San Francisco embarks on a string of three straight games against some of the league's top heavyweights that could very well make or break their season. And with Green Bay coming off a BYE, Kyle Shanahan's team will certainly need to be on their A-game in what has now been flexed into a Sunday night game, San Francisco's lone Sunday night meeting on their schedule. Aside from the future Hall of Famer Rodgers, the 49ers defense will also have to plan for running back Aaron Jones who is tied for the league lead in touchdowns with 14 and is coming off a three rushing touchdown performance in the team's Week 10 win over Carolina. With the Niner defense losing Kwon Alexander and Ronald Blair for the season in consecutive weeks, the team hopes to have both if not at least one of D.J. Jones or Dee Ford available in time for their game against the Packers. With Jones inactive for the Arizona game with a groin injury, Ford was the latest Niner to fall to the injury bug after he was pulled from Sunday's game with a hamstring ailment. San Francisco will need all the help they can get as a loss would drop them even in the NFC standings alongside Green Bay.


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