The 49ers were without both starting quarterback Brock Purdy, & tight end George Kittle, but it was Mac Jones & the defense stepping up, with the 49ers beating the Saints 26-21 to move to 2-0.
Jones went 26/39 for 279 passing yards, along with 3 passing touchdowns, along with 6 carries for 6 rushing yards, but a majority of those were kneel downs to end the game.
Christian McCaffrey led the way rushing with 55 rushing yards on 13 carries, along with 52 receiving yards on 6 catches, including a receiving touchdown, while Brian Robinson Jr. had 20 rushing yards on 6 carries.
Receiving wise Jauan Jennings led the way with 89 receiving yards on 5 catches, including a 42-yard touchdown catch & run, while Ricky Pearsall had 56 receiving yards on 4 catches.
Kendrick Bourne had 3 catches for 32 receiving yards, while last weeks hero Jake Tonges had 31 receiving yards on 4 catches, and Luke Farrell had 2 catches for 15 receiving yards, including a receiving touchdown, his first of his career.
Kyle Juszcyzk had 1 catch for 5 receiving yards, but left the game with a concussion, while the 49ers also lose starting left guard Ben Bartch, but rookie 7th-round pick Connor Colby filled in nicely, to the point where the pass blocking got better.
Defensive wise, Fred Warner led the way with 11 tackles, followed by Nick Bosa with 9 tackles, Dee Winters with 8 tackles, Marques Sigle had 6 tackles, & Renardo Green, Upton Stout & Mykel Williams each had 5 tackles.
Bryce Huff & Deommodore Lenor had 4 tackles each, while Jason Pinnock, & Luke Gifford had 2 tackles each.
The 49ers had 3 sacks, 1 each by Bosa, Stout, & Huff, whose sack sealed the game for the 49ers on a 4th & 2 play.
TFL wise, the 49ers ended up with 7, 2 by Williams, & 1 each for Warner, Bosa, Stout, Huff, & Lenoir.
PBU wise, the 49ers had 3, 1 each for Warner, Green, & Ji’Ayir Brown.
Special teams wise, new place kicker Eddy Piñeiro went 2/2, with a long of 46-yards, along with 2 extra points, but missed the first extra point, but he was perfect afterwards, while Thomas Morstead had 4 punts for 173-yards, with 2 of them being inside the 20-yard line, Isaac Guerendo had 2 kick returns for 47-yards, and Skyy Moore had 1 punt return for 1-yard, but that was a punt that nearly landed out of bounds.
Next up for the 49ers is their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday from Levi’s Stadium at 4:25pm eastern/1:25pm pacific, and will be on FOX.
As always, thank you for reading, you can follow me on X/Twitter @49erscap & on Blue Sky App @49erscap.bsky.social
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