Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-10 at home on Sunday Night Football, improving to 5-2 on the season and 4-1 with backup quarterback Mac Jones at the helm.
It was expected to be a tough game for the 49ers, as the Falcons had just beaten the Buffalo Bills 24-14 and seemed to be on a roll on both sides of the ball. They entered the game as the No. 1 pass defense in the league, a top-15 run defense, and with stars Bijan Robinson and Drake London healthy on offense.
Nonetheless, the 49ers made timely plays, while finally getting things going on the ground, as they pulled off their first multiple-score victory of the season. They now remain in sole possession of the NFC West at 5-2, holding the tiebreaker over the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, and are expected to have Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall back next week.
Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers 20-10 win over the Falcons on Sunday.
George Kittle’s return
The 49ers welcomed back their tight end to the fold after Kittle had missed five games with a hamstring injury after going down in the first quarter of Week 1.
Kittle had played just one drive this season, catching four passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. So, it would’ve made sense if the 49ers looked to feed him early to get him in a rhythm.
Well, Kittle ended with zero catches on two targets. So, why did he make such a difference for the 49ers? The run game.
San Francisco has been severely lacking quality blocking from its tight ends without Kittle, as backup Jake Tonges just isn’t as good with the responsibilities. We even saw this early in the game as a missed Tonges block led to a busted Christian McCaffrey run.
But, with Kittle in the mix, the 49ers run game flourished for really the first time all season. McCaffrey finished the game with 129 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per carry and looking the best he’s looked all year.
Our Kyle Posey tweeted how the 49ers had 1.4 yards BEFORE contact per run with Kittle on the field on Sunday, while totaling 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Without Kittle? They had just 12 yards on six carries, while averaging -2.1 yards before contact per run.
Kittle’s blocking and presence makes such a difference in the run game, and the 49ers saw it on Sunday. Now, just wait for the wide receiver room to be healthy and things will really take off.
Defense makes timely plays
The 49ers defense has been hammered with injuries, and the loss of Fred Warner seemed like it could be the biggest one yet.
For weeks, they’d struggled to maintain a consistent pass rush, which wasn’t a good sign heading into the Atlanta game, as the Falcons had done a great job at minimizing sacks on Michael Penix all year long.
Additionally, they’d seen some issues in...
