Niners Nation
They don’t ask how, they ask how many.
It was ugly. It was painful. It was expected at moments – hello, Jake Moody. And at the end, it was a completely unexpected moment that sealed the game. But somehow, someway, the San Francisco 49ers left Seattle on Sunday with a win.
Brock Purdy was perfect on a drive where the 49ers had to score with a big boost from our third star from Sunday on a 45-yard completion. But it’s the unlikeliest of names who clinched the premier first star of 2025.
Here are the three stars from the 49ers’ 17-13 opening week win over the Seattle Seahawks:
Third star: WR Ricky Pearsall
The chemistry from Pearsall and Purdy’s opening drive in Week 2 of the preseason against the Las Vegas Raiders carried over into the regular season.
Pearsall shone in his first game as the 49ers’ No. 1 receiver with 108 yards, with four receptions on seven targets. His day started hot, opening his day with 26 and 13-yard receptions on the 49ers’ opening 95-yard touchdown scoring drive.
Then his day went quiet. He had two targets from the 8:05 mark in the first quarter to the 13:35 point of the fourth quarter, when Pearsall worked through an illegal use of hands by Riq Woolen for a 24-yard catch to help set up Moody’s lone make.
His biggest play came when the 49ers needed him the most. Trailing by three with under three minutes left, Pearsall got a step on Woolen, and Purdy dropped the ball right into the bucket for 45 yards, completely flipping the field. Five plays later, San Francisco scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
Pearsall’s day could have been even better with a touchdown, but Woolen was able to knock down a Purdy pass that didn’t have enough zest on it. Nonetheless, Pearsall’s performance was huge, especially in the absence of Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Jauan Jennings.
Second star: LB Dee Winters
Robert Saleh deserves a ton of credit for Sunday’s win. The defense had that extra oomph it’s been missing since DeMeco Ryans roamed the sideline as the defensive coordinator.
No player personified Saleh on the field quite like Dee Winters.
Winters’ debut as the full-time replacement for the guy next to Fred Warner could not have gone any better. After recording zero tackles for loss in his previous 30 career games, Winters had two on Sunday, and probably should have been credited with a third.
Facing a third-and-8 at the midway point of the second quarter, Seattle attempted a screen pass to Kenneth Walker, but Winters was there to slow the running back down before Nick Bosa would end the drive, tackling Walker for a loss of three.
While his first recorded tackle for loss came earlier in the second quarter, Winters’ biggest play came in the fourth quarter as the defense attempted to prevent Seattle from taking a lead. Trying to keep the clock moving toward the four-minute mark,...
