Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers couldn’t have asked for a better start. Kyle Juszczyk caught a 23-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. However, the offense only gained 1 yard on the drive after that and was forced to punt.
The Browns picked up a first down, too. But Shedeur Sanders’ errant pass to Jerry Jeudy, who was open, was long, and that forced a punt. These days, you don’t want to punt to Skyy Moore.
Moore had a 66-yard punt return to set up the 49ers with ideal field position. A trick play didn’t work. Christian McCaffrey attempted to throw a pass, but the Browns were all over it. McCaffrey caught a 12-yard pass on the ensuing play. Purdy missed Luke Farrell open in the end zone after his throw sailed on him. But McCaffrey would not be denied from the goal line as the 49ers took an early 7-0 lead.
Scoring in the red zone has been a strength of the 49ers this season. Since November, they’ve scored a touchdown on 79 percent of their trips. That’s second in the NFL during that time.
Cleveland put together a promising drive the second time they had the ball. But a 4th-and-1 attempt was shut down by Malik Mustapha and Jordan Elliott.
Kendrick Bourne made a heck of an effort on third down on the following drive, but he couldn’t control the ball through the catch, leading to another punt.
Robert Beal hit Shedeur Sanders’ arm on the third drive of the game. The ball was in the air forever, but it still resulted in an 18-yard completion. Those are the types of plays that result in turnovers for most teams. When it’s not going well, those are completions.
The 49ers moved the Browns back to force a 3rd & 15 instead of giving them 4th & 10. Clelin Ferrell sacked Sanders, taking the Browns out of field goal range and forcing a punt. Points were always going to be tough to come by in this game, and that felt like a pivotal point early.
Clelin Ferrell’s third sack put him one behind Bryce Huff for the team lead.
George Kittle got things going on the next drive with a 14-yard reception. A defensive holding put the Niners in Browns territory, but a tackle for loss meant 3rd & 10. A six-yard gain wasn’t enough for Shanahan to go for it in plus territory.
Thomas Morstead’s punt was caught at the ten, meaning Cleveland would need to drive 90 yards. It was yet another sign that Shanahan does not respect this Browns offense.
Curtis Robinson went down on the field, which was suboptimal. Luke Gifford and Jalen Graham were the only other options at linebacker. Rookie Nick Martin was ruled out with a concussion. Graham came in for Robinson, but Robinson returned after the two-minute warning.
The Browns got to the part of the field where the Niners had punted within for our five plays. It might have seemed like...
