Niners Nation
Another week, another hard-fought win for the San Francisco 49ers.
There were multiple moments during Sunday’s 26-21 win over the New Orleans Saints where it felt like San Francisco was finally imposing their will and pulling away. But either through a defensive mistake or the Saints making a play, the 49ers couldn’t quite get over the hump, and New Orleans had a chance to win the game on its final drive.
For the second week in a row, however, the 49ers defense would force a strip sack – this time compliments of Bryce Huff – to seal San Francisco’s second win of the season.
While Huff made the play to tilt the game San Francisco’s way, it wasn’t enough to earn a spot on this week’s three stars. Here are the three players of the game in the win in New Orleans for the 49ers:
Third star: WR Jauan Jennings
Jennings’ status was up in the air for most of the week, and he even had a scare with the shoulder injury early in the third quarter. But when the 49ers needed Jennings the most, he came through.
The receiver led the 49ers offense with 10 targets for 89 yards, with his five receptions only behind Christian McCaffrey’s six catches. It was his fifth and final reception that earned him a spot on three stars this week.
With the 49ers clinging to a 19-14 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, San Francisco entered plus territory. While facing a third-and-11, Kyle Shanahan had a decision whether to go for the first down or lay up to set up a long Eddy Pineiro field goal attempt to try to go up eight points. He opted for the former, and Mac Jones lasered a pass to an open Jennings, who hauled in the pass and turned upfield to a 42-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score.
Last week, it was Ricky Pearsall, and this week it was Jennings, with a big performance from a 49ers pass-catcher. With Demarcus Robinson returning from suspension in a couple of weeks and George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk returning from injury a few weeks after that, the receiving core of the 49ers is shaping up to be in a good spot come mid-October.
Second star: QB Mac Jones
As 49ers fans have gotten to learn over the past seven seasons, it’s tough to find a backup quarterback with the quality to keep the 49ers offense running. It might only be one start, but Jones showed that quality with his performance against the Saints.
Jones finished Sunday with an impressive three touchdowns with 279 yards on 26-for-39 passing. The game started slowly for Jones, opening the game 0-for-3 on the 49ers’ preliminary drive, resulting in a three-and-out. He would bounce back on the next drive, leading the 49ers on a 14-play drive where he finished 4-for-5, including a 13-yard scramble that proved to be the 49ers’ longest rush of the game. The drive would finish...
