Niners Nation
Another week, another one-possession win for the San Francisco 49ers, who are making an early habit out of coming out of these close games on top.
The Arizona Cardinals became the latest victim of the cardiac 49ers, with San Francisco pulling out a last-second 16-15 win in the home opener on Sunday.
Instead of needing the defense to force a fumble to put the game away, the 49ers needed a last-minute drive, and Mac Jones was the right guy in the right spot to lead it. Jones completed five of eight passes (one was a spike to stop the clock) in 1:43 with a big boost from a 20-yard Christian McCaffrey screen pass to set up a potential game-winning field goal.
While neither Jones nor McCaffrey cracked the three stars this week, the final drive set up our third star to win the game:
Third star: K Eddy Pineiro
It only took two weeks, but the pit in your stomach when a 49ers kicker lines up for a kick has disappeared.
Yeah, it seemed like dark times again when Pineiro missed his first point after attempt in Week 2 against New Orleans, but he quickly corrected course by making both of his field goal attempts and his final two PATs in the win. He may have solidified his spot in 49ers fans’ hearts with his performance on Sunday.
For the first three quarters against Arizona, Pineiro was the 49ers’ offense. After opening the game with consecutive three-and-outs, the 49ers offense finally put a drive together, finding themselves in the red zone, but a loss of five on a McCaffrey first-down run stalled the drive. Pineiro trotted out for his first attempt, calmly nailing the 38-yard attempt to tie the game at three.
Then came the kickers’ first true test as a 49er. Once again, the offense got into plus territory, but a Jake Brendel holding on first down proved to be too much to overcome, forcing a Pineiro field goal attempt, this time from 51 yards. Again, the veteran kicker calmly took the field, kicked the pigskin, and with no drama, the ball perfectly split the uprights to give the 49ers a three-point lead at half.
Pineiro’s services weren’t needed until the final seconds of the game, with the 49ers trailing by two. The special teams had already made a mistake a few drives before, when Skyy Moore called a fair catch at the five-yard line instead of letting the ball bounce into the end zone, setting up a Dominick Puni holding that was errantly called in the end zone, giving Arizona the said two-point lead.
Unlike with Jake Moody, there was no pit in the stomach feeling as Pineiro lined up for a makeable 35-yard field goal, and again perfectly split the uprights to move the 49ers to 3-0 on the season.
Second star: WR Ricky Pearsall
No Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, or George Kittle. No problem.
On a day when the 49ers’ offense struggled, Pearsall’s performance only shines...
