Niners Nation
The beauty of the NFL is that you never truly know what you’re going to get week in and week out. Teams like the San Francisco 49ers battle attrition from the second they step onto the field.
The offense was already short-handed heading into Week 2, but lost starters Kyle Juszczyk and Ben Bartch before halftime. That meant the team that relies on 21 personnel would have to scrap that plan and adjust on the fly once again.
We saw the brilliance of Kyle Shanahan and his playmakers capitalizing when their number was called. We also saw some strong performances on the other side of the ball. Here are the winners and losers from the 49ers’ Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints.
We’ll resist the urge to list the 49ers’ best players every week. After all, it’s a top-heavy roster that will go as far as their stars take them. Perhaps nobody will be tasked with carrying the offense more than Christian McCaffrey, who had 20 touches in Week 2 for 111 yards and a touchdown.
McCaffrey mustered 55 yards on the ground, but 39 of those came after contact, and four of his carries went for first downs. McCaffrey’s running ability cannot be quantified in terms of how he manipulates defenders and maximizes yardage. We can’t take a running back making an unblocked cornerback miss, turning a 1-yard gain into seven yards, or making Demario Davis whiff in the backfield en route to a 9-yard gain.
McCaffrey nearly doubled his success rate on the ground in Week 2. His 69.2 percent success rate against the Saints was the highest in a game for McCaffrey in his career.
McCaffrey caught six of his seven targets, including a red zone touchdown and three other first downs. There isn’t a matchup where McCaffrey isn’t trustworthy in the passing game, making him an unfair weapon to have for Kyle Shanahan.
Should we be worried about Trent Williams? I counted a singular missed block in the running game. Much like last week, there are still times when players look confused about who they’re supposed to block. But Trent Williams looked like…Trent Williams. Nothing to see here.
Jake Brendel was dominant in the running game. He only missed one block. Rookie Connor Colby played 61 snaps, and the 49ers did not miss a beat with the seventh-round rookie playing starter snaps on the fly. Colby had a couple of impressive blocks at the second level, looked athletic, and held his own 1-on-1 in pass protection. The majority of pressure that Mac Jones faced was self-induced. Dominick Puni and Colton McKivitz were also stellar in pass protection outside of one blip for each, but they had enough issues in the running game to prevent this from being a “team” win for the offensive line group.
If you’re winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the...
