We asked San Francisco 49ers fans what they thought were the biggest surprises from the Week 1 mashing of the Rams. There was no shortage of answers, because there was no shortage of ways the Niners stood out, both individually and as a team.
Today, we’ll highlight the biggest surprises from the Niners Week 1 win, based on your responses. We narrowed them down from 50.
The 49ers offensive line shines
Trent Williams played like a Hall of Famer. That’s where he set the bar. But overall, each player consistently won their individual matchups. As a unit, they kept the quarterback upright in pass protection and excelled on the ground.
The running backs weren’t touched, on average, until 2.79 yards downfield. That was the best mark of any team in the NFL in Week 1. The offense averaged 3.17 yards needed to gain on third downs. And they only had 12 of those.
Those numbers show an offensive line dominating.
Raheem Morris’s coverage schemes
Morris leaned into coverage in this game, blitzing Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford only 10.3% of the time. The 49ers were middle-of-the-pack in both 1-high and 2-high coverages. They only ran man coverage 18% of the time. Re-watching the game, it felt like Stafford had a hard time distinguishing the coverage, thanks to the safeties rotating post-snap.
The 49ers rotated their safeties nearly 45% of the time last Thursday, which was the fourth-highest in Week 1. Here’s a breakdown of the coverage usage, with two plays unknown:
- Cover 3: 9 plays, 66.7% success rate (6 of 9)
- Cover 6: 9 plays, 77.8% success rate (7 of 9)
- Cover 1: 5 plays, 80.0% success rate (4 of 5)
- Cover 4: 4 plays, 25.0% success rate (1 of 4)
Stafford was forced to check the ball down time and time again. He had three completions on ten attempts over 10 yards, with one interception. That tells me Stafford wasn’t seeing the field well and didn’t have anywhere to throw the ball.
Kaelon Black in the game early
Arguably the biggest surprise of the game came when Kyle Shanahan used his rookie running back on the first drive of the game. Black had a carry and a reception on the first drive. And he came onto the field for the second drive.
Nobody in their right minds would have predicted that Black would have more carries than Christian McCaffrey in Week 1. McCaffrey ran 18 routes compared to Black’s 10.
The game script set up perfectly for Black to get snaps in the fourth quarter. You don’t need McCaffrey taking any unnecessary hits. It’s one week, but that’s the kind of rotation that’ll keep McCaffrey on the field all season.
Deebo Samuel’s impact
Deebo looked like Deebo, with 62.5% of his receiving yards coming after the catch. He was involved on quick throws, he lined up in the backfield, and he made himself available to Brock Purdy on a scramble drill that led to a touchdown.
I thought Deebo changed the game with his kickoff return to open the third quarter. It was a chance for the Rams to take control of the game, but once the Niners got the ball around midfield, that was all she wrote.
Deebo was built to return kickoffs under the new rules. My bold prediction is that he’ll finish in the top five in average among all kickoff returners this season, which is great news for the offense.
Nick Bosa didn’t miss a beat
Nick Bosa has only been practicing for a maximum of two weeks. So for him to be a dominant force in under 60% of the snaps is something that feels like it’s being taken for granted.
Now, it helps that the Niners didn’t get into a shootout where they’d be on the field for 70+ snaps. Bosa played 33 snaps, but recorded four run stops that were all impact plays, and made Stafford pay the price on the first play of the game.
I’d argue Bosa was the 49ers’ best defensive tackle in Week 1. A couple of Bosa’s run stops came when he reduced down to a tackle in Morris’s different fronts. That allowed a guard to block him, and Bosa isn’t going to lose that battle.
Surprise, surprise, it helps to have a Defensive Player of the Year candidate back on the field.
