The San Francisco 49ers face the Miami Dolphins in Week 2 back at their home site, Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, following their season opener in Melbourne, Australia.
The Niners are all smiles, feeling good after many days of rest coming off their 15,812-mile roundtrip. They opened the season with a dominant win against the Los Angeles Rams
, 27-7, completely dismantling their NFC West rivals.San Francisco proved it has multiple offensive weapons for quarterback Brock Purdy to choose from. He went 25-of-34 for 205 yards and three touchdowns. His connection with veteran receiver Mike Evans was displayed and he reunited with Deebo Samuel Sr. The 49ers saw a snippet of how good the running back tandem of Christian McCaffrey and rookie
Kaelon Black can be. And San Francisco's defense showed signs it could be one of the best in the league.
However, a familiar sight was also seen for the 49ers: injuries. They suffered two blows, losing De'Zhaun Stribling and Jake Tonges in their win against the Rams. Stribling is out for 10 weeks with an ankle injury, per head coach Kyle Shanahan, while Tonges is out for the year with an MCL injury in his knee.
Still, the 49ers are confident in their positional depth. It's "next man up" again, something they're accustomed to.
Here are five things to look for in the San Francisco 49ers' home opener vs. the Miami Dolphins:
A perfect Purdy?
The 49ers set the tone against the Rams behind a near-perfect performance from quarterback Brock Purdy, who finished with a 105.6 rating with 205 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. In order for San Francisco to get a win streak going, it is going to need Purdy to be Purdy. The calm, the relief for San Francisco.
Four years ago, Purdy made his NFL debut against the Dolphins after Jimmy Garoppolo was injured.
"I think I've talked about it a lot just over the years, because it was such an impressive game. We had such a good team that year and it's such mixed feelings when you lose your starter and your backup within a month of each other," head coach Kyle Shanahan recalled to reporters. "Then you're down to the third-string quarterback the whole game. So, it was a little sombering after the game and stuff, but I remember always talking about, when I got home that night and actually sitting and thinking about the game and really setting in how well Brock played."
Purdy stepped into that 2022 game in the first quarter and completed 25 of 37 pass attempts for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the Niners' 33-17 win.
"Just going against that defense he did under duress with all the blitzes, how he hung in there, took hits, how he didn't get many reps at all the whole year and how he knew exactly where to go with the ball," Shanahan said. "It was just one game, but it was an extremely special game. It was foreshadowing how the following three years would go after that game.”
It was a near-perfect game, especially coming from the third-string QB. Now, Purdy is the man and provides that sense of security for the Niners. He doesn't make many mistakes. When Purdy is perfect, or close to it, good things happen for San Francisco.
An encore performance from O-line?
Sometimes, an offense is only as good as the offensive line. The Niners' was as good as ever against the Rams, which included limiting reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. The combination of Trent Williams, Connor Colby, Jake Brendel, Dominick Puni and Colton McKivitz did not allow any sacks on Purdy against LA in Australia. As for the run blocking, both McCaffrey and Black each racked up at least 65 rushing yards.
The effort was recognized and will need to be replicated against the Dolphins.
"I thought they were unbelievable," Shanahan said of the offensive line. "The pass protection especially, just a huge challenge going against that team and the way they were all tied together as a unit. A lot of good individual plays, but just how they did as a group throughout the whole game was really impressive. And they run-blocked very well too.”
Expect a similar performance from San Francisco's front line against Miami, which is coming off a 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders where they allowed 290 total yards, including 130 rushing yards.
The Christian McCaffrey-Kaelon Black tandem
This emerging tandem has been one of the sleeper wins for San Francisco. As dynamic as McCaffrey is, the 49ers want to ensure that he's available to play meaningful football late in the season and into the playoffs. It was evident how helpful it was to McCaffrey to have Black as the No. 2 running back.
Out the backfield, the two combined for 133 yards on 24 carries. McCaffrey averaged 6.8 per carry on 10 attempts, while Black averaged 4.8 on 14.
"Yeah, it did work out," Shanahan said of his backfield tandem. "I was a little surprised at the end just that Kaelon got more than Christian. That was just kind of how the game went. Has a lot to do with probably me starting out the game. I think I had like three runs in the first 17 plays, but love taking some off Christian and love the fact that Kaelon was prepared for everything, the run game and the pass game, and allowed us to be able to do that.”
The better Black can be, the more he's trusted to be on the field. The more he's on the field, the more McCaffrey can save his body. An available McCaffrey makes the 49ers that much more dangerous.
The offensive depth
Rookie receiver Stribling suffering an ankle injury that will keep him out for 10 weeks is a bummer. Backup tight end Tonges being out out for the season with an MCL injury hurts, too.
However, the good news for the 49ers is they have depth when it comes to offensive weapons to accommodate Purdy. Veteran receivers Evans and Samuel each had six catches and scored touchdowns against the Rams. Evans pulled in 49 yards, while Samuel's reunion ended with 48 yards. Demarcus Robinson was a downfield threat with two catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
McCaffrey and Black can be targets for Purdy out of the backfield, but expect Luke Farrell to step up as the No. 2 tight end, behind George Kittle, with Tonges going down. Kittle is expected to be 100% against the Dolphins after being a full participant during the Niner's Friday practice.
One of the best defenses in the league vs. De'Von Achane
This defensive core looks as good as any defensive unit in the NFL, led by Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and Nick Bosa. They have some surprising rookie standouts early on in linebacker Jaden Dugger and defensive lineman Gracen Halton.
The mastermind is defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
"I thought he did a real good job just mixing up the fronts, the looks, the stunts, picking the right times when to pressure, some four-man, some five-man, but he mixed it up really well throughout the game," Shanahan said of Morris.
The 49ers limited the Rams offense to just one touchdown, forced two turnovers and the Rams had just a 22% third down efficiency rating. However, Morris isn't getting too high over one win.
"I think you got to stay even keel. I think you got to go through the process each and every week. We played a good game, played a good enough game to go out there and win," Morris said. "That was important. There's always going to be things you got to clean up. There's always going to be things you want to do better.
"But I'm really proud of how the group responded and how they went out and handled the adversity of the travel, handled the adversity of playing a very good football team that we played and going out there and getting a win."
He knows with De'Von Achane coming in, they are going to have to be disciplined and ready to go, play a physical brand of football and be ready to hit.
"Tough, fast. He gets mistaken that he's an outside runner, but he lowers his pads, he runs for the extra yards, he does the special things that we talk about in running where he makes five (yards), eight and he makes eight, 10. Then, if you're not careful, he can make a really explosive run or catch. Presents a lot of challenges for us," Morris said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 things to watch in 49ers' home opener vs. Dolphins
