Aaaaannnnd we’re back to talk some football. What a game the San Francisco 49ers had on Sunday. As you know, there’s going to be content all day about how Brock Purdy went down the field without any of his weapons to win the game against one of the better defenses in the league (that thing everyone thinks he can’t do), but here we need to distance ourselves for the whole picture: The NFC West.
As you know, each week during the season, this is the place to get a recap of the 49ers’ divisional rivals;
what was cool, what wasn’t, and poke fun where we can. Should the 49ers find themselves in a race for that No. 1 seed, we’ll supply that here.
The 49ers have an easy schedule, but the first game of the season is an outlier. The Seattle Seahawks have one of the better defenses in the league, and a division rival is no gimme.
Right now, with the divisional win, the 49ers are in first place, the Cardinals and Rams are tied for second, with the Seahawks in fourth. Everyone is undefeated—except the Seahawks, who have been taken care of by the 49ers. We’ll start with the one team that lost:
Seattle Seahawks (0-1)
It was sloppy. It had a lot of offensive miscues. It had Jake Moody proving many critics right. It also had Brock Purdy in what would be the final offensive series, strutting down the field without many of his weapons and getting a dagger to Jake Tonges of all people.
That is not an easy defense or place to play. Yes, the crowd was about 50/50, contrary to what the announcers said on the broadcast. This is proven by the fact you can hear Purdy’s cadence—that never happens in Seattle.
It wasn’t always pretty for Purdy. After capping off a nice drive with a touchdown pass to George Kittle, Purdy threw two interceptions into coverage, and then the questions of his contract and if he’s worth it started simmering.
Next thing you know, on his last series, Purdy marches down the field, rallying the troops for a win, ripping the hearts out of the Seahawks in the process. That is why he got paid. Maybe he was made to look like an average quarterback for much of the game but he showed up when the team needed it most.
As for Seattle, they certainly gave the 49ers their best shot, but a loss like that hurts. Psychologically, in Week 1, when they’ve made it all sorts of difficult all game, and then it falls apart? Yikes.
The 49ers have a lot of work to do, but the defense alone is a huge upgrade. Yes, I said this same thing last year, but there was something different on that field today. I only hope it goes past Week 1.
Arizona Cardinals (1-0)
Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints. Kyler Murray vs Spencer Rattler.
The Saints’ only lead came in the second quarter when they matched a Cardinals field goal to make it 7-3. After that, it was all Cardinals all the time. The Saints would tie it up, but never regain the lead. Next thing you know, it’s 20-10 and the Cardinals are on their way to a victory.
We’ve made fun of Kyler Murray in these parts before, but he was “efficient.” If you consider winning by paper cuts to be efficient. Murray went 21 of 29 (72.4 percent) for just 163 yards—45 of them on one throw. That’s five yards per attempt. He added two touchdowns and 38 rushing yards, which look better on paper than the passing line really was.
The Cardinals have the 49ers in two weeks, so we’ll see what Murray can do against a decent team soon enough.
Los Angeles Rams (1-0)
The Rams pulled out a gritty win not unlike the 49ers’ win over the Seahawks. The opponent was the Houston Texans and that tough DeMeco Ryans Defense.
The Texans struck blood first with a field goal towards the end of the first quarter and started field goal-ing the Rams to death, scoring another three points with just under 5 minutes in the first half. As you know, field goals often get overtaken by touchdowns, which the Rams were glad to do with their remaining five minutes in the half. They punched it in to make it 7-6 with 56 seconds left. In just under a minute, the Texans managed to get another field goal on the board. And that was the last batch of points the Texans would score in the game.
The Rams came out hot to start the second half and quarterback Matthew Stafford found tight end Davis Allen to put the Rams up 14-9—the last points you would see either team score the rest of the game. For the rest of the game, both teams managed to get across the 50-yard line, but turnovers, defense, and other factors kept any more points from hitting the board.
The Texans had a chance to win, but a costly fumble sealed things for the Rams. Despite the lack of points, the game was quite entertaining, and the Rams had to earn every point they scored. The 49ers get the Texans towards the end of October, and the same type of game may be the result.
Into Week 2
The 49ers will be going up against the New Orleans Saints. As we discussed, Kyler Murray gave them death by a thousand paper cuts, so it will be interesting to see what the game plan might be with the 49ers. The game does have a 10:00 AM start, which is always a drag.
The Seahawks will be traveling to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Rodgers had himself a Sunday, and many think it’s a second coming of sorts. Sure, it’s the Jets, but Rodgers still had four touchdowns and a 136.7 passer rating. We’ll be learning a lot about the Steelers’ offense and the Seahawks’ defense this week.
The Rams will be traveling to play the Tennessee Titans. The Titans lost 20-12 to the Denver Broncos, so take from that what you will.
The Cardinals will be hosting the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers lost to the Jaguars 26-10; three of those Panther points came at the end of the first quarter, and the other seven didn’t show up until there were less than five minutes left in the game. That one could get ugly.
1st: San Francisco 49ers; Next: at New Orleans Saints
2nd (tie): Los Angeles Rams; Next: at Tennessee Titans
2nd (tie): Arizona Cardinals; Next: vs Carolina Panthers
4th: Seattle Seahawks; Next: at Pittsburgh Steelers
