The San Francisco 49ers left New Orleans with their second consecutive victory to begin the 2025 season, and the end of the game felt as familiar as the previous week in Seattle. The defense ended a comeback attempt with a strip sack again, but it was first-year 49er Bryce Huff who closed the show instead of Nick Bosa. Mac Jones played very well, and the offense did enough to hold off a gritty Saints team on Sunday.
Let’s look at the snap counts and grades from Sunday’s game, courtesy of Pro Football
Focus.
Offense
Offensive Line
Trent Williams 71 (83.1)
Colton McKivitz 71 (73.9)
Dominick Puni 71 (70.9)
Jake Brendel 71 (80.2)
Connor Colby 61 (61.2)
Ben Bartch 10 (73.5)
Trent Williams had to test out his knee before the game and was active on Sunday. You couldn’t tell he was even a little injured, though, a clean sheet for the future Hall of Famer. On 45 pass-blocking snaps, Williams graded out with a 90.0 pass-blocking grade. Yeah, he’s fine. Three starters on the line finished with a pass-blocking grade higher than 80 (Williams, Puni, and McKivitz).
The line allowed six pressures, three hurries, two QB hits, and a sack on Sunday. Ben Bartch gave way to Connor Colby following an injury, but the rookie finished clean in 38 pass blocking snaps. Jake Brendel allowed two QB hits, two hurries, and four pressures, but a team-high 85.0 run blocking grade.
Quarterback
Mac Jones 71 (58.6)
Three touchdowns and zero interceptions on 43 dropbacks are impressive for Mac. Jones completed 26 passes on 39 attempts for 7.2 YPA, 279 yards, and a 113.1 QB rating. It wasn’t a clean outing with a fumble lost for the former Alabama quarterback, but all things considered, Jones was under control and had a command of the offense—fine outing for the backup on Sunday.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey 55 (76.9)
Brian Robinson, Jr 16 (64.2)
Kyle Juszczyk 10 (58.7)
Following 31 touches, McCaffrey handled 19 touches, including a receiving touchdown on a two-minute drill before the half. The longest rush of the day belonged to Jones (13 yards), but McCaffrey finished at 4.2 YPA, 39 yards after contact, and four missed tackles forced.
Juszczyk left the game with a concussion after ten snaps, and Robinson finished with 20 yards on six carries.
Wide Receivers
Ricky Pearsall 63 (66.8)
Jauan Jennings 62 (66.4)
Kendrick Bourne 35 (65.9)
Marquez Valdez-Scantling 9 (56.0)
Skyy Moore 2 (58.9)
Jauan Jennings was on the injury report with a shoulder injury, but finished with a team-high nine targets and a team-high 89 yards. At 17.8 yards per reception and a 42-yard touchdown (longest of his career), Jennings is looking closer to his healthy state.
Pearsall finished with four catches, which all went for first downs. In fact, all eight receptions on the season for Pearsall have resulted in first downs. Kendrick Bourne returned to the 49ers with three receptions for 32 yards. Just like he never left.
Tight Ends
Jake Tonges 56 (47.4)
Luke Farrell 41 (60.0)
Brayden Willis 6 (54.7)
Farrell is known for his blocking prowess, but he hauled in his first touchdown reception of his career. On top of that, Farrell filled in for Juszczyk as a blocker on 21 run-blocking snaps. Jake Tonges caught four of his five targets for 31 yards, and Brayden Willis failed to bring his lone target on the day.
Defense
Defensive Line
Nick Bosa 59 (78.3)
Mykel Williams 48 (59.3)
Jordan Elliott 37 (72.5)
Kalia Davis 34 (30.8)
Sam Okuayinonu 28 (46.5)
Bryce Huff 28 (90.4)
Alfred Collins 24 (62.0)
Yetur Gross-Matos 17 (56.4)
Cj West 13 (50.5)
Bryce Huff and Nick Bosa were stellar on Sunday. Huff finished with an 89.4 pass-rushing grade on 20 pass-rushing snaps, and five pressures, four hurries, a sack, and a pass-rush win rate of 21.1%. In true pass-sets (no play action or screen passes), Huff led the team with a 91.3 pass-rushing grade. Bosa led the team with six pressures, four hurries, a QB hit, a sack, and a team-high 22.2% pass-rush win rate. The ends of the “NASCAR” package had themselves a day.
Mykel Williams made his presence felt with three pressures and three hurries, while adding three defensive stops for a 21.4% stop percentage, which was second only to Bosa. Yetur Gross-Matos is flying under the radar as far as his impact. On 16 pass-rushing snaps, Gross-Matos finished with two pressures, two hurries, and a 21.4% pass rush win rate. Alfred Collins chipped in a pressure and QB hit on ten pass rushing snaps, and CJ West added an 82.1 pass rushing grade on nine pass rushing snaps.
Linebackers
Fred Warner 71 (95.1)
Dee Winters 69 (74.3)
Another Sunday, another outstanding effort from the 49ers’ linebacker duo. The two combined for 15 tackles and eight defensive stops, but Warner caused a huge forced fumble on Alvin Kamara. Warner finished with an 85.2 run defense grade, 81.5 tackling grade, and 93.4 coverage grade. Winters finished with a 90.2 coverage grade. Warner and Winters have been incredible through two weeks.
Secondary
Deommodore Lenoir 71 (45.7)
Renardo Green 71 (43.1)
Marques Sigle 71 (41.4)
Jason Pinnock 71 (50.3)
Upton Stout 56 (67.7)
Ji’Ayir Brown 7 (93.5)
Chase Lucas 6 (66.2)
Renardo Green was tested early and often on Sunday. On seven targets, Green allowed four receptions for 70 yards, but it could have been much worse if Chris Olave had caught his end zone target during the first drive from Spencer Rattler. Green has been targeted for two weeks. Deommodore Lenoir’s name was barely spoken on Sunday after allowing 16 yards in coverage. Lenoir has been great through two weeks, which makes his 44.4 coverage grade all the more puzzling from Sunday.
Upton Stout allowed one catch on his lone target, but contributed as a pass rusher from the nickel spot with three pressures, two hurries, and a sack. The 49ers’ safety duo combined to allow seven catches on seven targets for 61 yards. Pinnock allowed a 128.1 QB rating, and Sigle allowed a perfect 158.3 rating.
