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San Francisco 49ers were never really threatened by the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Levi's Stadium, but they turned on the jets to pull away in the second half to ensure the NFL's youngest team didn't gain enough confidence to stick around.
San Francisco's defense struggled some in the first half and the 49ers took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at halftime. The third quarter was a different story of top-to-bottom domination that helped balloon that lead to 35-6 and an eventual 35-13 victory.
We took notes and jotted down some observations throughout the game. Here's a quarter-by-quarter breakdown:
First quarter
- Nice pressure from two rookies, Gracen Halton and Romello Height, on the first snap of the game. Height did well to not bite on a fake and then forced a roll out from QB Malik Willis. Halton flew in to help force a throwaway.
- Good misdirection stuff from the Dolphins' offense early. The 49ers defense is aggressively moving the wrong direction a lot. That's something they'll clean up as the game rolls on.
- Sweet grab by Mike Evans on a third-and-5. He just barely tapped his toes in. Surprising the Dolphins didn't challenge.
- That groin injury isn't doing much to slow Black down. He has a ton of juice, but it's clear patience is still necessary for him. He spends a lot of time running into his own linemen and not letting holes develop.
- Christian McCaffrey is so back. A 16-yard catch-and-run on an arrow route put the 49ers at the 1.
- McCaffrey scores on a one-yard run. It's his 99th career touchdown and first TD of this season.
- End of first quarter score: 49ers 7, Dolphins 0
Second quarter
- Man, the 49ers just have no answer for Achane as a runner or receiver.
- Nice pass breakup from Upton Stout after Nick Bosa missed out on his first sack of the year. Stout is off to a really strong start.
- Jaylen Wright is the Dolphins other running back. The 49ers can't stop him either.
- Stout is all over the place (complimentary).
- Shoutout to Romello Height for his first career sack when he chased Malik Willis out of bounds. Fred Warner and Stout did the same the previous play for a combined sack.
- Brock Purdy's scrambling ability is such a weapon. He's at 28 yards on two scrambles. Being able to turn negative plays into explosive plays is a real luxury.
- Make that 30 yards and a touchdown on three scrambles for Purdy. Sweet play call on a designed rollout and nobody accounted for the QB.
- Good pressure on a third down by Keion White. He quickly won his rep as an interior pass rusher. The veteran D-lineman was flagged for landing with his body weight on the quarterback. That's a mistake the 49ers can't have since it would've gotten them off the field.
- Willis' scrambling ability is killing the 49ers. Nick Bosa has missed on multiple sacks and now an escape from Miami's QB leads to a 23-yard pickup on a third-and-9 on the edge of field goal range. Brutal stuff from the 49ers' defense.
- Miami ran 35 plays on three drives in the first half and held the ball for 19:17. The 49ers defense has to be better in the second half.
- Halftime score: 49ers 14, Dolphins 6
Third quarter
- There's George Kittle. His first target of the game is a 40-yard grab that got the 49ers down to the Dolphins 25. It featured a vintage Kittle broken tackle after the catch as well. A welcome sight.
- Oh there's Kittle again. He made his 40-yard catch. McCaffrey got two touches for 13 yards, and then Purdy found Kittle for a 12-yard touchdown. That's one way to get the veteran TE involved after a slow first six quarters.
- Finally the 49ers get Willis on the ground. He stepped around Bosa again, but a blitz from Marques Sigle allowed the second-year safety to wrap up the QB for his first sack of the season and the third of the game for the 49ers.
- Purdy masterclass. My goodness. The 49ers are moving the ball so well offensively it seems like their fourth possession was just designed to get Kyle Juszczyk involved. They're going at 8.3 yards per play. Purdy is 15-of-16 for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
- There hasn't been a beatdown like this for the 49ers in a long time. It's 35-6 after a special teams miscue by the Dolphins gave San Francisco a short field. They needed two plays to go 28 yards. Mike Evans narrowly missed out on a touchdown on a 27-yard grab. McCaffrey's second TD of the day capped the two-play, 28-yard scoring drive. The 49ers have scored touchdowns on all of their possessions.
- As the third quarter ends the 49ers are at 9.0 yards per play on 36 plays.
- End of third quarter score: 49ers 35, Dolphins 6
Fourth quarter
- Hey Corliss Waitman is out to punt for the 49ers. It's his first punt of the game after Purdy threw an incompletion on a third down. It was only his second incompletion of the game.
- Things have gotten sloppy in the fourth quarter for San Francisco. They've been penalized four times in less than five minutes.
- A couple of 49ers backups are in. Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw are off the field as the Dolphins open their drive with 10ish minutes left in the fourth. Why guys like Nick Bosa or Osa Odighizuwa are still in is a mystery.
- Mac Jones is in. We also got a Jordan James sighting.
- It looks like Bosa and Odighizuwa are done with under four minutes to play.
- Upton Stout is probably gonna want that rep back. He allowed a 77-yard touchdown that made this one look a small amount closer than it really was. The 49ers largely coasted through the final 15 minutes after a dominant third quarter.
- Final score: 49ers 35, Dolphins 13
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Notes and observations from 49ers' Week 2 romp over Dolphins
