Even in a game in which they were without Christian McCaffrey , it felt like everything went perfect for the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
The 49ers stomped the New York Jets 32-19 in their primetime opener, hammering a team many see as a fellow Super Bowl contender with a dominant ground game and swarming defense.
However, the passing game was far from perfect in a game that saw the 49ers settle for six field goals, with one failure to punch it in coming when Brandon Aiyuk failed to hang to a diving catch in the back right corner of the endzone following a near-perfect throw from Brock Purdy on the final series of the first half. It left the Niners to kick a field goal to go up 16-7 at the half rather than 20-7.
That was the lowlight of a performance from Aiyuk in which he did not hit his usual heights in his first game since ending his long contract stand-off with the 49ers. Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension , but only returned to practice last Tuesday, giving him under a week to properly prepare to face the Jets.
His drop was a clear example of rust, and it drew significant criticism from Hall of Famer Peyton Manning on ESPN's Manningcast.
“Aiyuk, he’s a little rusty, Peyton. He missed all of training camp," said Eli Manning.
"Get signed [and] get in training camp,” an exasperated Peyton responded.
"There’s a reason for training camp -- we need it. We need the reps. Get those contracts done earlier so we can get in training camp and we don’t drop balls on opening night.”
Eli added: "It's probably one thing catching passes and running routes,” Eli added. “All of a sudden, you’re laying out for a pass, full-speed, diving -- those happen in camp. You make those, you practice those. That’s a little rusty right there.”
Peyton, still very irritated, expanded on his stance.
“You’re still catching balls from a high school field from some quarterback that’s 45 years old -- my age – [and] you’re not catching balls from your quarterback," he said about Aiyuk's missed practice time.
"Get signed, get in camp, and we don’t drop the ball."
Aiyuk, who for his part has already accepted that made things a little harder than he needed to towards his the end of his contract negotiations, had little to say about the drop, but it's clear he also understood he was at fault in the 49ers being unable to end the first half with a touchdown.
“It was a dime," Aiyuk to reporters of the Purdy throw. "Sick.”
Asked if he will atone for that drop on Sunday in the Week 2 game with the Minnesota Vikings, Aiyuk replied: "For sure."
The 49ers' dominance of the Jets meant Aiyuk's drop ultimately did not matter, but after receiving a $30 million a year contract, he knows rust will not be accepted as an excuse for very long. If he continues to struggle in the early weeks of the season, more people will criticize his role in his contract saga going as long as it did, though perhaps not so vehemently as Peyton Manning did.
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