That, folks, was a good, old-fashioned beatdown. It cleansed the 49ers' palate in brutish, straightforward fashion.
The past two months have been filled with everything but football.
Will Brandon Aiyuk sign? Will Trent Williams sign? Are the 49ers going to be ready for the opener? And then, hours before the opener, Christian McCaffrey was ruled inactive with a calf/Achilles injury that seems to be quite a bit more concerning than when Kyle Shanahan offhandedly mentioned it a month ago.
Despite all that, the 49ers ramrodded the Jets (a team that practices and plays in New Jersey) on both ends of the ball.
They utilized two tight-end sets, with 12 and 22 personnel more than any game in recent memory. Eric Saubert and George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk led the charge behind an offensive line that rumbled downhill with increasing success. And they did so for Jordan Mason, known as a pure power back, but who showed up for his vision, cutting ability and talent for bouncing off tackles.
He had a career-high 147 yards on 28 carries, flying past his previous career high of 69 yards.
On the other end, Breece Hall, before a meaningless chunk gain on the Jets’ final drive, had 14 carries for 35 yards. He finished with 54 yards on 16 carries for a 3.4-yard average. Bad day to have the first or second pick in fantasy football.
Those two things, in combination, are the takeaway from the opener.
Despite having nothing but questions – Will they sign? How much will they play? What about McCaffrey? – the 49ers took the most straightforward path to victory, and the one they prefer: zone running, and run stuffing.
Music to George Kittle’s ears.
“I told Christian [McCaffrey], literally the only good thing that came out of him not playing is that our playbook shrinks just a little bit, which I'm always a fan of the shrinking playbook,” Kittle said. “But we really just ran the most simple outside zone all day.”
It was postseason football from day one, and from a team that can often come out of the gates slow. With an easy-ish schedule through the first six games, this was practically important, but it was also a refresher. It was objective proof the 49ers are still who we thought they were.
They did so with plenty of Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams, their two leaders out of the tunnel. There was some question for Williams, and just how much he’d be used.
I asked him if he thought the 49ers would run as much they did, which turned out to be a total of 37 times.
“No,” Williams told me with the exasperated smile of a veteran. He said the win “hurt,” but in a way he “needed.”
Williams had to go into the locker room in the second half for an IV because of cramps, then returned to continue to dole out punishment in the run game. He’s fine. He just hadn’t had a training camp.
But for those who did, it was a joy. Saubert, a sudden revelation at backup tight end, said the 49ers felt “pretty early” that they would be able to run the ball that successfully.
“I was telling Juice and George, that was some of the most fun I've had running the ball in a really long time,” Saubert said. “To be able to dominate like that in the run game, any time you have a game like that, it's just so fun. It's all I can say about it, it's what we love to do.”
There was a level of joy to this, and it was on either end.
Fred Warner, who told me in training camp that last season’s defense “didn’t look right,” made a point to set the tone on the other end of the ball. The Jets clearly thought they could, or would need to run the ball against this front. The Detroit Lions, amongst others, showed the 49ers to be vulnerable on the inside especially last year.
Instead, Warner set the tone, chasing Hall down like it was his life’s mission with a team-high seven tackles. He forced an early fumble on an outside run that was scooped up for a turnover by new addition Maliek Collins.
Collins, by the way, tagged up with his offseason training partner Javon Hargrave for a formidable defense on the interior. That was a monumental question with promising early results. The front of those two, with Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd -- who did his stated job of cleaning up Bosa's pressures -- looks formidable.
It was physical, simple, brutal, to-the-point excellence. And there was plenty they left on the field. But for Week 1, without key players and with limitations on others, this is a lap-it-up bludgeoning that’s worth the 49ers savoring for the night. It reaffirms San Francisco's standing in the NFL hierarchy, if only mostly healthy.
Follow Jake on Twitter/X here for more 49ers content. Read his exclusive profile with Fred Warner below.
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