Analyst gives 49ers a rave review after dominating Jets on ‘MNF’

Though the Kansas City Chiefs are ranked No. 1 in both the ESPN and NFL.com power rankings heading into Week 2, few would argue that the San Francisco 49ers don’t deserve the No. 2 spot right behind them.

The 49ers dominated the New York Jets, who had a healthy Aaron Rodgers for the first time since trading for him two offseasons go, running away with a convincing 32-19 victory on “Monday Night Football” and putting the rest of the NFL on notice.

NFL Network’s Peter Schrager was among those most impressed with San Francisco’s “MNF” performance, hinting on “Good Morning Football” that the 49ers silenced any doubters they had given the contract drama they were entangled in during the offseason.

“If you watched Monday night and come out of that thinking anything other than that is the No. 1 team in the NFC, let’s discuss,” Schrager said . “I don’t know what else they could have done. That was such a performance and it came with all the questions of, ‘Will they be rusty? Can they perform without McCaffrey? What’s Aiyuk and Trent Williams’ holdouts going to look like once they get on the field?’”

Perhaps the most impressive part of the 49ers’ win was they did it against one of the best defenses in the NFL without the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey.

In his absence, backup running back Jordan Mason rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, and S.F.’s offense didn’t miss a beat.

Additionally, star receiver Brandon Aiyuk was held back a bit after not participating in training camp or the preseason during his contract dispute, and though he had just two receptions on five targets for 28 yards, quarterback Brock Purdy more than made up for it by getting Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings and George Kittle more involved in the pass game.

“Thirty-eight minutes of possession, they scored on eight straight offensive drives, their kicker made all six of his field goals, and then [Purdy] every time there was a third down, every single time it felt like it was a big spot for the Jets to get the 49ers off the field, Purdy was magnificent,” Schrager added. “… This is the team that we expected to see once we got started with the offseason before the drama of the contracts and stuff.”