One yard.
That was the Steelers’ offensive production until their final drive of the first half: one yard.
This was a wire-to-wire tour de force. The San Francisco 49ers dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
So much of the early season for the 49ers is a game of guessing whether they’ll show up. This team has had inconsistent starts to each of the past two seasons.
But with no quarterback questions, a defense which added Javon Hargrave and returned Nick Bosa just in time, there was little confusion about who this team was.
They had Kenny Pickett’s head spinning, while their own offense hit its stride from the outset.
Brandon Aiyuk’s arrival
It was evident last season that Brandon Aiyuk had established himself as a stellar receiver. But it felt like he wasn’t quite considered in that “elite” tier.
Anyone who watched how he played last season and has grown over the years, though, saw what was coming.
His route running, especially in the red zone, is as clinical as any receiver in the league. He’s deceptive in his movements and ruthlessly quick in cutting out.
In his first touchdown on Sunday, he put Patrick Peterson on skates, then sat him down (on a slick surface early on, but that shouldn’t take away from the route). His second touchdown? Peterson had it covered well, but Aiyuk threw out late hands, dragged his toes, and came down with a nonsensical back shoulder touchdown grab.
The rest of the day was his bread and butter. He found acres of open space on in cuts and was 100 percent reliable.
That 100 percent figure is accurate. He caught all eight of his targets… to the tune of 129 yards and those 2 touchdowns.
Oh, and his blocking remains elite, too. He and Ray-Ray McCloud paved the runway for Christian McCaffrey’s 65-yard touchdown run to open the second half. It was a receiver convoy that turned a big run into a massive touchdown. McCaffrey, by the way, ran for 134 yards, more than any total he had on the ground last season.
That defense
Once again. One yard through five drives. Every other drive in that first half was a three-and-out, assuming you consider a third-down interception by Charvarius Ward a three-and-out.
It’s hard to overstate how dominant this was. There were eight tackles for a loss including five sacks, four pass deflections and two interceptions.
They allowed one scoring drive on a 12-play, 95-yard drive that was extended by a 15-yard penalty on Deommodore Lenoir. Outside of that, they allowed 144 yards. It was a relentless performance.
That fails to include a couple other near interceptions and some crucial tackles.
People to mention:
- Talanoa Hufanga: When the only time you see Hufanga in the secondary is him coming up with an interception, that usually means the defense is playing lights out. He showed up around the line of scrimmage a handful of times, including a backfield screen stop. And he made up for a missed interception earlier with an incredible interception return in the fourth quarter that he tried to lateral to Tashaun Gipson Sr. Even though it was deemed a forward pass, it
- Dre Greenlaw: Greenlaw is an absolute psychopath on the field. I mean that in the most endearing way possible. In the second half, he was everywhere. He was hounding Jaylen Warren in particular, coming up with a key sideline stop that set up a turnover-on-downs in the red zone. He later clobbered Warren to break up a pass.
- Fred Warner: Warner started off the game flying around and had two tackles in the backfield where he shot his gap and crushed the running back. They’re the sort of hits that make everyone watching go “Ooh!” in unison. He set the tone early and was his usual impressive self in coverage. He dropped one interception, but made up for it by tipping one to Hufanga later.
- Javon Hargrave: Hargrave was a monster. Whereas Javon Kinlaw has been completely unreliable in getting push and maintaining his gap, Hargrave was a constant. He closed the pocket, or he held his gap to ensure contain and create late pressure. And he was rewarded, finally, with a minute to go in the fourth quarter with a sack. He has fundamentally changed this defense by always getting push and freeing everyone else up.
- Drake Jackson: Did anyone have Drake Jackson three sacks on their bingo cards? He was put in a role mostly as a third-down pass rusher, and man did it work. Let’s hold off on saying he’s finally the Dee Ford replacement the 49ers have long been looking for…. but, it’s hard not to think about that. His unique skillset, paired with the consistent interior pressure from his cohorts made him a constant threat.
Can we end the Brock Purdy questions?
No. We can’t. There will always be questions about Purdy because he was the final pick of the draft and doesn’t have elite athletic ability.
But at this point, that’s irrelevant. His processing of the game is stellar. He delivers the ball mostly on time and where it’s supposed to go. He has enough arm talent, placement and timing to get it there.
And as far as athleticism? No, he’s not Lamar Jackson. But he has elite short-area quickness and the sort of timing on when to escape the pocket that allows to him to spin out of sacks, like he did to Minkah Fitzpatrick:
He also ran for an 18-yard gain on a third-and-12 in the middle of the fourth quarter that set up a 40-yard Jake Moody field goal.
He finished 19-of-29 with 220 yards and 2 touchdowns.
There were a handful of plays Purdy will probably want back, like the couple of strip sacks T.J. Watt had, but that’s pretty nitpicky on a game like Sunday. That’s more of a reflection that he needs to trust the right side of his offensive line a little less.
He was excellent, and there should be far more excitement than worry about him at quarterback. The kid can play.
Question marks
Despite all that, there are a couple concerns:
- Right side of the offensive line: To be fair to Colton McKivitz, this was T.J. Watt, the only member of the Pittsburgh Steelers who seemed interested in trying to win the game. That said, Watt beat him three times, including two strip sacks. That’s a major worry. Also a concern is Spencer Burford, who had three penalties called on him. That was clearly the weak side of the offensive line coming into the season, and they’ll need to improve.
- Secondary: Deommodore Lenoir was mostly used as the 49ers’ nickel. That was a reflection of the fact that Isaiah Oliver did not impress in what was his job to lose. He looked off the pace when he got in the game late. Lenoir had some ugly moments, and always looked a half step off. Ambry Thomas, too, had a couple bad moments on that touchdown drive. If there’s a weakness on the defense, it’s there.
Bonus: Jake Moody
Remember all those worries about the rookie kicker, who was coming back from a quad injury? Nope.
Moody was nails. Mike Tomlin even tried to ice him on his first kick, a would-be 46-yarder. Then the Steelers blocked his kick, but were called offsides. After all that, he hit from 41 yards.
He made all three extra points and hit from 41, 30 and 40. That’s a huge weight off for him and Kyle Shanahan.