The San Francisco 49ers (1-0) showed that they are one of the contenders in the 2023 NFL season by crushing the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) 30-7 at Acrisure Stadium with great performances from Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and the entire defense led by Nick Bosa.
Here are five keys to the overwhelming victory of the San Francisco 49ers against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Asphyxiating defense
The 49ers’ defense stifled every attempt by the Steelers in the first 28 minutes of the game and by the end of the game San Francisco had allowed just 239 yards and recorded two interceptions with five sacks of Kenny Pickett (31/46, 232 yards). The interceptions were made by Charvarius Ward, in the first quarter, and Talanoa Hufanga, in the last quarter. From the two turnovers, the 49ers got six points, through FGs of 41 and 40 yards.
In addition, the presence of Nick Bosa, the highest paid defensive player in the entire NFL, was the key to the development of the game. The DE was blocked by two players on most plays and allowed Drake Jackson to sack Pickett three times and Kerry Hyder Jr. and Javonte Hargrave each had one.
McCaffrey, the fantasy running back
San Francisco built the running game on the shoulders of Christian McCaffrey and they have had incredible success. The 27-year-old running back had 151 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards and his highlight play was a 65-yard scamper that ended up in the end zone to open the third quarter. Overall San Francisco ran the ball 34 times for 188 yards; The only player with negative yardage was Sam Darnold, who took a knee twice from the formation in the win.
Brandon Aiyuk, Brock Purdy’s favorite target
Purdy had an epic game after completing 19 of 29 passes and racking up 220 yards with two TDs. However, most of the yards were made by Aiyuk. The 25-year-old wide receiver totaled 129 yards after catching all eight passes thrown his way and was the architect of two of the ‘Mr. Not relevant’ to the 2022 Draft.
The Punishments of Deommodore Lenoir
The defense had a dominant performance, but Deommodore Lenoir struggled and his mental errors had an impact on Pittsburgh’s only score. The Steelers scored through a connection between Kenny Pickett and Pat Freiermuth before the end of the first half, but the offensive series was alive due to two 49ers CB penalties. A personal foul for hitting Najee Harris and an illegal contact. Despite all that, the cornerback led San Francisco in tackles with 10 tackles.
TJ Watt, the highlight of the Steelers
TJ Watt is already an important player in Steelers history despite just seven seasons as a professional, but this afternoon he moved up a position on the table of players with the most sacks. The outside linebacker recorded three tackles on Brock Purdy behind the line of scrimmage and reached 80.5 for his career, enough to tie James Harrison as Pittsburgh’s all-time leaders.
49ers Steelers
Forwarding
PS_PASSING_ATTEMPT_ABBR PS_PASSING_YARDS_PER_ATTEMPT_ABBR PS_PASSING_TOUCHDOWN_ABBR PS_PASSING_SACK_ABBR PS_PASSING_INTERCEPTION_ABBR PS_PASSING_RATING_ABBR
| 29 | 7.6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 111.28 |
hurry
RECEIVING
DEFENSE
KICKS
PS_FIELD_GOAL_MADE_ABBR PS_FIELD_GOAL_LONGEST_ABBR PS_EXTRA_POINT_MADE_ABBR
| 3 | 41 | 3 |
POINT
PS_PUNT_ABBR PS_PUNT_TOUCHBACK_ABBR PS_PUNT_INSIDE_20_ABBR
| 3 | 0 | 3 |
KICK RETURNS
PS_KICK_RETURN_ABBR PS_KICK_RETURN_YARDS_ABBR PS_KICK_RETURN_TOUCHDOWN_ABBR PS_KICK_RETURN_LONGEST_ABBR
| No kick back |
POINT RETURNS
PS_PUNT_RETURN_ABBR PS_PUNT_RETURN_YARDS_ABBR PS_PUNT_RETURN_TOUCHDOWN_ABBR PS_PUNT_RETURN_LONGEST_ABBR
| 3 | 41 | 0 | 19 |
forwarding
PS_PASSING_ATTEMPT_ABBR PS_PASSING_YARDS_PER_ATTEMPT_ABBR PS_PASSING_TOUCHDOWN_ABBR PS_PASSING_SACK_ABBR PS_PASSING_INTERCEPTION_ABBR PS_PASSING_RATING_ABBR
| 46 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 68.39 |
hurry
RECEIVING
DEFENSE
KICKS
PS_FIELD_GOAL_MADE_ABBR PS_FIELD_GOAL_LONGEST_ABBR PS_EXTRA_POINT_MADE_ABBR
| 0 | 0 | 1 |
POINT
KICK RETURNS
PS_KICK_RETURN_ABBR PS_KICK_RETURN_YARDS_ABBR PS_KICK_RETURN_TOUCHDOWN_ABBR PS_KICK_RETURN_LONGEST_ABBR
| 3 | 91 | 0 | 34 |
POINT RETURNS
PS_PUNT_RETURN_ABBR PS_PUNT_RETURN_YARDS_ABBR PS_PUNT_RETURN_TOUCHDOWN_ABBR PS_PUNT_RETURN_LONGEST_ABBR
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Division Conference League
NFC WEST PG PP THE STREAK
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
AFC NORTH PG PP THE STREAK
| 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
