49ers 3 most impressive performances from Week 1

The San Francisco 49ers kicked off the 2019 regular season with an ugly, yet effective 31-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Powering the 49ers to the win were several strong performances, and these are the best of that group.

The season opener for the San Francisco 49ers went in a much different direction than most might have expected. With both the Niners and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming into the game as two of the worst defenses of 2018, and featuring two of the top offensive minds in the league in 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, the question wasn’t if points would be scored, but how many.

What unfolded throughout Sunday afternoon’s Florida heat and humidity, then, was fairly surprising.

Neither offense truly got going, and 22 of the combined 48 points scored in the game were due to defensive touchdowns, with Bucs cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, and 49ers cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon all returning gifts from the opposing quarterback into points.

There were a flurry of penalties throughout the game — a combined 19 accepted for 174 yards — five of which led to overturning touchdowns, and the rust of Week 1 was seen throughout Raymond James Stadium.

Still, while there were some performances from the 49ers which left something to be desired, several players stood out from the rest. It shouldn’t be a surprise, given the nature of the game, that most of these performances come from the defensive side of the ball.

And so here are the top three performances from 49ers players from their Week 1 victory over the Buccaneers.