Coming into Sunday's contest between the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns, it had the makings of being a rough offensive game for San Francisco.
Quarterback Brock Purdy has struggled in bad weather games and head coach Kyle Shanahan has been vexed by Browns' defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for years.
Not to mention the fact that the Niners were going up against edge rusher Myles Garrett, the best defensive lineman in football, who has had more sacks on his own this season than the entire Niners team has.
Add it all up, and this game seemed like it had potential to be a trap -game loss for San Francisco against an inferior team, but that did not happen, thanks in large part to Garrett only sacking Purdy once.
San Francisco's offensive line has often been criticized, but it stepped up hugely on Sunday. Sure, Purdy did have pressure on him throughout the game, and there were several plays that he was forced to scramble on, but overall, it kept him on his feet and prevented any huge, drive-killing negative plays, which was essential in a game like that.
Future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams went up against Garrett for much of the game, and while Garrett did get his fair share of pressures on Purdy, and Williams played far from a perfect game, especially by his standards, he did enough to allow Purdy to make some plays, which is all that the team needed ultimately.
The only way the Niners could have lost a game like that is if they were sloppy with the football, turned it over, or allowed a lot of sacks, which would have put them behind the sticks when it was already tough enough to move the ball, given the cold temperature and the wind.
The O-line held up very nicely, though, and allowed Purdy time to make good throws from the pocket, and it was also able to do just enough for running back Christian McCaffrey, who only had 53 rushing yards on 20 attempts but still had some key runs throughout the contest.
It was a tough test going up against Garrett, who has 19 sacks on the season, but perhaps an effort like this will give the offensive line more confidence.
The O-line is going to have to protect Purdy well, especially in San Francisco's last three regular-season games against likely playoff-bound teams, and it will also be crucial to protect Purdy so he does not get injured, so this bend-but-don't-break performance against Garrett and the Browns bodes well for the unit going forward.