The San Francisco 49ers kicked off their 2024 season against perhaps the best defense they will face all year, that of the New York Jets.
Facing former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, and former 49ers Javon Kinlaw, Solomon Thomas, and D.J. Reed, the Niners received bad news before Monday Night Football's kickoff that superstar running back Christian McCaffrey would miss the game due to a calf sprain.
The 49ers started off the game slow on offense and wayward on defense, with a forced fumble and a touchdown allowed in the first quarter.
But the rest of the game, the 49ers ground game dominated, with backup running back Jordan Mason in a spot start, leading the way to a comfortable 32-19 win.
Week 1 is never a good time to make broad-ranging claims about a team. After all, two years ago, San Francisco lost to the Bears in a monsoon, and it felt like the sky could have been falling. Well, the Bears finished with the first overall pick, while the 49ers made it to the NFC Championship game. Even further back, then-head coach Jim Tomsula's 2015 Niners started 1-0 with a dominant showing, and that season is one most fans want to forget.
There are no major takeaways from a Week 1 game other than San Francisco won, but there might be nuggets of gold to glean for the future.
And just like the 49ers are starting a new season, the grades will be new as well. Instead of handing out letter grades, the team will get "points" out of 10, which will be added week to week to show the teams' trends.
With that all said, time to jump into the grades.
49ers Offensive Grades
The Niners operated in a disjointed manner for many series. Unnecessary penalties, illegal formations, drops, mistimed motions, you name it, the 49ers struggled with it.
But they put up 32 points all the same with two touchdown runs. If this is the baseline for San Francisco's offense, the sky might be the limit.
Quarterback
As shepherd of the 49ers offense, some of the gaffes the operation struggled with fall on Brock Purdy's shoulders. But Purdy was more victim than culprit of the Niners' issues, with drops by multiple receivers depriving the quarterback of chunk plays and a touchdown.
That said, Purdy made the simple and efficient plays with only a couple of throws that looked to be in harm's way. With how dominant the 49ers were on the ground, he did not have to finish with much more.
A sneaky 231-yard passing game might undersell how well he played.
Grade: 7.5/10
Season Grade: 7.5/10
Skill Positions
San Francisco's skill-position players played phenomenally across the board, with one major exception. To start with the bad, Brandon Aiyuk showed the rust expected in his first week back after signing his lucrative new contract extension. With a couple of drops, including a rather egregious dropped touchdown, and a general lack of conditioning, the 49ers offense was unable to fire on all cylinders without their best receiving weapon.
With their best all-around player out in Christian McCaffrey, it was grounds for the offense to struggle. But on the backs of Jordan Mason, who rushed for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown, and Deebo Samuel, with 77 scrimmage yards and a touchdown run of his own, the 49ers managed to dominate the game on the ground, killing the clock and wearing down the Jets defense.
No level of rust can take away from that.
JP grabs his TD 👏 pic.twitter.com/pkSTTdvWUS
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 10, 2024
Grade: 8/10
Season Grade: 8/10
Offensive Line
With Trent Williams coming back after his holdout, rookie guard Dominick Puni starting for his first NFL game, and a much-maligned interior offensive line from last year, the Niners facing against an elite Jets defense could have struggled on the offensive line.
But the O-line played phenomenally in clearing run lanes and keeping Purdy upright for the majority of the game, with only a couple of sacks due to Purdy holding onto the ball for too long.
The Jets did not have the type of elite edge pressure that could have challenged the 49ers, but for their first test, they succeeded.
Grade: 9/10
Season Grade: 9/10
49ers Defensive Grades
The Niners had a couple of drives where the Jets seemed to move the ball with ease, but beyond those outliers, they played an aggressive and assertive brand of defense like their defenses of old.
Defensive Line
The defensive line spent the first quarter struggling to get any pressure, and all talk of a retooled defensive line felt shallow. But football is played for four quarters, and the D-line began to turn on the pressure, making Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers uncomfortable.
Beyond the pass game, though, the D-line dominated the line of scrimmage, winning with ease as they held the Jets to 68 rushing yards on 18 carries, a paltry 3.7 average yards per carry.
San Francisco controlled the rushing lanes unlike any game last year, and that might be the biggest positive the 49ers can take away for future weeks.
Grade: 9/10
Season Grade: 9/10
Linebackers
Fred Warner had himself another phenomenal game. He controlled the middle of the field, filled run lanes, and even forced a fumble. But the performance of his compatriots at linebacker had more of a mixed bag. Both De'Vondre Campbell and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles had moments where they exploded up the field and blew up plays, but both also had moments of weak coverage.
Flannigan-Fowles ended up with an interception off a great play by Deommodore Lenoir.
With Dre Greenlaw still rehabbing his torn Achilles and Dee Winters dealing with an ankle injury, the 49ers' linebacking corps is piecing itself together in the early part of the season.
But they put together a solid performance.
Grade: 8/10
Season Grade: 8/10
Secondary
The defensive backfield played a clean game, but the Jets never truly threatened them down the field. The couple of deep shots taken against the defense did not go well, with a touchdown to Allen Lazard and a couple completions to Garrett Wilson.
Overall, the Niners' strategy of keeping everything in front of them worked out quite well, but it left the secondary without much to handle.
Maybe playing against the Minnesota Vikings and star wide receiver Justin Jefferson in Week 2 will change that.
Grade: 7/10
Season Grade: 7/10
49ers Special Teams Grades
Kicking/Punting/Kickoff
The 49ers joined the majority of NFL teams choosing to kick the ball into the end zone in the NFL's new kickoff system, giving up an extra 5 yards of field position compared to last year. When they kicked the ball to the Jets returners, they tackled well, a sign of good fundamentals that should carry over.
The name of the game was Jake Moody field goals. The embattled second-year kicker finished 6-of-6, with two field goals from 50-plus yards.
If you could define a kicking performance as dominant, Moody matched that.
The Niners will hope not to have their kicker on the field for field goals over extra points in the future, but that was a great sign for the special teams unit.
Grade: 10/10
Season Grade: 10/10
Returning
San Francisco did not get much traction in the return game, but rookie Jacob Cowing showed flashes of what will make him an unsung hero for the 49ers this season. Tallying 7.5 yards per return may not seem like much, but those are bonus yards that can slightly tip the scales.
For a 49ers team that has seen the return game take more than it has given, that has to feel good.
Grade: 8/10
Season Grade: 8/10
Final Thoughts
The 49ers won over a playoff-hopeful team by double digits, yet the biggest feeling coming out of the game might be anticipation that the offense can turn field goals into touchdowns and that the defense can tighten up even further.
They will have a chance to showcase that improvement against the Vikings next Sunday. For now, they can celebrate starting the season undefeated.