Ranking 49ers' position groups after sloppy win over Seahawks

Week 1 games are always weird, and that's been true for the San Francisco 49ers recently as well.

For the Niners, heading up to Seattle to face their NFC West foes, the Seahawks, it was all about winning at all costs. It took just about everything the 49ers had, but in spite of themselves, they managed to walk away with a 17-13 victory over their rivals. Despite missed field goals and turnovers, quarterback Brock Purdy tossed a touchdown pass to third-string tight end Jake Tonges to take the lead with less than two minutes to go. Defensive end Nick Bosa then finished the game in style, notching his first sack of the season by stripping Seahawks QB Sam Darnold and ending Seattle's comeback hopes.

For the new NFL season, Niner Noise sought to make a change. So, instead of typical position grades after games, this year, we'll power rank the positions relative to each other. First to seventh, from the quarterbacks to special teams, based on who did the most to help the 49ers win, and who wound up being the reason they may have lost.

There will also be a breakeven line: the point at which the position groups stopped helping and started hurting San Francisco. At the end of each article, there will be a running tally of where each position group has wound up over the course of the season.

Let's get started.

The main story for the 49ers' skill position players will be the injuries, yet again. Star tight end George Kittle exited the game with a hamstring injury and did not return, and starting wide receiver Jauan Jennings also left the game early due to an injury.

But even with their depleted ranks, the Niners' skill positions put on a show.

It starts with the big names: Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey. Kittle, before leaving, was the best player on the field, scoring the first touchdown of San Francisco's season. CMC didn't look hurt at all, and the 49ers treated him as such, force-feeding him the ball with 31 touches on the ground and in the air for 142 combined yards.

A player who might join the "big name" group is wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who had over 100 yards receiving, including a killer reception at the end of the game that gave the Niners the juice for their game-winning touchdown. Pearsall was frequently getting open and showed off why he was San Francisco's first-round pick a year ago:

But the unsung hero of the game must be Tonges, who got on the field following Kittle's injury and put together three major catches, including the go-ahead touchdown.

The 49ers needed every bit of support they could muster to win, and Tonges exemplified that with his play.

Week 1 in Seattle may have brought out the 49ers' newest star on defense, weakside linebacker Dee Winters. Winters was a menace on the field, blowing up several Seattle run plays and making a major name for himself with six tackles.

The other Niners linebacker, All-Pro Fred Warner, wasn't too shabby himself. Warner led all San Francisco defenders with eight total tackles and patrolled the middle of the field as usual, rendering the middle of the field, particularly close to the line of scrimmage, a wasteland.

Out of his 23 pass attempts, Darnold attempted only four in the middle of the field, the place where the Hawks' offense most likes to attack.

The 49ers defensive line largely controlled the game, though they did not provide many splash plays. Seattle running backs averaged less than 4 yards a carry, which is a winning formula in the NFL, and Sam Darnold never seemed fully comfortable in the pocket.

Game-changing plays for the defense, though, both came courtesy of the D-line. It was backup defensive end Sam Okuayinonu who punched the ball out from Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and breathed life back into the game, and of course, who else but Bosa, who stripped Darnold and iced the game at the very end:

The splash plays boost the D-line, but going forward, it will want to be applying more consistent pressure on the QB to take over games like the 49ers' defenses of old.

The 49ers defensive backs are a young group, especially so with rookie safety Marquis Sigle getting the start as opposed to J'Ayir Brown.

That inexperience showed at times, with rookie nickel corner Upton Stout getting flagged on pass interference in the end zone, and second-year corner Renardo Green getting beaten at the end of the game. But the unit also showed its mettle, with Sigle ending up with the forced fumble from JSN and all the corners making big plays in coverage.

For a first appearance, the defensive backs showed promise and wound up not being half-bad.

This is the break-even line.

Purdy was surgical to start the game, with his opening drive showcasing exactly why the 49ers gave him $265million to play quarterback for them. Then, for most of the game after, he was flustered and inaccurate, not to mention brazen with the football. Both interceptions Purdy threw were absolutely unacceptable; they were decisions that no starter can make, let alone one with the salary Purdy has.

But Purdy redeemed himself on his final drive. He had a great throw to Pearsall to jumpstart the drive, and it was his maneuvering that bought extra time to then heave the ball to Tonges.

The 49ers this season will live and die by their quarterback's performance, and today was just barely good enough. He'll have to be better as the season goes on.

The offensive line did not have a banner day. It was pushed around in the run game many times, making each 3rd-and-short a challenge to convert.

But the real issue came in pass protection, where Seattle's revamped defensive line constantly stayed in Purdy's face the entire day. The only sack on the day came from a blitz, but that is more credit to Purdy navigating the pressure than anything else.

The O-line will have to regroup if this team wants to be a serious contender.

Words cannot express the frustrations the 49ers and their fans must have felt at seeing special teams in this game.

The Niners covered punts poorly, did not fully take advantage of the new kickoff rules, and even a bright spot, Skyy Moore with his punt returns, also muffed a punt that he luckily recovered. This alone would put the special teams low on the ranking totem pole.

But that was the tip of the iceberg.

The 49ers have continued keeping Jake Moody on their roster despite his continued struggles with consistency on field goals. That reared its ugly head in Seattle, with two missed field goals. The second miss was a breakdown of blocking that might not just on the kicker. But the first miss was unacceptable. From less than 30 yards out, all NFL kickers have to be automatic. There is no other option.

Moody's miss allowed the Seahawks to get the ball back, which led to a field goal on their end. That is a six-point swing that is unacceptable.

The 49ers won in spite of their special teams, which is unfortunately nothing new for this team.

The Niners will take the win, but there is a lot to clean up before their Week 2 bout against the New Orleans Saints.

Overall Rankings as of Week 1 (lower is better!)

Linebackers: 1

Skill Positions: 2

Defensive Backs: 3

Defensive Line: 4

QBs: 5

Offensive Line: 6

Special Teams: 7