The San Francisco 49ers‘ early offensive struggles on Sunday did not bode well for their chances to earn a win against the Denver Broncos. San Francisco entered halftime with just three points. To make matters worse, the Broncos had scored 50 second-half points across their first three games.
But Denver’s offense failed to figure out what 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris threw at them. And head coach Kyle Shanahan found enough in his playbook to scrounge together 21 second-half points against a fierce Broncos defense that got decimated by injuries during a hot afternoon in Santa Clara. Broncos starting cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss both exited and did not return.
The 49ers, despite an imperfect performance, improved to 4-0 with a 24-14 win over the Broncos at Levi’s Stadium. Here are immediate takeaways.
Ugly offense:
The 49ers’ second drive strangely stalled out after they marched into Broncos territory. On 4th-and-1½, Shanahan dialed up a quarterback sneak for Brock Purdy. He landed short of the marker. San Francisco, with an opportunity to get three points on the board, left with zero.
On multiple occasions, Purdy came close to getting sacked for the first time this season, but he remains unsacked through four games. Late in the second quarter, Broncos defensive tackle D.J. Jones came close. He delivered a big hit on Purdy, who just got the ball off in time for an incompletion. A couple plays later, outside linebacker Que Robinson had pressure on Purdy – he evaded the pocket but failed to hit an open Mike Evans in the end zone, delivering an off-target throw. The 49ers ended that drive with a 24-yard field goal from Eddy Piñeiro, collecting their first three points of the afternoon.
San Francisco could have entered the break with a 6-3 advantage, but Piñeiro’s 54-yard attempt was blocked by defensive lineman Zach Allen.
But there were missed opportunities on both sides.
On the 49ers’ second defensive drive, linebacker Dre Greenlaw had a clean look at Broncos QB Bo Nix in the backfield on 3rd-and-3. But he took the wrong angle, allowing Nix to juke left, escape the pocket and dump off a pass to running back Tyler Badie, who ran down the left sideline for a 25-yard gain. Later that drive, Nix found Jaylen Waddle over the middle, but a crucial drop by the receiver bailed out the 49ers on what could have been an early scoring drive. Denver still salvaged the possession with a field goal on a 13-play, 55-yard drive in which it converted three of four third downs.
The 49ers did gain 140 yards on the ground; 42 of them came on two chunk plays from Deebo Samuel, who continues to look like one of San Francisco’s best offensive weapons. But the 49ers failed to string together a drive longer than 5 minutes and 25 seconds. They earned points on one of their first seven possessions before scoring three consecutive touchdowns.
Unexpected heroes:
The pair of reserves each made key plays when San Francisco desperately needed points. First, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the period, Neal, the lone man out in front on a Broncos punt return, tugged on the right leg of wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. The ball came loose as Mims hit the turf, and Neal swiped it, giving the 49ers’ offense a prime opportunity on Denver’s 28-yard line.
Purdy proceeded to lead the first touchdown drive of the afternoon for either side: nine plays and 28 yards, capped with a one-yard touchdown pass to Samuel. But the touchdown wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for Black, who saved a poor snap from center Jake Brendel that sailed to the right of Purdy on 4th-and-1. Black corralled it, took the direct snap and plowed forward for two yards, just enough to keep the drive going.
The score when those two plays occurred: 3-3. From that point on? 49ers 21, Broncos 11.
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This article originally published at 49ers move up to 4-0 after thwarting high-flying Broncos in bruising 24-14 win.
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