Just a week after pick-sixing Jameis Winston twice to get their 2019 campaign off to a winning start, the San Francisco 49ers embarrassed Andy Dalton to assert themselves as legitimate playoff contenders in the suddenly scary NFC West.
Coming into the 2019 season, the NFC West looked like a clear two-horse race between the defending NFC Champions, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Russell Wilson-led Seattle Seahawks. But with Kyler Murray’s brilliance in his first two starts and the San Francisco 49ers impressive 2-0 start, the NFC West suddenly looks like one of the most intriguing divisions in the league.
The 49ers were one of the league’s unluckiest teams in 2018, as they were dealt a rash of serious injuries. Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert, and other key players on offense missed significant periods of time. But now, Garoppolo is healthy and ready to lead the 49ers, who had an aggressive offseason that included the addition of a new top receiving weapon in rookie Deebo Samuel.
After defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-17 in Week 1, the 49ers were even more brilliant in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals. They completely owned Andy Dalton’s soul and negated the impact of Joe Mixon and the Bengals running game. Outside of Tyler Boyd and some garbage-time piling from John Ross to boost Dalton’s yardage over 300, the 49ers were never really threatened by the Bengals offense.
Meanwhile, the 49ers offense was playing up to its potential, particularly on the ground. The passing game will start clicking once Dante Pettis is 100-percent, but this game was all about the ground attack. Breida showed off his feature back ability by going over 120 yards, and the explosive Mostert needed just 13 carries to notch 83 yards of his own.
Better yet, the versatile Mostert was also a factor in the passing game, aiding Garoppolo in the 41-17 blowout victory with an additional 68 yards on three receptions, including a touchdown.
Garoppolo’s sharpness was another storyline in this game. After throwing just 166 yards in Week 1, he notched 297 in Week 2 with three touchdowns. More impressively, Garoppolo averaged nearly 12 yards per pass attempt, showing the NFL world that he is indeed a franchise quarterback when healthy.
Defensively, the 49ers received a massive performance from offseason gamble Kwon Alexander, who showed the raw talent that caused the Niners to sign him to an expensive contract. Alexander defended three passes, including an interception, as he and DeForest Buckner made life miserable for Dalton and the hapless Bengals offense.
The 49ers will have their work cut out for them later in the season against the likes of Wilson, Murray, and Jared Goff, but they have their own star-quality quarterback in Garoppolo, whose numbers will get better as Samuel progresses and Pettis rounds back into form. He has two other X-Factors in superstar tight end George Kittle and deep threat Marquise Goodwin, so this 297-yard performance against the Bengals can be seen as a warning shot for the rest of the NFL.
Under Kyle Shanahan’s guidance, Garoppolo can achieve great things in 2019. And if he can continue to make strides after this quality performance, the 49ers playoff hopes could be fulfilled. They have the defense and running game to make it happen, and Garoppolo has indeed looked like the man they were missing to pull it all together.