49ers Dominate in Week One Win vs Steelers

Liam O’Connor

Sep, 10, 2023

(Wide Receiver Brandon Aiyuk catches a touchdown against Steelers Cornerback Patrick Peterson)

The 49ers have officially kicked off their season with a commanding 30-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team was led by Quarterback Brock Purdy who had a great day and clocked in with 220 yards, 2 touchdowns, and had a passer rating of 111.3. His top receiver for the day was Brandon Aiyuk who had one of his best career games with 8 receptions for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns. Aiyuk is coming off his first 1000 yard season and seems like he is not slowing down anytime soon. The running game looked great today with Christian McCaffrey having 22 carries for 152 yards and an amazing 65 yard touchdown straight out of halftime. Arguably the most impressive part of the game was how the defense managed to only give up one touchdown to a potentially loaded Pittsburgh offense. Even though star rusher Nick Bosa had a quiet day to himself, Defensive end Drake Jackson had himself a day with 3 sacks on Steelers QB Kenny Pickett. Even with the loss of DeMeco Ryans at the Defsnive Coordinator position, new coach Steve Wilks did a great job today with his designs of zone and man coverage. The Defense was able to get 2 interceptions coming from cornerback Charvarius Ward, and safety Taloanoa Hufunga. San Francisco has led the league in most defensive categories for the past 2 years, and it seems like this years group is going to continue to dominate opposing offenses.

(Nick Bosa tries to sack Steelers QB Kenny Pickett)

Let’s talk about Brock Purdy for a minute and how spectacular he is. We are witnessing the last pick of last years NFL draft be able to lead a superbowl contender with ease in ways we have never seen before. Sure he’s not Patrick Mahomes, but his ability to control the game and slow things down on these drives has been amazing to watch. There were many concerns about his health after the Tommy John surgery he received for his elbow, but in this game he put all that noise to bed. He and Aiyuk seem to have a really good connection and we can only hope that they continue to build on this. Obviously the Steelers are still a flawed and young team, but for a Week 1 game this win was very impressive. The 49ers will be traveling to Los Angeles next week to play against the Rams at SoFi Stadium. The 49ers always seem to have the Rams number, so they will be the favorites heading into week 2. The 49ers will come home tomorrow and continue to improve as a team, but this week has shown a lot of promise. We are just getting started on this season, but this team clearly has a lot to prove and are ready to slaughter whatever team is across from them on the pylon. This was a great win by the team, but they can’t get ahead of themselves. Let’s go Niners!

(Brock Purdy celebrates the win as he heads back to the locker room)