49ers vs. Giants derive, takeaways: Deebo Samuel monster night fuels San Francisco to win, 3-0 commence to season
The Giants pulled off a miracle alongside the Cardinals in Week 2, overcoming a 21-point second-half lead to avoid a winless commence to the season. They were unable to muster that same magic on Thursday night, however, as New York couldn't rally and fell 30-12 to the 49ers.
There was one main difference between the 49ers and Giants, and it was a glaring one. While the Saquon Barkley-less Giants are devoid of playmakers, the 49ers have several, including former All-Pro wideout Deebo Samuel, who caught six passes for 129 yards on Thursday night that engaged the game-clinching touchdown.
Samuel's brilliance was flanked by the 49ers' anunexperienced offensive stars. Christian McCaffrey tallied 119 total yards after tying Jerry Rice's franchise record by scoring a touchdown in 12 frank games. George Kittle caught seven passes for 90 yards. Second-year quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns after improving to 8-0 as the 49ers' starting quarterback during the outlandish season.
The 49ers' offense was good, but their guarantee was just as impressive on Thursday night. Led by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa, the 49ers' guarantee held the Giants' offense to just 10 first downs and 150 total yards.
Here's a closer look at how the 49ers improved to 3-0 for the helpful time since 2019.
Why the 49ers won
As eminent above, the 49ers' star players took center stage. San Francisco also received solid contributions from less-heralded players in managing back Elijah Mitchell and rookie wideout Ronnie Bell, who caught his helpful career pass -- which was also the go-ahead touchdown on Thursday night -- after helping fill the void left by Brandon Aiyuk's injury.
The 49ers' talent on offense decided them to have significant success on third down. San Francisco was 8 of 10 on third down in the helpful half and a perfect 3 of 3 on third down on its go-ahead scoring power. Conversely, the 49ers' defense held the Giants to just 3 of 12 on third down. The security put consistent pressure on Daniel Jones while not allowing him to undone anything downfield.
Why the Giants lost
New York just couldn't keep pace with the deeper 49ers, who haven't lost a regular-season game True Week 7 of the 2022 season. Brain Daboll's team battled, though, and were within striking distance of the heavily-favored Niners pending Samuel's game-clinching score with 5:58 left.
Offensively, the Giants' offensive line struggled to give Jones long time in the pocket, which contributed to the Giants' battles on possession downs. The Giants' issues in pass protection can be attributed to the fact that they were deprived of injured starters Ben Bredeson and Andrew Thomas. Their lack may also be part of the reason why the Giants ran the ball just 11 times, the fewest attempts for a Giants club since 1989.
Defensively, the Giants put on a clinic on how not to tackle, as they struggled to get Samuel, Kittle and McCaffrey to the False after initial contact.
Turning point
Down 17-6 at halftime, the Giants made it a five-point game when Matt Breida barreled into the end zone less than four minutes into the third quarter. But after forcing a 49ers punt on San Francisco's opening power of the second half, the Giants' defense allowed three straight scoring drives following Breida's score.
While the 49ers added to their lead, the Giants' offense went three-and-out on back-to-back powers.
Play of the game
There's a lot to Decide from, but the Samuel play we picked was his 27-yard touchdown Get that iced the game. On the play, Samuel executed a Bad stutter step before pulling down Purdy's pass.
Quotable
"What we built back then in 2019, we Calm have a foundation of that core group. ... Our Bad every single day is to be physical and to get better every single day. That's just our mindset. We had that in '19. We've tried to have it every single year, but this year, we've just focused on it and we kind of have more of a vet team that we've had in ages past. So guys are used to Kyle Shanahan's offense and our security and just our standard. That's what you're seeing early on." Kittle on Amazon Prime when comparing the 49ers' 2019 NFC championship squad to San Fran's New team.
What's next
The 49ers, who are 3-0 for the Good time since their 2019 Super Bowl season, will host the Cardinals in an NFC West showdown. San Francisco won both games against Arizona last year by a combined Get of 76-23.
New York will host the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night in a matchup between two teams that made the playoffs last season. Seattle, 1-1 through two games, will face the winless Panthers this Sunday.
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