EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The 49ers’ buzzard luck struck again.
They only had four minutes left Sunday in what figured to serve as their most lopsided and stress-free win all season.
They were up 17 points, then down went Mykel Williams.
It’s feared he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and Williams instantly knew its severity as he reached for his right knee and banged his hands against his helmet while on his back on the MetLife Stadium’s ever-suspect synthetic turf.
He now follows the hobbled footsteps of fellow defensive ends Nick Bosa (ACL tear), Bryce Huff (hamstring) and Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring). Williams’ rookie season seems as finished as linebacker Fred Warner’s after his ankle dislocation and fracture three weeks ago in Tampa Bay.
Williams, their first-round draft pick, had started every game this season, and although he has just one sack, his effort and coach-ability have shined amid a vastly counted upon rookie class.
“We have been bitten particularly hard by the injury bug,” left tackle Trent Williams said following the 49ers’ 34-24 win over the New York Giants. “We’ve been able to continue and fight past it. But who knows, you never know what that straw is just enough to break the camel’s back.”
The 49ers’ offense is going to have to keep putting up 30-point games to offset their ever-shrinking defense.
“Our offense needs to score a lot of points week in and week out,” tight end George Kittle said. “That’s just what it is, because we have a young defense with our two best players out and injuries galore on the defensive side.”
Williams’ exit cast a pall over a NFC road win for the 49ers (6-3). Here are 10 other things to catch my eye:
1. MAC-NIFICENT START
Mac Jones’ 135.2 passer rating was his best in seven starts for the 49ers this season and second-best of his five-year career. Of course, he went the entire first half without an incompletion. Did he know he was 14-of-14 (for 143 yards and two touchdowns)?
“No. Was I supposed to?” Jones said with his playful chuckle. “I never really think about it like that. It’s more about having eyes in right spot. Honestly right before half we had a touchdown and I took too long to step up on the fumble. We were going to score there and I was pissed about that.”
The only 49ers quarterbacks who’ve started a game with as many consecutive completions are Hall of Famers Joe Montana (17 in 1987 at Green Bay; 15 in 1982 against San Diego) and Steve Young (16 in 1991 against Detroit; 14 in 1994 at Atlanta).
2. QUARTERBACK PLAN
If this was Jones’ final act as Brock Purdy’s fill-in, coach Kyle Shanahan did not indicate that. Even though Purdy was questionable to serve as a backup, he was inactive a fifth straight game while the 49ers cautiously let his right big toe improve. “Just want to make sure he gets 100 percent better and don’t put him out there too early,” Shanahan said. “Thought about it as a possible backup or emergency, but I think the more time we give him, the better.”
While Shanahan said he hasn’t been told that Purdy will require surgery after the season, that Week 1 injury is not vanishing. “It’s probably something that probably won’t fully go away all year, regardless of when he comes back,” Shanahan said of the “tricky decision.”
3. FERRELL’S TRIBUTE
Clelin Ferrell supplied the 49ers’ anemic defensive front with a sack, five days after his tryout. On his second-quarter sack, he acknowledged drifting too far up the field before a second effort allowed him to drop Jaxson Dart from behind at the 5-yard line.
“I don’t take this for granted. I know how special it is to put this jersey on,” said Ferrell, a 17-game starter on the 2023 team.
He started his career as a Raiders’ first-round draft pick, and he played Sunday thinking about George Atkinson, a former Raiders safety and a former mentor to Ferrell who died last week at age 78.
“Football lost a legend so I had him in my mind the whole day,” Ferrell said. “I wanted to wear my heart on my sleeve and play hard. … He was always in my ear, believing in me and giving me confidence. Football lost a great spirit.”
4. WATKINS’ CATCH
Of all Jones’ 19 completions, Shanahan singled out the catch rookie Jordan Watkins made over the middle in traffic and very close to the ground.
It came on second-and-12 at the Giants’ 28-yard line, and it fueled their second drive that ended with a Jones touchdown pass to a wide open Christian McCaffrey.
“We don’t make that completion there, the odds are you’re not getting it on 3rd and 20 or 3rd and 15,” Shanahan said.
Watkins made his first NFL catch last week, after letting his first target slip through his hands. This time, Jones commended Watkins’ focus in their up-tempo scenario. “They were scrambling on defense,” Jones said. “He just made a competitive catch. We worked on that in OTAs. He has strong hands and came up with it.” It was Watkins’ lone target.
5. McCAFFREY’S CATCH
McCaffrey delivered his second 100-yard rushing game (106 yards, 28 carries), and he led the 49ers in receiving (five catches, 67 yards). He scored their first touchdown (5-yard catch) and their last one (3-yard run).
But nothing may have looked better than his longest play of the season: a 39-yard catch-and-run to the Giants’ 20-yard line to set up his fourth-quarter rushing touchdown.
“That actually was an unbelievable play by Mac,” McCaffrey said. “That play wasn’t supposed to happen. They dropped me and forgot to cover me. I was supposed run longer route, and when I turned, the ball was in the air. That was a huge play by him, and after that it was a lot of green grass.”
6. ROBINSON’S BREAKOUT GAME
Brian Robinson emerged from McCaffrey’s shadow long enough to deliver fourth-quarter pizazz that knocked out the Giants.
Robinson ran for a season-high 53 yards, and his 41st carry with the 49ers resulted in his first touchdown, which came on an 18-yard, tackle-breaking effort for a 24-17 lead.
Jones said of Robinson, his former Alabama teammate: “I know he’s been itching to get a chance. I told him to stay ready. Christian’s done a great job. I said, ‘Your day is coming.’ I told him last week and this week. He’s attacking the line of scrimmage, he’s more comfortable and looks how he did in college.”
Added McCaffrey: “To have him is huge to me. He pushes me.”
7. BURFORD’S DEBUT
Spencer Burford started at left guard for the first time in his four-year career, “dusted off” moves from his first two years at right guard. The 49ers tried converting him to Trent Williams’ backup at left tackle this year, and after a knee issue cast him onto Injured Reserve, he returned this past week as Williams’ sidekick at guard.
“That’s my big bro. I’ve been waiting on that,” said Burford, who’s trained with Williams in Houston in the offseason. “I’m trying now to capitalize on my opportunity.”
8. BETHUNE REBOUNDS
Tatum Bethune’s 16 tackles were the most by a 49er since Michael Wilhoite’s 16 in 2015, also against the Giants.
Four of Bethune’s tackles came on the Giants’ opening touchdown drive. The defense forced a three-and-out its next series, keyed by big hits from Upton Stout and Dee Winters.
“It’s not like we had some big pump-up thing that we needed to start hitting, but we definitely felt it more after that first drive,” Shanahan said. “The first drive was a very rough one.”
9. PINEIRO PERFECTO
Eddy Pineiro converted both his field-goal attempts (54 and 33 yards), thus extended his franchise record of making his first 19 field-goal attempts since arriving in Week 2 as Jake Moody’s successor.
Those 19 kicks also match Phil Dawson’s 2015 mark for the franchise’s fourth-longest streak of consecutive field goals made, behind Robbie Gould (33, from 2017-18), Dawson (27 in 2013), and Gould (25, from 2018-19).
10. TRADE TALK
Shanahan reiterated his month-long stance that the 49ers have no greater urgency to make another trade before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. deadline.
If the 49ers yearned to deal away wide receiver Jauan Jennings or safety Ji’Ayir Brown, each made a highlight play Sunday. Jennings produced his second touchdown catch of the season, a 15-yarder that ended with him diving over the goal line for a 14-7 lead. Brown broke up a pass in the end zone in the closing minutes and proudly stood there in the aftermath.
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