Entering Year 7 of the Kyle Shanahan era, expectations couldn’t be higher for the 49ers.
They’ve got a roster littered with stars, their franchise quarterback Brock Purdy is ready for the season and they returned the No. 1 defense from last season. If it’s Super Bowl or Bust for the Niners, they did nothing to dispel those notions on Sunday.
The 49ers marched into Pittsburgh and dominated from the opening whistle, making a 30-7 statement win on the road. For a team that has a recent history of slow starts, 49ers defensive captain Fred Warner was happy to see his team get a Week 1 'W'.
"I think it was exactly how we wanted to come out," Warner said. "It was an emphasis on past seasons, us coming out (with) slow starts. We knew that we needed to come in and set the tone right form the jump.
The vibes were high in Pittsburgh before the Niners showed up.
The Steelers went 6-1 down the stretch last season with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett, who was a maestro in the preseason with a perfect passer rating. Well, Pittsburgh never faced this 49ers defense in the meaningless exhibition games. The Niners looked like the real deal on both sides of the ball.
Purdy engineered a near perfect seven-play, 54-yard series on the opening drive that resulted in a touchdown for Brandon Aiyuk – who had a monster day with eight catches for 129 yards.
The second-year signal-caller ended the day 19-of-29 for two touchdowns, as the 49ers scored on their first four possessions of the afternoon. Not bad for being six months removed from elbow surgery.
"I thought Brock had a hell of a game," Shanahan said.
Defensively, Pickett looked overmatched all day. The Niners racked up five sacks, including three by Drake Jackson, and two interceptions, allowing just 239 yards of total offense from the Steelers.
Nick Bosa didn’t get a sack or seem like his usual destructive self on defense, but he was on the field for 33 of 61 defensive snaps (by my unofficial count). Bosa missed just three plays in the first half and got to rest after the Niners had full throttle of the game by the third quarter.
We also got to see Christian McCaffrey bust out the longest run of his 49ers career, a 65-yard spin and scamper that featured some amazing downfield blocks by Aiyuk and Ray-Ray McCloud. McCaffrey finished with 22 carries for 152 yards -- the most he's had in a Niners uniform.
Rookie kicker Jake Moody also overcame his preseason hiccups and was a perfect 3-of-3 on field goals, with a long of 41 yards, and made all three of his extra points.
About the only bugaboo Sunday was the Steelers’ two-minute drive to end the first half, as they were able to pick on Deommodore Lenoir and get a key penalty from him before scoring their only touchdown of the day.
"Opened up as good as you can hope for," Shanahan said. "I thought it was 28 minutes of really good football and then two minutes of bad football."
Many pundits posited that this could be the Niners’ toughest matchup of the year. If that’s the case, San Francisco looks like a surefire contender. It’s only Week 1, but the season got off to a great start for the squad with Super Bowl aspirations.
Still, Aiyuk isn't putting much stock into the victory just yet.
"It's Week 1," Aiyuk said. "We don't know anything about them. We don't know. We'll let the rest of the season play out, but it definitely feels good to be 1-0."