San Francisco 49ers' Week One Takeaways

The San Francisco 49ers are doing just fine.

After a well documented offseason filled with drama and turnover, the 49ers came away with a small measure of redemption by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 20-3 in their opening game of the 2015 season. For a team that many had pegged to finish in the bottom ten of the league, it was a performance that served notice to the rest of the league that any notion of San Francisco’s demise was vastly premature.

San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

Perhaps the brightest spot from the night was how dominant the offensive line played. Carlos Hyde is getting a lot of love after his monster performance but the MVPs of the night belonged to the Niners’ OL. Last season the Niners were riddled with injuries to their first choice linemen, and the constant shifting of linemen brought inconsistent play to games. Against the Vikings, the OL thoroughly dominated and created huge holes for Hyde to run through.

Even more encouraging, Colin Kaepernick was sacked just once for less than a yard. If the OL can remain healthy and repeat performances similar to week one, the Niners should at the very worst be competitive every week.

Going back to Hyde, Niner fans witnessed the torch being passed to the next generation of great Niners running backs. Hyde officially put the league on notice that he would be a force to be reckoned with. With longtime staple Frank Gore gone, Hyde made the most of his opportunity and showed that he was ready to be the man for years to come.

He flashed great vision and a nice spin move for his first score of the evening, but his most notable trait was his violent running ability. Hyde hit holes hard and ran with supreme purpose, gaining 77 yards after contact, the most out of any RB in week one. In a physical division, he will need to continue to do this while remaining healthy.

Another big question mark heading into this season was the Niners’ pass rush. The Niners recorded five sacks from five different players against the Vikings, with two coming from the secondary. Defensive Coordinator Eric Mangini blitzed 14 times and from varying angles, keeping Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater off balance. When the Niners sent five or more rushers, Bridgewater was sacked four times and threw an interception.

The Niners have not blitzed often in recent memory, so it was nice to see a new wrinkle from Mangini to jumpstart an area in the defense that had been lacking. With increased pressure on the quarterback, less pressure will be put on a questionable secondary unit and hopefully provide more opportunities for turnovers.

While the pass rush was getting acclimated, the Niners front seven put the clamps down on Adrian Peterson. Peterson did not have a memorable return to the Vikings as the Niners held him to 10 carries with 31 yards. The Niners continue to be Peterson’s kryptonite– in four career games, Peterson has managed just 301 yards on 68 carries and no touchdowns.

In order for the Niners to have any shot at a playoff berth, they need Kaepernick to progress as a quarterback. There were promising signs throughout the night. Kaepernick showed some deft touch to his passes, which was contrary to what we have seen in the past where he only throws missiles, whether they were long bombs or quick slants.

There was also the willingness to check down in the flat when no receivers were open. Coupled with his seven carries for 41 yards, Kaepernick did well in limiting negative plays. He still has a penchant for overthrowing receivers, but there were definite results to the work he put in during the offseason.

San Francisco 49ers’ Week One Takeaways

By Wes Ying | Sep 17, 2015

San Francisco 49ers