Niners opener good reason for optimism

Caution is recommended. True, any game that leaves us wondering whether the 49er offense might be as good as the defense — arguably the best in football — would have the Faithful overly optimistic.  

Yet one game is not a season’s make. Even an opening game by a San Francisco franchise that a year earlier began with a thud.

We are reminded often that in sports it isn’t how you start but how (and where) you finish. Still, after falling a couple of games short of the only game that means anything to us spoiled citizens in NorCal, the Super Bowl, a proper beginning is not unappreciated.

And in overwhelming the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-7, Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, the Niners opened not only properly but impressively. These Steelers are hardly reminiscent of those great “win one for the thumb”  teams of the ‘80s. However, some people were looking for an upset.

What we had was a mismatch. The Niners controlled the ball so much in the first half, 22 minutes of the possible 30, and it had the weary SF players looking for a breather.

“At one point,” said veteran offensive tackle Trent Williams, “you just kind of wanted (the Steelers) to get a first down. There were all those three-and-outs and we kind of needed a break.”

What they got presumably was a chewing out from longtime head coach Mike Tomlin.

While Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan was less displeased he, of course, found fault with San Francisco needing to settle for field goals five times in the first half along with two touchdowns. 

Asked what he thought of his team’s first half,  “The first 28 minutes were good,” said Shanahan. “The last two minutes were really bad.”

So many factors in this one. Nick Bosa, having become the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history( $170 million) played a ton. His stats weren’t awesome, two tackles and a hit but without a doubt, his presence made the other defensive linemen even more formidable. Like Drake Jason who had two sacks.

Running back Christian McCaffrey, a midseason acquisition last year, had 152 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 3 passes for 17 yards. Brandon Aiyuk, who had 8 catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns, seems to have become the receiver the Niners have been seeking. He also can block, helping spring McCaffrey free on one run.

And no less significantly was Brock Purdy, again the quarterback after injury and months-long rehab of his right elbow. In Shanahan’s disciplined offense, Purdy was 19 of 29 for 220 yards and two touchdowns.

A running attack, a passing attack and that strong defense. That’s balance and cause for belief. And for some, boastfulness.

 “I mean, we’re the baddest guys on the planet, and that’s our mindset, honestly,” said safety Tahsaun Gipson, speaking of the 49ers’ defense. “Not to be cocky or disrespectful. So tip our hat off to (the Steelers). Their offense has a lot of great young core guys. They’re going to be good for years to come. It’s just that the 49ers defense is a different brand of football. … And our offense is just — I would hate to play our offense, man.”

Said Bosa: “We just have so many players. It’s fun to watch Aiyuk do his thing. And Purdy shut some haters up. It’s nice to be on a really good team.”

How good will be decided when more than one game has been played, not that the one game didn’t get people excited.

Down the stretch, Garoppolo performed like Montana

Agreed, he’s not Joe Montana. But the way Jimmy Garoppolo performed down the stretch Sunday, completing passes, leading the Niners from behind in overtime to a victory, was — dare we say — very reminiscent of Joe.

Jimmy G. won a game the San Francisco 49ers very much needed, a game it seemed they had let slip away and then wrenched back from the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.

He wasn’t alone. Joe Montana wasn’t alone. Tom Brady isn’t alone. John Elway wasn’t alone. Football is a team game, and a game of ebbs and flows, when the opportunity must be grabbed or it will lay groaning as a painful memory.

The memory of the Niners’ 26-23 victory on Sunday touches back to the good old days of comebacks and championships, of making the right calls and the right plays.

That in the great scheme of this NFL season the game may turn out to be insignificant doesn’t matter. When the oft-criticized Garoppolo had to get a win, he got it, in conjunction with Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa and Brandon Aiyuk — and certainly and demonstratively, the amazing George Kittle.

There, late in the afternoon at Cincinnati, were the erratic Niners, failing to take the game when Robbie Gould’s 43-yard field goal try at the end of regulation was wide; quickly behind, 23-20, when the Bengals made their own 3-pointer; pulling it out when, with virtually no time remaining, Aiyuk shoved the ball over the goal line as he flew into space.

It wasn’t beautiful, but it was successful. The saying in golf is applicable, “It ain’t how, it’s how many.” There’s no judging of form, just a display of the final score.

As a relieved Niners coach, Kyle Shanahan, conceded. 

Garoppolo botched things a week ago against Seattle, and there were other games when he couldn’t bring it home (even after the win, San Francisco is just 7-6, although very much a wild card possibility). 

This time with plenty of assistance from the offensive line, the receivers and the game plan, Garoppolo hit one pass after another. Or handed off to Samuel or Jeff Wilson. There was a sense of purpose and feeling of confidence.

“We kept saying that we’ve been in this situation before,” Garoppolo explained about the drive. “No one blinked. Guys knew that we had been here before, and we’ve done this before.”

True, but until you do it correctly, pulling out a game that seemingly was lost, it’s just rehearsal.

“We’ve just got to do this game,” said Garoppolo.

They did in no small part due to Kittle, the tight end who snares passes, batters potential tacklers and just generally makes the 49ers formidable and fearsome.

“That dude is the one Shanahan describe as a violent blocker and violent receiver” Aiyuk said of Kittle. “Not a bad combination. That dude is special.“

Kittle would just as soon hit possible defenders as catch a football, a trend coaches find perfect for a tight end, not that George shies away from getting a ball in his hands.

Against the Bengals, Kittle caught 13 passes for 151 yards, a touchdown and two first downs on third-down situations. “When you have a guy like him, you lean on him,” said Garoppolo.

If you didn’t, you’d better get a new job. Back when the Niners had Jerry Rice, and failed to target him, John Madden would growl, “He’s your best weapon. He needs the ball.”

What the 49ers needed was this victory, achieved in part because Cincy fumbled away two first-quarter punts and in part because Jimmy Garoppolo did what a 49er quarterback is expected to do.

Win the game the way Joe Montana used to do.