Niners opener good reason for optimism

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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.

Niners: Not much offense, but oh that defense

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That’s true, the offense was held to a single touchdown and two field goals. Which usually isn’t enough to win an NFL game, unless the other team gets fewer points. Like zero.

And so we harken back to that old — very old — reminder from John McKay, who won games at USC and then, after becoming coach of an expansion team, lost them with the Tampa Bay Bucs: You win on defense; if the other team doesn’t score, you’ll never get worse than a 0-0 tie.

But since the 49ers managed to put a few piddling points on the scoreboard at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, they got a win, not a tie, their fourth win in succession, a 13-0 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

The Niners now are in first place in the NFC West, ahead of the Seahawks, who somehow lost to the former Oakland Raiders, ahead of the former St. Louis Rams and ahead of the onetime St. Louis Cardinals.

Indeed a lot of movement in the NFL, even some on the gridiron. Those Carole King lyrics, “Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore,” seem appropriate here.

Also appropriate is the comment by head coach Kyle Shanahan from a few days ago, to the effect that this is 49ers football.

You’ve been advised that San Francisco, with good old Jimmy Garoppolo, doesn’t have the quarterback a team needs to win a Super Bowl, that he manages a game instead of taking control and ramming it down your gullet.

But Jimmy G, who completed 26 of 37 for 222 yards, including a five-yarder to Jauan Jennings for the game’s only touchdown, showed exactly what a QB needs, the ability to get up after being smacked around and then act like the leader he’s proven to be.

“He’s tough,” Shanahan said of Garoppolo.

The Niners know what they have, and no less importantly what they don’t. If Jimmy G doesn’t make you think of Tom Brady, whom Garoppolo was drafted by the Patriots to replace, well, he’s the major factor in the offensive system designed and administered by Shanahan.

Week after week, the TV commentators use at least part of a phrase to describe the Niners’ attack, “so many weapons.” The arsenal was interesting with Garoppolo, Jennings, Deebo Samuel, Elijah Mitchell, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and others; it became fascinating with the acquisition of Christian McCaffrey.

Alternatives? If that running back doesn’t have the ball, this receiver does. There are 60 minutes to an NFL game. On Sunday, the Niners had the ball only 10 seconds short of 35 minutes.

Inherent in sporting success is the belief you have the capability and determination to succeed. Winners act like winners, talk like winners.

“We’re on our way, for sure,” said Nick Bosa. He’s the Pro Bowl pass rusher who late in the game had yet one more sack. “I think we have the guys to do it, definitely. And everybody who is still here (from when the Niners went to the Super Bowl three seasons ago) could be better.”

The 49ers haven’t allowed a point in 94 minutes, 19 seconds of game action, since the second quarter of the win last Monday night in Mexico City.

That will get the job done anytime, anywhere.