The 49ers were excellent Sunday in a rout of the Patriots in New England.
Here are our notes from throughout a thorough 49ers victory:
– Jeff Wilson Jr. started at running back.
– Third down for the 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo broke a couple of tackles and dove across the first down marker. The 49ers have to love seeing that from the quarterback.
– Deebo Samuel’s first touch is a swing pass off the action the 49ers used as a sweep for Samuel last week. That was a nice design.
– Touchdown! Wilson plows in from three yards out for the score. Good blocking from Kyle Juszczyk and Daniel Brunskill helped open that hole. It’s the first time in 32 home games for the Patriots that they allowed an opening drive touchdown. 49ers 7, Patriots 0
– Jason Verrett briefly left the game, but he only missed one play. It looked like he might’ve gotten the wind knocked out of him.
– Backup free safety Tarvarius Moore flew up to make a nice play to end the Patriots’ first series. That was a great set of downs by the 49ers defense, especially in coverage.
– Ross Dwelley got blown up bad on a run play that lost two yards to open the 49ers’ second series.
– Third-and-11 and George Kittle beats reigning Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore for 14. The Patriots have done a great job on opposing TEs this year, but Kittle is cooking early.
– Second-and-17 after a sack, no problem. Garoppolo finds Aiyuk who broke a couple tackles to get the extra couple yards for a gain of 19 and a first down.
– Oof. A bad Garoppolo miss leads to an interception. He airmailed a throw for Kittle and it went directly to Patriots safety Devin McCourty. That’s the quarterback’s first incompletion.
– A nice hit by Tarvarius Moore gets another third-down stop for the 49ers. He’s playing really well so far.
END OF FIRST QUARTER: 49ers 7, Patriots 0
– The first play of the second quarter is a 40-yard field goal by Patriots kicker Nick Folk. 49ers 7, Patriots 3
– Back-to-back runs of 13 and 9 yards for Wilson. Good burst from him after some tough sledding early.
– The 49ers are gashing the Patriots on the ground right now. Wilson is getting multiple yards upfield before he’s first touched.
– Jet sweep to Aiyuk behind a great block from Juszczyk. There are so many good playmakers on this offense.
– There’ve been two tosses to Samuel as a running back. That’s one way to make up for Raheem Mostert’s injury. The gain was called back by a hold on Trent Williams.
– Third-and-13 and Garoppolo misses Kendrick Bourne. There was pressure coming everywhere. That throw still needs to be complete, although it probably wouldn’t have gone for a first down.
– Robbie Gould drills a 41-yard field goal after the incompletion. He’s been good this season. 49ers 10, Patriots, 3
– Wow. Fred Warner’s second interception of the year comes on a terrible throw by Cam Newton. It was the first play of the Patriots’ third series and Newton tried to jam a throw into his receiver, but it left it short where Warner could reach down and snag it. Heck of a catch by the linebacker who now leads the club in interceptions.
– Touchdown! Kyle Juszczyk gets his first score of the season on a four-yard plunge into the end zone. Robbie Gould’s extra point was blocked and banged off the upright and out. 49ers 16, Patriots 3
– Newton looks terrible.
– Another holding call on the 49ers — their third of the game. One on each tackle and one on George Kittle. They have to clean that up. Starting in first-and-20 isn’t great for this offense.
– A JaMycal Hasty sighting. He goes 16 yards on a little swing pass and did well to tiptoe the sideline and finish the run hard. Then he follows that with a 20-yard dash.
– Touchdown! The 49ers are just punching the Patriots in the mouth repeatedly. Wilson races in untouched from 16 yards out to put San Francisco up 23-3 with less than a minute to go in the first half. His 92 yards are nearly more than he had all of last season (105). 49ers 23, Patriots 3
– Another interception for the 49ers. This time Emmanuel Moseley hauls in a bad overthrow by Newton. He had a nice return too to put the 49ers offense in a spot to put up more points before the half.
– And another interception by Garoppolo. He airs one out for Aiyuk on the last play of the half. The rookie was double covered and the Patriots intercepted the throw.
– The 49ers are out-gaining the Patriots 301 to 59 at the half. They have 18 first downs to New England’s four, and the 49ers have run 40 plays to the Patriots’ 16. Dominant first 30 minutes.
END OF FIRST HALF: 49ers 23, Patriots 3
– The Patriots open the second half with a couple of long runs, one for 7 and another for 12.
– Too easy for New England. They’ve cruised down to the 49ers’ 21 in just four plays.
– Big sack by Dre Greenlaw who rushed off the edge. He never got touched — that was great work by the second-year LB.
– Nice job by the 49ers defense to stiffen up. They forced another field goal try. This one is from 41 yards out. That sack from Greenlaw was huge in slowing the Pats offense down. 49ers 23, Patriots 6
– A deep shot to Aiyuk puts the rookie over 100 yards. Not a great looking throw from Garoppolo, but it was a completed deep shot which is good to see from the QB.
– Why not? Wilson again one play after the Aiyuk catch. He runs in from 7 yards out for his third score of the game. He’s been sensational and seems to have gotten strong as the game has gone on. He got rolled up on the touchdown and appeared to have hurt his ankle. Wilson limped off to the sideline under his own power. 49ers 30, Patriots 6
– Another interception. Sheesh. Jamar Taylor snags this one after a throw bounces off the hands of Julian Edelman. It’s the third one of the day for the 49ers.
END OF THIRD QUARTER: 49ers 30, Patriots 6
– Uh oh. Deebo Samuel on a third-down run appeared to hurt his knee. He stepped out of bounds and bent over grabbing his knee. That is a horrible sign for San Francisco.
– Another Gould field goal puts the game even further out of reach. 49ers 33, Patriots 6
– Jamar Taylor registers his second pick of the game. This time it’s against Jarrett Stidham who replaced Cam Newton for this series. Tough day all around for New England’s signal-callers.
– Mitch Wishnowsky punted for the first time with 3:14 left in the game. Good to see him still on the team.
– Kevin Givens notches a sack on the final play of the game. Good for the young defensive lineman to get that one. He’s been a good player for the 49ers all year.
FINAL SCORE: 49ers 33, Patriots 6