49er-Jets rewind: No Christian McCaffrey, no problem; Jordan Mason shines

If any other 31 teams announced 90 minutes before kickoff that their best offensive player was out due to a nagging injury, it would be a cause for concern.

Fortunately, the San Francisco 49ers aren’t any of the 31 other teams.

Right before kickoff, the 49ers announced that star running back Christian McCaffrey was named a surprise inactive. And despite that and some early struggles, the 49ers offense looked normal in San Francisco’s opening week win over the New York Jets.

While San Francisco was without their best offensive weapon, the Jets saw the re-debut of Aaron Rodgers a year after an Achilles injury derailed his first season in New York. The 49ers defense pulled no punches to ease Rodgers back into the flow, holding Rodgers to just 167 passing yards.

A 49ers win makes the first game review of 2024 an easy one:

The third-down spooks were only temporary

The 49ers allowed a third-down conversion 40.98 percent of the time last season, the ninth-highest rate allowed in the league.

The Jets gifted the 49ers a third-down stop. Allen Lazard dropped a Rodgers pass that would have extended New York’s opening drive. Two drives later, Rodgers led the Jets on its first scoring drive of the season, converting three third-down attempts en route to a Breece Hall touchdown.

Rodgers learned quickly not to rely on Lazard but instead on his star receiver, Garrett Wilson. Wilson was targeted on all three third-downs, with 16, 14, and eight-yard conversions, including a ridiculous catch over the Deommodore Lenoir.

After a three-for-four start on third downs in the first half, the following four Jets drives would last three plays or fewer – one of which was a one-play drive to kneel out the first half – while the 49ers defense held the Jets to zero first downs, an interception, and a pair of third-down stops.

The Jets wouldn’t convert a third down until the 1:39 mark in the third quarter when Rodgers found Lazard for a touchdown on a free play after getting Leonard Floyd to jump. But on the following drive, with the Jets hanging on by a thread, the 49ers defense came up with its biggest third-down – and only fourth-down – stop of the night.

Trailing by 16 at the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Jets were set up at midfield, facing a third-and-1 when Sam Okuayinonu and Ji’Ayir Brown stopped Breece Hall. On the following fourth down, Rodgers tried the Wilson well again, but a diving pass-break by Isaac Yiadom ended the drive and any hopes the Jets had in coming back.

It was the debut for plenty on the 49ers defense, but the debut of new defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen could not have gone any better.

There was rust, and then there was Jordan Mason

Like the Jets – and many other teams in Week 1 – the 49ers’ offense started slow. It matched the Jets’ opening three-and-out with a three-and-out of its own before a Fred Warner forced fumble gifted the San Francisco offense with a short field.

The offense paid the defense back with three plays, three yards, and three points to give San Francisco the first lead of the night.

The ball started moving with the 49ers’ third drive of the night, but at the end of the first quarter, San Francisco had 52 total yards on 14 plays. Mason totaled just under half of those yards, with 24 rushing yards on six attempts. Once the first quarter turned into the second, Mason turned it on. Mason finished the second quarter with five carries going at least five yards or more, including an 11-yard run to set up Deebo Samuel’s lone touchdown run. That doesn’t even include the 18-yard run wiped out by a Colton McKivitiz hold and a 17-yard touchdown by a Samuel hold.

Mason would get his touchdown back and then more, finishing the night with 147 rushing yards on 28 attempts and a third-quarter touchdown. It felt like when the 49ers offense couldn’t get going, it relied on Mason, and once he got a head of steam, so did the San Francisco offense with another 30-point game.

Field goal of the game

This was originally going to be the touchdown of the game, but then Jake did something that only three players in 49ers history have done: attempt six field goals and make six field goals. The list is:

• Ray Wersching (1983)
• Jeff Wilkins (1996 Week 5)
• Robbie Gould (2017 Week 15)
• Moody on Monday night

Now, the game’s field goal – or touchdown in likely many other cases – isn’t necessarily the best or the most important or anything like that. It’s the one that stood out the most to me. And the inaugural field goal of the game goes to Moody’s first kick of the night.

It was not his most impressive – his 53-yard doink would take the crown for that – but it was huge from a vibes standpoint.

As mentioned, the 49ers’ offense got off to a slow start with consecutive three-and-outs. The second three-play drive started deep in the Jets’ territory, but Moody had to be called on for a 46-yard attempt. To be completely honest, I was nervous.

Rookie Jake Moody probably would have missed the attempt to add that exclamation point to the offense’s slow start, and everything would have fallen apart from there.

But this is second-year Moody, and second-year Moody confidently put the ball through the middle of the uprights, and the 49ers had an early lead. Then the kicker made another kick.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

I like second-year Moody. Second-year Moody is cool.

Kyle Shanahan’s dream game

I have nothing to prove this, but if you pricked Shanahan with truth serum, he would tell you that Monday night’s win is how he wants every game to go.

Yes, the slow start exists, but after that, the run game averaged 4.7 yards per attempt, there were no turnovers, everybody got involved, and the defense sucked the life out of the game. It was one of those games that, despite how close it was early on, never really felt like the 49ers were near a threat of losing.

And after the offseason the 49ers just had, it had to have been a sight for sore eyes for Shanahn.

If anything, Brock Purdy could have performed better, but that’s a minute complaint. Four different 49ers receivers were targeted at least five times, and big play was prevalent during the passing game. Jauan Jennings led the 49ers with 64 receiving yards, with him, Samuel, Kyle Juszczyk, and George Kittle having at least one reception go for at least 20 yards.Mason added a 24-yard run with another pair of runs, gaining at least ten yards.

It was just one game – without McCaffrey – but it’s hard to think of a more Kyle Shanahan start for the 49ers offense.