Recap
AI summary, sourced from 1 period article (ESPN AP)
Mac Jones, starting in relief of an injured Brock Purdy, threw three touchdown passes and the 49ers held off the New Orleans Saints 26-21 at the Caesars Superdome to move to 2-0. Jones went 26-of-39 for 279 yards with scoring throws to Luke Farrell (11 yards), Christian McCaffrey (7 yards) and Jauan Jennings (42 yards), the last giving San Francisco a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Spencer Rattler threw for 207 yards and three touchdowns for the Saints but fell to 0-8 as a career starter. Jennings led the game with 89 yards on five catches.[1][2][3]
Columnist recap
AI summary, sourced from 1 period article (ESPN AP)
Mac Jones spent four years getting written off in Foxborough. Sunday in New Orleans he looked, for an afternoon, like the quarterback the Patriots drafted to be the future.
'I have worked a lot on my mindset this offseason,' Jones said after. 'The line did a great job blocking for me, and when they do that, I know I can sit in there and let it fly.' He let it fly, three touchdowns and 279 yards through the air, a 42-yard rip to Jauan Jennings that effectively ended the suspense in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans is still looking for its first win under Kellen Moore, and they are not going to find it Sundays like this one. 'We have to play cleaner football and do what winning teams do,' Moore said. The 49ers, with their starting quarterback in street clothes and a backup who arrived as a redemption project, did what winning teams do. Two-zero, both road wins, a defense that has not allowed more than 21 in either. The starts and stops will return, because Septembers always end. For now, the floor of this team is higher than anyone wrote in August.
By the numbers
AI summary, sourced from 1 period article (ESPN AP)
49ers 26, Saints 21. Margin: +5. Two-game record: 2-0, +9 differential.
- Passing: Mac Jones 26-of-39, 279, 3 TD. Rattler 207, 3 TD.
- Touchdown throws: Farrell 11, McCaffrey 7, Jennings 42.
- Christian McCaffrey: 13 carries for 55, 6 catches for 52.
- Jauan Jennings: team-high 5 catches, 89 yards, 1 TD.
- Alvin Kamara: 21 carries, 99 yards plus 21 receiving for New Orleans.
- Saints fall to 0-2; Rattler 0-8 as a career starter.
- Two road wins to start; only NFC team without a home game through Week 2.
Film room
AI summary, sourced from 1 period article (ESPN AP)
A 26-21 win in the Superdome. The 49ers improve to 2-0 with both wins coming on the road.
How it unfolded
With Brock Purdy out, Mac Jones started and the 49ers leaned on play action against a New Orleans defense playing a lot of single-high. Jones found Luke Farrell on an 11-yard touchdown to open the scoring. The Saints answered with a Spencer Rattler touchdown, the first of three from him on the afternoon. A 7-yard pass to Christian McCaffrey late in the second quarter pushed the 49ers ahead. Jones' 42-yard touchdown to Jauan Jennings midway through the fourth gave San Francisco a 26-14 cushion that survived a late New Orleans score.
The turning point
Jennings' 42-yard catch-and-run. With the Saints trying to hang within a score and the crowd trying to stay in it, Jennings broke open on a corner-post and Jones put it on him in stride. 'It is just one game. It is good to feel a little bit of confidence again,' Jones said after. The catch-and-score was the kind of explosive a Mac-Jones-led offense was supposed to lack.
By the numbers
Jones 26-of-39 for 279 with three TDs and no INTs. Rattler 207 and three TDs (now 0-8 as a starter). McCaffrey 13 carries for 55, six receptions for 52, plus the goal-line score. Jennings 89 yards, the game-sealing TD. Kamara 99 rushing for the Saints, the only Saint with more than 50 from scrimmage.
Personnel watch
Mac Jones in relief looked nothing like the quarterback who was benched in New England. Trent Williams and the offensive line held up against a Saints front that generated only two pressures of consequence. Fred Warner forced and recovered a fumble. The defensive front got home for sacks from Upton Stout, Bryce Huff and Nick Bosa.
What it means
Kyle Shanahan went 2-0 in September with his backup quarterback under center for one of those games. The 49ers' two opponents are a combined 0-4 with Sundays on the road still to come; the schedule's first test arrives next week with Arizona at home in the division opener. For one more week, the floor of this team is higher than anyone was willing to set it in August.
