The 49ers didn’t just get a home opener Sunday. They got a matchup that looks tailor-made for the way they want to start the season.
Miami comes to Levi’s Stadium after a flat 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, and the numbers from Week 1 point to a team still searching for answers on offense. The Dolphins’ run game, which was supposed to be the engine, barely got going.
Their pass protection wasn’t much better. And if San Francisco’s defense can carry over what it showed against the Rams, this could turn into a long afternoon for Miami.
The clearest warning sign for the Dolphins is what happened on the ground. Miami ran for just 74 yards in Week 1, which was 46.2 yards below its 202-yard per-game average.
De’Von Achane, who was such a big part of the 2025 offense, was held to 36 yards on 11 carries. That 3.3 yards per attempt stood out because Achane had only two games last season in which he averaged fewer than three yards per carry, and both came with 11 or fewer attempts.
The Dolphins were already down 17-3 in the first half against the Raiders, so the game script likely forced them away from the run earlier than they wanted. Still, the lack of pop was real.
Miami brought in Malik Willis, and the idea was that the ground game would become even more dangerous. Instead, the opener looked nothing like that vision.
Willis’ mobility is what makes this a little different. The 49ers have historically had issues dealing with quarterbacks who can move, and Sunday gives Raheem Morris his first shot at that kind of challenge as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator. That said, Willis also comes with some baggage from Week 1.
He was sacked five times against Las Vegas, tied for the most allowed in the league last week. He averaged 3.47 seconds to throw, tied with Caleb Williams for the second-longest mark among starting quarterbacks and only behind Jayden Daniels.
But those extra seconds didn’t help much. Williams was sacked twice and Daniels once.
Willis took five hits in the form that hurt the most.
It wasn’t even a case of constant panic in the pocket. Willis had more than 2.5 seconds to throw on 73 percent of his dropbacks, the sixth-highest rate among quarterbacks in Week 1. Even so, every sack came on the snaps where he had the most time, which puts the spotlight squarely on his decision-making heading into Sunday.
That creates an interesting tension for San Francisco’s pass rush. The 49ers don’t exactly line up with overwhelming firepower beyond Nick Bosa, and they generated pressure on 40 percent of Matthew Stafford’s dropbacks in Week 1.
But Willis is a different problem than Stafford because he can escape and extend plays with his legs. That’s why this feels like a “moveable force versus stoppable object” kind of matchup, with Willis’ mobility possibly keeping Miami within reach if the 49ers can’t finish plays.
There is one area where San Francisco should feel good: the back end of its defense. The 49ers allowed just six first downs through the air in Week 1, tied for the second-fewest in the league. They also bottled up the Rams’ pass game, holding Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and company to 168 yards.
That performance came with the secondary doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green, Upton Stout and Jack Jones were targeted 19 times combined and allowed only 10 catches, with Lenoir giving up the longest completion at 23 yards.
Against Miami, that unit draws a much less threatening passing attack. The Dolphins’ receivers don’t carry the same weight as the Rams’ group, and their Week 1 production was right in the same neighborhood anyway. Miami finished with seven passing first downs, with Willis throwing no touchdowns and one interception.
If San Francisco’s defense can bring that same discipline again, and if the pass rush can make Willis uncomfortable without losing contain, the 49ers should have the kind of Sunday that keeps the home opener firmly on track.
In Other News...
Kaepernick Just Reopened A 49ers Era Story Fans Will Remember
Colin Kaepernick is back in the conversation with a new memoir, The Perilous Fight, and the book has already started to reopen one of the most familiar chapters from his 49ers years. Released Sept. 15, the memoir leans into personal stories and reflection, including an anecdote about Taylor Swift and his adoptive mother, while also giving Kaepernick another platform to revisit the larger arc of his career and the fight that followed it.
On a podcast interview the next day, Kaepernick shifted from memoir mode to sharper criticism, taking aim at Patriots owner Robert Kraft over the removal of rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheerans tour. He used the moment to argue that NFL owners work together to protect their interests, while also revisiting his grievance against the league and how his view of owner cooperation has evolved. For 49ers fans, it is another reminder that Kaepernicks story remains as much about the leagues power structure as it is about the quarterback who once defined an era in San Francisco. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Avoid One Levi's Stadium Wrinkle Against The Dolphins
Week 2 brings a more comfortable setup for the 49ers at Levis Stadium, where theyll host the Dolphins under conditions that look far kinder than some of the early-season home games San Francisco has endured in recent years. Forecasts for kickoff call for 72 degrees, clear skies and light winds, the kind of afternoon that should let football, not the weather, drive the conversation.
For a team that has had to manage excessive heat in past daytime games at home, that matters more than it might seem on paper. The Dolphins arrive as a dangerous early test, but the 49ers at least appear set to avoid one of the more annoying variables that can turn a September game in Santa Clara into something closer to a survival exercise. [Read more 🡒]
Fred Warner Said What 49ers Fans Were Feeling About Dre Greenlaw
The 49ers defense wasted no time reminding the rest of the NFC why it still draws so much attention in Santa Clara. In Week 1 against the Rams, San Francisco held Los Angeles under 10 points, and the middle of that effort looked familiar again with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw back side by side on the field. Warner led the way with 11 tackles, while Greenlaw added six in his return after spending a year with the Denver Broncos.
For 49ers fans, the reunion carried a little extra weight because it brought back a pairing that has long been tied to the identity of this defense. Warner sounded as energized as the crowd felt about seeing Greenlaw back in the mix, and the early result suggested the comfort level between the two has not gone anywhere. The bigger question now is how quickly that revived linebacker duo can help San Francisco settle in as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]