The 49ers didn’t exactly cruise past Denver on Sunday, but they did what good teams do: they found the plays that mattered most when the game tightened up.
San Francisco beat the Broncos 24-14 to move to 4-0 and finish off a three-game home stretch with another quality win. The offense had been rolling through the first three weeks, but this one was slower to open up. Through three quarters, the 49ers had only 10 points in a low-scoring battle that never felt comfortable for long.
Then the closing stretch hit, and the 49ers answered again.
After Denver scored a touchdown and added the two-point conversion to trim the lead to three, San Francisco got the ball with a little more than four minutes left and a chance to shut the door. Brock Purdy helped them do exactly that, hitting George Kittle on a 56-yard touchdown after Kittle outran the defense to put the 49ers ahead by 10.
That wasn’t the end of the pressure. On the next drive, the 49ers made Denver work through multiple fourth downs, and the Broncos appeared ready to kick on 4th & 5 at the 40-yard line in hopes of setting up an onside kick. Instead, Will Lutz’s field goal ended the threat and sealed another double-digit win for Kyle Shanahan’s team.
It wasn’t a pretty offensive performance. Denver’s defense did a good job limiting explosive plays and keeping the run game in check for most of the afternoon. But the 49ers have now shown for two straight weeks that they can finish.
The defense deserves plenty of credit for helping make that happen. Even with a shorthanded defensive line, San Francisco held Denver’s running backs to 3.6 yards per carry and didn’t allow a single run of 10 yards or more. Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw were all over the field, combining for 19 tackles.
There’s still a clear issue up front when it comes to generating pass rush. Bo Nix had plenty of clean pockets, and the 49ers weren’t consistently getting home. But the secondary held up well enough to keep the Broncos from making many damaging plays through the air.
One of the biggest edges for San Francisco came from simply taking care of the football and avoiding self-inflicted mistakes. The 49ers entered the game as one of the least-penalized and least turnover-prone teams, while Denver had dealt with penalties more often. That played out Sunday: the Broncos were flagged seven times, and the 49ers only once.
Marvin Mims’s fumble on a punt also gave San Francisco a short field and led to the 49ers’ first touchdown of the game, a moment that helped open things up for the offense.
So while this one never had the feel of a blowout, the 49ers still checked the important boxes. They made the decisive plays late, held up against the run, and stayed clean in the moments that swung the game.
Now comes another test. San Francisco heads to Seattle next week to face the Seahawks at Lumen Field, with the 49ers sitting at 4-0 and firmly in control through the first quarter of the season.
In Other News...
49ers Escape Denver With A Bigger Concern Heading Into Seattle
The 49ers left Denver with a win, but the bigger storyline may have been what came out of the game physically. San Francisco had already taken a hit in a hard-fought afternoon, and the injury list kept growing as the game wore on, with several players forced to exit before the final whistle.
The most notable concern centers on fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who injured his knee and is preliminarily believed to have a sprain with an intact ACL, pending MRI results. Safety Marques Sigle and cornerback Upton Stout also left with injuries, though none of the early signs point to anything season-ending, leaving the 49ers waiting on more clarity as they turn their attention to Seattle. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Win Still Left Kyle Shanahan With An Uncomfortable Debate
Kyle Shanahans name now sits alone atop a franchise list that once belonged to Bill Walsh, a milestone that would normally define a victory lap for any 49ers coach. Instead, it came in a 24-14 win over the Broncos that felt more like a reminder of how San Francisco is being carried right now, with the defense doing the heavy lifting while Brock Purdy and the offense worked through a flatter afternoon than the team has been used to.
The 49ers still moved the ball well enough to finish with 358 yards and they stayed efficient enough on third down, going 6 of 13 without turning it over. But for a coach who just passed a legend and for an offense that had already set a higher bar earlier in the season, the bigger question coming out of the game was not the record book moment. It was how much Shanahan trusts this version of the offense to find its rhythm again before the schedule starts demanding it. [Read more 🡒]
Dre Greenlaw Had A Personal Message For Sean Payton Sunday
Dre Greenlaw had a little extra edge Sunday in the 49ers matchup with Denver, and it showed in a moment that quickly made the rounds. The linebacker, now back in San Francisco on a one-year contract, was caught on camera telling Broncos coach Sean Payton that Denver made a mistake letting him go after injuries cut short his run there.
For the 49ers, it was another reminder that Greenlaw is not just back, he matters to their defense in a big way. After spending the previous season with the Broncos, he has reestablished himself as an important piece in San Francisco, and the message he delivered Sunday carried the kind of personal sting that tends to follow a player who felt he had something to prove. [Read more 🡒]