Mac Jones had his nose bloodied and his elbow bent, but the San Francisco 49ers’ banged-up, immobile-when-healthy quarterback otherwise was barely touched Sunday during what appeared to be an unfair fight: The Giants defensive line, boasting the NFL’s sack leader and three other top-16 draft picks, against the 49ers’ offensive line, an oft-maligned group that was trotting out a backup center and a rusty left guard.

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But the 49ers’ front five allowed a season-low five pressures in a 34-24 win against the Giants, allowing Jones to complete his first 14 passes before he finished 19 of 24 with a season-high passer rating (135.2). Credit obviously belongs to the group that included second-string center Matt Hennessy and left guard Spencer Burford, who was converted to offensive tackle in the offseason and was making his first start since the 2023 regular-season finale.

But left tackle Trent Williams noted someone that didn’t suit up deserved credit for a big assist: head coach Kyle Shanahan.

“Obviously, drop-back passing versus those guys is probably not the best idea, right?” Williams said, smiling.

The result of Shanahan’s game plan was that Jones didn’t attempt a pass 20 yards downfield for the first time in seven starts this season and he released his passes in an average of 2.36 seconds, his fastest of the season, according to Next Gen Stats.

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The tone was set immediately. Jones completed 6 of 6 passes for 45 yards and a touchdown on the 49ers’ first drive. His passes traveled 4, 5, 2, 19, 4 and 3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. On his 19-yarder, a completion to wideout Jordan Watkins on 2nd-and-12, Shanahan protected Jones with an extra blocker, tight end Jake Tonges, who chipped edge rusher Brian Burns.

Jones completed 13 of 15 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns on throws that traveled fewer than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 104 yards on throws between 10 and 19 yards. However, his intermediate throws were often designed to get the ball out quickly. On a 13-yarder to wideout Kendrick Bourne in the third quarter, Jones released it in 1.91 seconds after receiving the shotgun snap and taking a one-step dropback.

Continuing to protect Jones well will be vital considering the 49ers’ QB situation. Shanahan revealed Sunday that Brock Purdy’s injured toe won’t fully heal this season and Jones played with a bruised right knee and a braced-up left knee that includes a sprained PCL. On Sunday, a trainer flexed Jones’ right leg while he sat on the bench during the second quarter.

Jones was dropped for two sacks and both provided a scare. On his first sack, he walked away, hunched over in pain, and his reaction presumably wasn’t because edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux’s left hand got inside his facemask and bloodied his nose. On the second sack, Burns, the league’s sack leader, quickly beat right tackle Colton McKivitz and smacked Jones’ right wrist mid-throw, causing a fumble the Giants recovered.

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The sack was reminiscent of the shot Purdy took from Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick in the NFC Championship Game in January 2023 that resulted in a torn elbow ligament.

• Does Williams read these game reviews? A week after it was noted in this space that he was uncharacteristically bull-rushed backward by a talented young edge rusher, Houston’s Will Anderson, the 37-year-old had a vintage performance.

Williams didn’t allow a pressure on 29 pass-blocking snaps and he bullied the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, edge rusher Abdul Carter, after Anderson (No. 3 pick, 2023) occasionally gave him the business.

Williams shoved Carter into Queens on Jones’ 5-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey in the first quarter. Carter tried to beat Williams with an inside speed rush, but he was pushed by Williams at the 10-yard line and he ended up watching from his knees at the 6 as McCaffrey waltzed into the end zone.

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• It’s been established that linebacker Tatum Bethune isn’t Fred Warner, the All-Pro he’s been charged with replacing.

But Bethune might do at least one thing better than Warner: hit. Not that Warner doesn’t pack a punch, but Bethune, whoa, the guy can wallop.

On the Giants’ final drive, Bethune had tackles in which he drilled tight end Theo Johnson and quarterback Jaxson Dart around the chest, and both shots left a mark. Johnson, 6-foot-6 and 264 pounds, was slow to get up and walked deliberately to the sideline after Bethune smacked him at the end of a 5-yard catch. Dart stayed in the game after he took a belt from Bethune on a 10-yard scramble, but he was later observed wincing, on both knees, near the bench.

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It was part of a 16-tackle performance by Bethune, which is one more than Warner’s career-high. It matched the most by a 49ers player since linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Michael Wilhoite both had 16 in a loss to the Giants on Oct. 11, 2015.

• It was odd when the 49ers replaced running back Isaac Guerendo (fast) with running back Brian Robinson (bruising) as a kickoff returner. Not only did Guerendo’s speed seem to make him better suited for the role, but Robinson had no previous experience as a returner in his four-year career.

But evidently special teams coordinator Brant Boyer made a brilliant move.

Robinson had a 41-yard runback that set up a 60-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter a week after he had a 46-yard return that included a facemask penalty, setting the stage for a 35-yard TD drive. On Sunday, Shanahan was initially annoyed when Robinson didn’t take a knee after fielding the kickoff a yard deep in the end zone, which would have allowed the 49ers to start at their 35.

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Robinson, who is averaging 32.0 yards on six runbacks, broke two tackles before punctuating the return by hurdling a defender.

“He completely flipped me,” Shanahan said. “I went from being extremely angry with him for not taking a touchback to, in my own words, saying, ‘Hell of a job.'”

• Robinson has been part of improving special-teams units under Boyer, who was hired in January to upgrade what’s often been a weakness under Shanahan. Boyer’s tenure didn’t begin well and included a disastrous performance in a Week 4 loss to Jacksonville in which the Jaguars had an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown.

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However, the 49ers have allowed just 56 punt-return yards on eight runbacks in their past five games. Meanwhile, kicker Eddy Piñeiro is 19 of 19 on field goals since he was signed after the season opener and punter Thomas Morstead is tied for sixth in the NFL by placing 13 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Piñeiro made kicks of 54 and 33 yards on Sunday and Morstead’s two punts resulted in a fair catch at the 7-yard line and a kick that was downed at the 21.

“I’ve been really proud of our special teams,” Shanahan said. “I think they’ve gotten better throughout the year.”

• After Johnson rudely shoved cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to the sideline at the 7-yard line en route to his 15-yard touchdown catch, fellow 49ers beat writer Noah Furtado turned to me in the press box and smiled: That dismissal wasn’t going to help Lenoir’s “strength rating” in Madden.

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Lenoir took good-natured umbrage to his 59 rating during training camp, telling CBS Sports that it was “crazy” and “real disrespectful” for a 201-pound player who has earned a hard-nosed reputation for routinely taking on offensive linemen.

Lenoir immediately did his best to raise his grade. On the Giants next snap, a wide receiver screen, he fought off a block from 220-pound wideout Bryce Ford-Wheaton and pumped his fists after he helped drop Wan’Dale Robinson for a 2-yard loss.

• Tight end George Kittle had an extended on-field conversation with Giants All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence during the break before the start of the fourth quarter. Kittle began the talk by putting his arm around Lawrence’s shoulder pads before he finished by giving him an encouraging slap on the rear end.

What was that about? Kittle had heard that former Giants linebacker Carl Banks, now a team radio analyst, was critical of Lawrence during the week.

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“I was telling him that’s complete bull—,” Kittle said. “And I was like, ‘Don’t listen to that stuff, dude. You’re a hell of a football player, and you have the respect for the entire league, so just keep being you.”

It was noted that Kittle gave Lawrence a pep talk in the midst of a nine-play touchdown drive in which the 49ers bullied Lawrence and his teammates, finishing it with eight straight runs.

“Hey,” Kittle said, “that’s football, man.”

This article originally published at 49ers game review: How Kyle Shanahan’s game plan pulled the teeth of Giants’ pass rush.