The San Francisco 49ers are riding high following back-to-back road wins against NFC opponents before they clash with the 2-0 Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Timely offense and defense were the story of the game in New Orleans. Mac Jones stepped in for Brock Purdy and helped deliver a victory, while the defense stopped two straight comeback attempts by the Saints with their closers, Nick Bosa and Bryce Huff.
But which two players bounced back the most after Week 1 in Seattle?
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Offense: Jauan Jennings
Now, the natural selection would be to choose Trent Williams. Following up his performance in Seattle with a clean sheet in New Orleans, despite dealing with an injury, is extremely impressive. It is Trent Williams, though. While it was great to quiet any concerns about his play and age, you’ve come to expect Williams to be a force.
The real bounce-back player was Jauan Jennings. After leaving the game with a shoulder injury in Seattle and fighting to play all week, Jennings delivered with a team-high 89 receiving yards and 17.8 yards per catch. With a 32.5% slot participation (led the team), Jennings ran 2.28 yards per route (also a team-high) and forced two missed tackles, with three of his catches going for first downs, and had a 126.6 QB rating when targeted.
Jennings is still not fully healthy, but his performance has made the 49ers receiver group much more stable, especially with Kendrick Bourne joining the fold. Don’t look now, but Demarcus Robinson is close to returning, with Brandon Aiyuk not too far away.
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Defense: Bryce Huff
Oh, big surprise. Jason chose the guy who blew past Saints RT Taliese Fuaga to close the game out. While this may look like low-hanging fruit, and Mykel Williams was excellent on Sunday, Huff was brilliant in New Orleans. In Seattle, Huff totaled a single pressure and tackle, while finishing with a 58.6 defensive grade. Some of that can be attributed to the 49ers’ defense being on the field less, as the offense dominated time of possession, but Huff completely turned his Week 1 performance into a possible blip on the radar.
Stuffing the stat sheet is an understatement. Five pressures, four hurries, a sack and forced fumble, three defensive stops, a team-high pass rush grade (89.4), and a true pass rush grade of 91.3, which also led the team, is a full day’s work. Pro Football Focus uses a formula to combine sacks, hits, and hurries relative to how many pass rushes a player has called PRP. Huff finished second behind Nick Bosa (23.1) with a score of 22.7.
The 49ers traded for Huff for this specific role as a closer and situational pass rusher. The 49ers “Nascar” package is complete with Bosa, Huff, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Mykel Williams.
