49ers week in review: Scoring 3 touchdowns on one drive sums up the Niners win

Can’t forget about the Fred Warner show

A win is a win, and that’s just what the San Francisco 49ers did on Sunday. The 49ers ended its two-game losing skid with a 30-13 Week 4 win over the New England Patriots.

After not looking quite normal in the past couple of games, the 49ers returned to something that resembled a form expected from one of the better teams in the NFC. While running two fewer plays than the Patriots and a near 50/50 split in time of possession, San Francisco outgained New England by more than 200 yards, dominating both sides of the ball.

That wasn’t without some mistakes, however. Brock Purdy threw an interception while a fumble was lost on another special teams gaffe.

All in all, the 49ers are on the right side of the win column with plenty of positives to take.

This week’s edition of the Fred Warner show

We might have to carve out a weekly section about Fred Warner. The all-world linebacker finished with seven tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception returned for a touchdown, which will go down as another outstanding Warner performance.

Oh yeah–that was all in the first half because Warner missed the second half with an ankle injury.

The 49ers offense had two prime chances to score touchdowns but could only cash in for a pair of field goals to start the game. With New England facing a third down, quarterback Jacoby Brissett fired a pass for wide receiver Tyquan Thornton that would have gotten the first down. A leaping Warner would pull the ball down from orbit, falling to the ground with the ball, before getting up and returning the ball 45 yards to break the seal on the endzone finally.

With San Francisco now up two scores, New England responded by putting together its best drive of the game. An 11-play, 50-yard drive found the Patriots offense with a fourth-and-1 with a chance to get a fresh set of downs inside the red zone. Rhamondre Stevenson tried to get the first down up the middle but was met by Warner at the line of scrimmage, allowing Ji’Ayir Brown to fly in and finish the tackle and the New England drive. The offense would take the turnover on downs and score a touchdown to go up 20-0.

Warner only played a half but made two impact plays that led to points. With the season’s first quarter closing, Warner has made a case not only to be the Defensive Player of the Year but also the Most Valuable Player.

Drive of the game

I wanted to avoid handing out the same award in consecutive weeks, but a drive on Sunday forced my hand. The San Francisco 49ers–with plenty of help from the referees–scored three touchdowns on a single drive. How can that not be the drive of the game?

Taking over after Warner and Brown combined to stop the Patriots on fourth down, Purdy started the drive by connecting with George Kittle for a quick 11 yards. A couple of plays later, Purdy would find Jauan Jennings deep over the middle for 32 yards, getting the offense into plus territory.

That’s when the referees decided to get involved.

Jordan Mason took a Purdy pass and made Marco Wilson miss the first tackle before turning upfield and getting into the endzone with some help from a Kittle block. But as Mason passed Kittle, the line judge would fire a flag right at Mason, signifying a hold on Kittle. The thing is, there was no holding. Kittle protested to no avail, and the points were wiped off the board.

Several plays later, the side judge threw a flag right as the ball was snapped on a play in which Purdy used his feet to keep the play alive before finding Kyle Juszczyk for a touchdown. The flag was announced for an illegal shift, with two players moving without getting reset. The replay would show only Jauan Jennings in motion, who was set before the snap.

After the second score was wiped off, the 49ers would finally get its touchdown with an empathic play for the score. On a third down, Purdy loft a ball for Kittle to go up and get and go up and get he did:

One drive, three scores. Unfortunately, for the 49ers, it only counts as one, but the score extended the lead to 20.

Special teams spook

With September ending and the spookiest of months on the horizon, the San Francisco special teams decided to give its weekly scare to welcome in the spooky season.

With New England starting the game with the ball, the 49ers offense should have gotten the ball to start the second half. The offense would have even had a chance to extend the lead to four scores with the opening drive of the second, but they never got that chance.

Issac Guerendo got the ball knocked out of his hands on the return by Christian Eliss, who would then jump on the ball to give New England’s offense an extra chance with excellent field position. It would take five plays, but the New England offense would indeed cash in with Brissett finding Austin Hooper for a touchdown, cutting the San Francisco lead to ten.

The fumble gave New England free points and some momentum to open the second half. Well, they had that momentum for about five minutes. That is until…

Brock Purdy went for the jugular

Shanahan wouldn’t give Guerendo another chance, sending Deebo Samuel and Patrick Taylor back to return the ensuing kickoff. Patriots kicker Joey Slye wouldn’t give the 49ers a chance to return, booting the kickoff into the end zone for a touchback.

Purdy wasted no time snatching the momentum right back from New England. On the drive’s opening play, Purdy uncorked a rope about 45 downfield to a streaking Samuel, who hauled it in for a 55-yard gain. Mason would score on a four-yard run three plays later, extending the 49ers lead back to 17.

That drive led to an unusual sequence, with two of the 49ers taking a deep shot on two of the next three drives. On the drive that followed the Mason touchdown, Purdy targeted Chris Conley on a deep shot, but Conley stumbled at the end of the route, resulting in an incompletion. Two drives after that, Purdy would find Jauan Jennings deep for a gain of 45 to open the drive before Purdy would throw his lone interception.

Big plays were key for the 49ers, with six plays on Sunday gaining 20 or more yards.