3 quick takeaways from the 49ers 26-21 win over the Saints: Mac gets the job done

The San Francisco 49ers improved to 2-0 on Sunday with a 26-21 win over the New Orleans Saints, putting together some clutch defensive drives to get the road victory.

San Francisco never trailed on Sunday, but New Orleans continued to rally to keep the game within a score or two all the way through the final whistle.

Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers 26-21 win over the Saints.

Robert Saleh’s defense delivers in the clutch… again

For the second straight weekend, Robert Saleh’s defense finished the game off with a couple of major defensive drives.

Last weekend, after Brock Purdy and the offense got the go-ahead touchdown with 1:34 remaining, the defense allowed Seattle to get into the red zone, needing a touchdown. But, on 2nd & 5 at the 9-yard line, Nick Bosa beat his assignment 1-on-1 and strip-sacked Sam Darnold to secure the win.

This weekend, the onus was bigger on the defense, as the 49ers punted twice inside the final five minutes, requiring Robert Saleh’s unit to record two stops with the game at 26-21.

On the first, San Francisco forced a big three-and-out. Fred Warner got a big tackle on first down, the 49ers stuffed New Orleans on the ground on second down, and Nick Bosa got a third-down sack with big help from Mykel Williams.

Then, with the game on the line and under three minutes left, the 49ers’ defense needed another stop. After giving up two first downs, they did exactly that. Fred Warner got a big pass-breakup on 3rd & 1, while Bryce Huff strip-sacked Spencer Rattler to win the game for San Francisco on fourth down.

It wasn’t a perfect day for the defense. But, they’ve now shown up when it matters two weekends in a row, and the team is 2-0 as a result

Mac and Kyle get the job done

Whenever you have a backup quarterback in a game, it’s always a challenge offensively.

But, Mac Jones did quite a good job filling in for Brock Purdy on Sunday. Yes, there was the holding onto the ball and some unnecessary sacks. However, Jones mainly kept the ball out of harm’s way and ultimately threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions on 26/39 passing.

After an early punt, the 49ers had a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to open things up. They proceeded to score twice more on three drives to end the half, with Jones executing a crisp two-minute drill to get San Francisco nine plays and 77 yards for a touchdown at the end of the second quarter.

Coming out of the half, Jones did have the strip-fumble, but followed that up with two scoring drives after New Orleans responded with a touchdown to cut the lead to two.

Jones was pretty accurate as the game went on, and head coach Kyle Shanahan did a great job calling the game, getting a good number of in-breakers and intermediate routes over the middle for his quarterback.

Even at the end of the game, he put the 49ers in a position to win on third down, finding Jauan Jennings on a slant that was dropped.

You don’t usually see this type of performance from a backup quarterback. Given that Brock Purdy is likely out for the next week(s), Sunday was a good sign for Jones moving forward.

LB play is elevating

Fred Warner has looked absolutely phenomenal to begin the season. That continued on Sunday, where Warner had 11 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and the big fumble off Alvin Kamara.

Warner has been physical and flying to the ball, which we’ve seen a ton from Dee Winters. While Winters is still honing in on the missed tackles, he shoots out like a missile on certain plays, and that’s a big help, even if he doesn’t make the initial tackle.

The 49ers are relying on younger players both in the secondary and up front with the defensive line. That puts more on the linebackers, and Fred Warner has absolutely risen to the occasion to start the season.

Just like Nick Bosa has to start this season, Warner has consistently made clutch plays when it matters, and that’s put the 49ers in positions to win both games this year. He’s definitely on that All-Pro trajectory once again and arguably looks the best he ever has after playing through injuries in 2024.

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