The San Francisco 49ers have started their season with a dominant +42 point differential through two games, blowing out opponents and turning heads across the league.
Dominance and a Rising QB
Seriously, these guys are clicking. They beat up the Rams in Week 1, then dominated the Dolphins in Week 2. Yahoo Sports points out they got the Rams in Australia when LA showed up tired, and the Dolphins have the NFL’s worst roster. But you still gotta blow teams out, right? And they did. Their offense ran over Los Angeles then went aerial against Miami, showing versatility. Get this: according to Doug Clawson of CBS, these Niners logged only two negative plays all season, not counting kneeldowns. That’s the fewest for any team this century through two games. Brock Purdy is playing lights out, too. NFL.com’s Nick Shook says Purdy is “dealing,” comfortable, dicing up defenses, and at the “peak of his powers.” Even with receiver injuries, Purdy is keeping that offense humming.
Rookie Surprises and Milestones
But wait, there’s more. While Purdy is slinging it, a rookie running back is making serious noise. Kaelon Black, a third-round pick out of Indiana who didn’t even get an invite to the NFL combine, has been a revelation. Through two weeks, Black has more carries and almost as many rushing yards (90) as Christian McCaffrey (91)! That’s wild. The Athletic highlighted Black, noting his performance has gotta make Niners fans feel better about losing promising rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling for 10 weeks due to an ankle sprain. Speaking of McCaffrey, the guy just hit an insane milestone. USA Today’s Nate Davis reminded everyone that McCaffrey has now scored 50 touchdowns with two different franchises, joining Marshall Faulk and Randy Moss. That’s it. End of list. Impressive stuff.
National Props and High Standards
With all this going on, it’s no surprise the national media is giving the 49ers their props. The Athletic has them at #1 overall. USA Today, Yahoo Sports, and ESPN all put them at #3. Even NFL.com has them up to #7 from #9 last week. That’s a lot of respect, and it feels earned. Sure, there were “some concerns about the run defense at times in both games,” as the source article mentioned. But honestly, when you’re scoring 35 points like they did against the Dolphins in a 35-13 win, opponents can’t just run the ball to keep up. Their defense has been tight, giving up only one touchdown to the Rams and another TD to the Dolphins when they were already leading by 29 points in the final minutes. It’s clear this team has high standards. The quote from the team says it all: “Obviously, the scoreboard’s been great the last two weeks, but there are so many things we can always get better at and our standard is going to continue to rise. That’s really what we’re focused on.”
So, what’s next for this Niners squad? They’ve started the season looking like one of the NFL’s better teams, “dunking on the doubters.” The challenge now is to maintain that incredible consistency, especially with receiver injuries already hitting. Can Black keep up his surprising production? Can Purdy keep playing at his “peak of his powers” level? Early season trends are undeniably strong, and they’ll be looking to keep that momentum rolling hard. We’ll see if that standard keeps rising.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Niners Nation.
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