Source: Yahoo Sports
8 observations, players who stood out in 49ers gritty Week 7 win vs. FalconsKyle MadsonNiners WireGeorge Kittle did not record a catch against the Falcons, but his impact was felt in the run game:🔹 Kittle on-field: 28 carries, 151 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1.4 avg. yards before contact🔹 Kittle off-field: 6 carries, 12 yards, -2.1 avg. yards before contact#ATLvsSF|#FTTB— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats)October 20, 2025It wasn’t perfect, but theSan Francisco 49ersgrabbed a 20-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium.Lack of perfection is probably going to define the 49ers’ season as they try to overcome injuries to some of their best players, but Sunday’s showing was more evidence that despite their various health-related calamities the 49ers are a team to be reckoned with in the NFC. At 5-2, they remain atop the NFC West and in third place overall in the conference.Here are eight takeaways from the 49ers’ fifth win of the season:49ers get vintage Christian McCaffrey gameIt took seven weeks, but McCaffrey finally looked like himself again. The 49ers’ superstar running back was explosive, forced some missed tackles, and led the offense in just about every category. He was their leading rusher with a season-high 129 yards. He also scored their only two touchdowns, and he led the club with seven receptions and 72 receiving yards. McCaffrey has been helping the 49ers keep their heads above water all year, but Sunday night he helped them look more like a sustainable offense than one simply piecing together enough plays to win.George Kittle’s return makes major impactIt’s impossible to overstate how much Kittle being back helped the 49ers’ run game. Kittle had no catches, but this stat from Next Gen Stats tells the entire story of what Kittle means to San Francisco’s offense.Mac Jones’s two big throws shine on slow nightWith the ground game working, the 49ers didn’t need much from their backup QB. Jones went 17-of-26 for 152 yards and one interception. The turnover came off a tipped pass from WR Jauan Jennings who probably should’ve made the catch. However, Jones had two crucial plays Sunday night. The first one came before the 49ers’ first touchdown in the second quarter. On a third-and-4, Jones was pressured and rolled left before flipping a throw over the top of four defenders to McCaffrey who was taken down at the 1-yard line. McCaffrey scored on the next play.Later in the red zone Jones found McCaffrey on a third-and-13 where the running back slipped in behind a linebacker and in front of a defensive back to haul in Jones’s throw at the 4-yard line. McCaffrey scored one play later.Those two third-down conversions were big-time plays from the backup QB on a night where they offense didn’t ask him to carry the load.Fred Warner’s replacement Tatum Bethune steps upBethune, a seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft, looked ready for a tough matchup against Atlanta. He was all over the field for the 49ers and led the way with 10 tackles. He…
Published: 2025-10-20T06:18:24
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