San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiuyk celebrates the first of his two touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday SEP 10, 2023. (San Francisco 49ers)
by Marko Ukalovic
For a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, it was a good start for the defending NFC West Champions.
Brandon Aiyuk had a career day as the San Francisco 49ers took care of business in a dominating 30-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium.
Aiuyk had eight catches for a career high 129 yards with two touchdowns as he led the crisp passing attack of San Francisco led by quarterback Brock Purdy, who was making his first career season opener start.
The 49ers defense set the tone from the opening drive as they forced a three and out on the Steelers’ opening possession as Drake Jackson sacked Kenny Picket on third down.
San Francisco marched down the field on its first possession against Pittsburgh defense that had no answer to try to stop Purdy and company.
49ers head coach decision to go for it on 4th and 1 paid off with George Kittle’s 11-yard reception to keep the drive alive. Purdy completed the seven plays 54-yard drive when he connected with Aiyuk on an eight-yard touchdown reception.
Pickett’s day didn’t get any better as he intercepted by Charvarius Ward on the Steelers next drive as Ward returned it 9 yards to Steelers 48.
Purdy led a methodical drive down the field as San Francisco cashed in on the turnover with Aiyuk’s second touchdown of the game. Purdy threaded a ball to Aiyuk down the right sideline with Patrick Peterson blanketed all over him for a 19-yard touchdown reception.
“I felt like right there in that moment, it was like ‘This is what we’re supposed to do. This is what we expect out of ourselves’ and once I hit that touchdown, I wasn’t thinking surgery or anything like that. It was ‘Man, we’re here to win. This is it. This is how we’re going to play.’ That’s where I was at mentally,” Purdy said.
San Francisco rookie kicker Jake Moody, who had struggled in the preseason, was perfect from the field as he made all three field goals and all three extra points in his 49ers debut.
The 49ers defense didn’t allow Pittsburgh’s offense their first 1st down until 1:16 left in the second quarter on its final drive of the first half after a 22-yard run by Najee Harris. The Steelers only 13 yards total offense before the run.
Pickett made the most of their drive before halftime. He led a 12 play 95-yard drive in just 1:25 that finished with a three-yard touchdown reception by tight end Pat Freiermuth to give the Steelers a sign of life as they headed into the second half.
San Francisco (1-0) opened the second half needing just two plays to regain its 20-point lead. Running back Christian McCaffery run for a 65-yard touchdown down the left sideline, his longest run in a 49ers uniform.
TJ Watt had a stripped sack of Purdy where he recovered the ball with 5:38 left in the third quarter.
Pittsburgh (0-1) wasn’t able to capitalize on the turnover as they turned the ball over on downs at the 49ers eight-yard line after an incompletion on 4th and 4.
San Francisco’s defense never allowed another point the final 30 minutes as they finished with with five sacks, three from Jackson, and two interceptions as they dominated the trenches from start to finish.
“I felt like during training camp we all bonded real well,” said Jackson about how well his team’s defense played. “I feel like that’s when we really started to gel well together. From there we just kept buiding on that. Getting (Nick) Bosa back was great for the (locker) room.
Defensive end Nick Bosa, who recently signed a five year 170-million-dollar contract just before the season opener, played limited snaps throughout the game and finished with one tackle and one quarterback hurry.
“You love to get a good start. We had five sacks today as a D-line, so Kris [Kocurek] was definitely happy. Drake broke out, which we were expecting. We just have so many players, and it’s fun to watch Aiyuk do his thing, and Purdy shut some haters up. Nice to be on a really good team,” Bosa said.
Bosa returned with two total tackles and a quarterback hit.
Purdy finished with 19/29 for 220 yards to go along with his two touchdowns and no interceptions. McCaffery led all rushers with his great day on the ground accumulating 152 yards on 22 carries. Deebo Samuel chipped in with five catches for 55 yards.
Pickett had a long afternoon as he went 31/46 for 232 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Allen Robinson led the Steelers in receiving with five catches for 64 yards. Harris had just 31 yards on six carries.
GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished 6-for-13 on third down conversions. Pittsburgh was 5-for-15.
San Francisco has started the regular season 1-0 for the eighth time in the last 12 seasons.
The 49ers have won back-to-back regular season games against Pittsburgh [W, 24-20 vs. Pit. (9/22/19)].
The Niners improved to 13-10 all-time against Pittsburgh, including a 7-5 record on the road.
Shanahan improved to 2-0 all-time vs. the Steelers and improved to 5-1, including two consecutive wins, against the AFC North as head coach of the 49ers.
San Francisco’s 30-7 (+23) victory over the Steelers marked the worst home loss for Pittsburgh under Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and the worst home loss by the Steelers since 12/24/06 vs. Bal. (L, 7-31).
UP NEXT: San Francisco travels down south to take on the Los Angeles Rams in a NFC West divisional showdown on Sunday 9/17 at 1:05pm at SoFi Stadium.
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