The San Francisco 49ers put together a dominant 37-15 performance over the Carolina Panthers and picked up their first road victory of the 2022 season. San Francisco saw contributions from all three phases on the way to the victory. However, the win was a costly one with several players sustaining injuries in Sunday's contest. Up next for the team is a five-day stay in West Virginia before traveling to take on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6.
"It was tough there at the end," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "It was a weird feeling just watching E-Man. Lots of guys got hurt, but it didn't look good. That definitely took away a little of the excitement at the end, but we know the deal. It's part of this league. Everybody goes through it, and it was a tough one today...Hopefully we get some better news on these guys."
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo puts together another triple-digit passer rating
Start No. 3 for Garoppolo was his best to date. The 49ers starting quarterback went 18-of-30 for 253 yards and two touchdowns, earning him a 109.4 passer rating. That triple-digit rating marks Garoppolo's best outing of the 2022 regular season and his highest rating since December of 2021 against the Atlanta Falcons. Garoppolo noted in his postgame press conference that there has been improvement in the offensive flow with three of the team's four touchdowns coming from this side of the ball.
"Yeah, some drives," Garoppolo said. "I think we still have room for improvement. There were some drives where we just killed ourselves. There's simple things we can fix, but today was a good day. We were rolling pretty good."
Jeff Wilson Jr. rushes for a career-long 41-yard run
The fifth-year running back led the team in rushing yards versus Carolina racking up 17 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers. His 41-yard rush on San Francisco's opening drive was a career-long run for Wilson Jr. and helped set up running back Tevin Coleman's nine-yard touchdown on the ensuing play. He added a one-yard touchdown of his own later in the fourth quarter.
Moseley notches his first-career pick-six
The Greensboro native hit a big career milestone against the Panthers, picking off Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield and returning it for 41 yards for his first-career touchdown. Moseley's score gave San Francisco the 17-3 advantage heading into halftime. This is the second-straight game in which the 49ers have recorded a pick-six. Moseley also recorded two passes defensed before he was ruled out late in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.
"Seeing E-Man go down, it almost felt like Trey Lance too," Hufanga said. "Those are like both of my guys. For me, I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I don't know the status on him, but I'm sending prayers to him."
Tevin Coleman scores his first touchdown of the 2022 season
On his first touch of the 2022 season, Coleman hauled in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to get San Francisco on the board. The running back scored once more in the fourth quarter, capping off a two-play drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown to give the 49ers the 37-15 advantage. No. 28 closed out the night with 8 carries for 23 yards and a touchdown on the ground and 3 catches for 44 yards and another score through the air against the Panthers.
"Tevin's awesome," Shanahan said. "It's great to have him back here. You know those two touchdowns were awesome. I can't believe he made that one third down, the go route versus the corner going up for the ball. That was huge, keeping us on the field. It was awesome for him to step it up."
Talanoa Hufanga picks up his first sack of the season
The second-year safety continues to load up the stat sheet, recording the 49ers first sack of the game for the loss of a yard. Hufanga's takedown of Mayfield was the first sack of his career. No. 29 closed out the game with 5 total tackles (1.0 tackle-for-loss) and a sack.
Safety Jimmie Ward, defensive end Nick Bosa and kicker Robbie Gould exit the game early
The veteran safety was activated ahead of Sunday's contest and made his 2022 debut against the Panthers. Ward saw action on San Francisco's opening drive before being ruled out in the first quarter with a hand injury. Per Shanahan, Ward broke his hand in Sunday's contest.
The defensive lineman played through the first half before leaving the game with a groin injury in the third quarter. Gould also left the game in the second half after making two big tackles on back-to-back kickoff returns. The veteran kicker was questionable with a knee injury before being ruled out for the remainder of the game.
The defense stacks the sacks, again
The 49ers defensive unit continues to produce, putting the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. DeMeco Ryans' unit followed up their 7.0 sack performance versus the Los Angeles Rams with a 6.0 sack outing for a total loss of 31 yards versus Carolina. Hufanga, Charles Omenihu, Fred Warner, Drake Jackson, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Tashaun Gipson Sr. (0.5) and Oren Burks (0.5) each contributed to the unit's large output.
