Column: The 49ers played the game the Falcons wanted to on “Sunday Night Football”
SANTA CLARA, California — Their No. 1 offensive weapon slowed the offense down. The offensive line secured run lanes for them. Their quarterback made a strong effort when needed, but relied on his playmakers for the heavy lifting. When they reached the red zone, they punched it in.
Their defense wreaked havoc. The front line applied ample pressure. The secondary provided strong coverage. They capitalized on turnovers.
Special teams scored points when needed.
At the end of four quarters, they were the best-performing team.
The Atlanta Falcons hoped they would be the team I mentioned above.
The funny thing is, these very factors led to victory. These were the very things that helped the San Francisco 49ers win against the Falcons on “Sunday Night Football.”
The 49ers played and executed exactly the game the Falcons wanted.
The Falcons wanted Bijan Robinson to gain 200 yards from scrimmage. Not Christian McCaffrey.
They wanted to average 4.5 yards per carry and surpass 150 rushing yards. Not the 49ers.
The Falcons wanted a more even run-to-pass ratio.
They also wanted disruption on defense. They wanted to hold their opponent’s third-down conversion rate below 50%. But the Falcons were 5 of 11 (45%) on third downs, not 9 of 15 (60%) like the 49ers.
The Falcons wanted to talk about the youth movement of their defense, not the 49ers and the performance of their five new starters and four second-year players.
Atlanta wanted to be a team that finished above .500 this year. But that’s reserved for San Francisco for now. Just like Sunday night’s win.
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