After Sunday's close win against the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers are off to a booming start to their 2021 campaign with a 2-0 record. Battling through the adversity of a hard-fought defensive slugfest in the City of Brotherly Love proved to more difficult than the Niners were expecting, especially after a tenacious Niners defense derailed Philly's game-winning drive and sealed the win.
Coming off back-to-back road wins to start their season, things are looking up again in San Francisco. The Niners seemingly have gotten back to their winning ways. With two weeks in the books and the 49ers considerably healthier (though not at running back — it's still healthier than they were last year, however) and ready to win back the NFC West, let's now take a look at two major takeaways from their tight Week 2 victory against the Eagles.
The 49ers can win in any manner
Heading into Sunday's matchup against the Eagles, the 49ers were poised for another dominant win, especially after the way they overpowered and outplayed the Detroit Lions in Week 1. However, this game proved to be anything but smooth sailing for San Francisco. It became a defensive battle that wound up coming down to the final play.
For most of the game nothing seemed to be going their way on offense, but the Niners didn't cave and were able to rely heavily on their star-studded defensive unit that won the game for them. Whether it's a lopsided victory or a close win, the 49ers will persevere and find a way to come out on top, even if that means scrapping their original game plan in order to achieve this.
With a tight win against the Eagles on Sunday, the 49ers proved they can win playing any style of football regardless if it's a road or home game.
The Niners need more consistency on both ends of the field
Fresh off a 41-point performance against the Lions, it was a apparent that the 49ers had a balanced offensive attack paired with a dominant defensive showing. Sunday against the Eagles, they were horribly inconsistent on offense despite having two crucial scoring drives led by Jimmy Garoppolo to provide the win. A strong game from Deebo Samuel, who posted 93 yards receiving on six receptions, was marred by an injury to the brittle receiver, who has had a hard time staying on the field without interruption in his young career.
In spite of this, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Kyle Juszczyk, and Mohamed Sanu were all non-factors for the Niners. This created more work for their defense. Even though they came away with a close win, it has become evident that the 49ers are at their absolute best when they have a balanced effort on both sides of the ball and all 22 starters are making a major contribution for them.
Looking for a big win against the Green Bay Packers next Sunday night, the 49ers will need to step up their game in the hopes of starting their 2021 campaign 3-0. If they want to go far this season, a consistent and balanced game on both ends of the field is what it will take to bring them back to playoff success this year.
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