In Week 2, the San Francisco 49ers are set to take off against the Minnesota Vikings in a game with plenty of subtle storylines to follow.
Will Brock Purdy outperform his former understudy Sam Darnold, who for 208 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in a 28-6 win over the New York Giants? Will Sean McVay be able to outduel Kevin O'Connell on the sidelines? And how about replacing Christian McCaffrey, who was officially placed on IR this week? How will the 49ers replace arguably their best player against one of the best defenses in the NFC?
While Week 2 may end up being tougher than Week 1 for the 49ers, that doesn't mean they won't secure the win, as they have just enough weapons to remain interesting versus the Vikings.
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1. Jordan Mason shines as a lead back
Though the circumstances by which he became a Week 1 starter weren't ideal, as he accidentally made a bunch of enemies for accidentally saying that he was told he'd start on the Friday before Week 1 – the accident being either that he made a mistake on the date or mistakenly said the truth out loud – Jordan Mason more than made up for his faux pas on the ground, picking up 147 yards on just 28 carries while recording only his fifth professional touchdown on the game.
Now, contextually speaking, this game wasn't just impressive, it was borderline unprecedented; over the first two years of his NFL career, of which he appeared in 16 games in 2022 and 17 games in 2023, Mason only ran for 464 yards overall, with his high-water mark coming as a rookie where he amassed 258 yards, a touchdown and 10 first downs as a change-of-pace option. In Week 1 alone, Mason is already 60 percent of the way to his career-high yardage and has eight first downs alone, trailing his 2023 career-high by just five.
If Mason can crack triple digits once more in Week 2, he could very well have career-highs in yards, touchdowns, and first downs by the end of the night, with the potential to lap that total multiple times over by Halloween.
Asked about Mason and his fellow backs, Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr., replacing McCaffrey as the 49ers' new lead back, Shanahan celebrated their efforts, declaring that he feels confident in the depth John Lynch has assembled.
“Good. Taylor had real good OTAs and training camp with us. Had a little setback when he did have an injury, but came back and finished strong there that last week, that last preseason game. Guerendo, he missed so much time. But then when he got those two games, he was rolling. He looked good in those games, looked the same way in practice. It’s different to be down to your third guy already. But we never really looked at [RB] Elijah [Mitchell] or JP as two or threes. I think those guys are capable of being ones, as Elijah’s shown in the past. And so has JP. For those, the two new guys, when their opportunity comes, I believe they’re ready.”
In Week 1, the Giants barely got anything done on the ground versus the Vikings, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry on 21 attempts. Then again, the Giants didn't really do much of anything well in that game, so comparing the two feels rather wrong, no? If Mason lines up next to Purdy for much of the game, expect huge production from the third-year rusher.
2. Deebo Samuel takes a step up in Christian McCaffrey's absence
While the 49ers are going to need Mason to put in work on the ground in Week 2, he's never been mich of a weapon in the passing game, recording just four catches on five targets as a pro.
Fortunately, in Week 1, the Niners found a way to replace CMC as a receiver, too, in the form of Deebo Samuel, who returned to his occasional spot in the offensive backfield as a hybrid runner/receiver and all-around threat in Shanahan's offense.
On paper, this wrinkle is both understandable and a stroke of genius; with Aiyuk locked in as the team's new WR1 – even if he didn't play like one in Week 1, Samuel can become one of the most versatile WR2s in the NFL, with an ability to move around the field, deploy all over the field, and even moonlight as a running back without the need to stay locked into any one role.
Asked if he plans to use Samuel in that same role in Week 2, Shanahan decided to keep his lips tight, noting that the gameplan will change from week to week.
“Each week is different, depends,” Shanahan noted. “A lot of things tie into that. But yeah, each week is different.”
… yeah, he's definitly going to deploy Samuel out of the backfield, isn't he?
While the Vikings do have a pretty good defense in place under ex-Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, almost no team has an answer to change-of-pace running back Samuel, so the 49ers would be wise to keep it a part of their gameplan moving forward until someone can stop it consistently.
3. The 49ers go to 2-0
So, if the 49ers are able to replace CMC fully with Mason on the ground and Samuel through the air, not to mention the rest of their offensive firepower, San Francisco should have a pretty good chance of going 2-0 to start the season, right?
Yup, the 49ers still have arguably the deepest roster in the NFL and enough talent across the board to halt the Vikings' surprising momentum and roll into Week 3 unblemished when they take the show down the roach to Los Angeles for a showdown against the Rams at SoFi. Considering everything that's going for the 49ers in Week 2, it's safe to say predicting a win isn't actually too bold at all.
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