This season hasn’t been smooth for the San Francisco 49ers, especially when it comes to dealing with injuries. But they keep winning.
It’s happening in different ways. A couple weeks ago, the Niners’ offense had a big game to upset the Los Angeles Rams. On Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons the offense barely showed up, aside from Christian McCaffrey. And the 49ers still found a way.
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Kyle Shanahan had another entry in his NFL Coach of the Year argument, as the 49ers hung on to beat the Falcons 20-10. The 49ers had a tough time scoring but were able to maintain some drives, mostly by feeding McCaffrey over and over, and a defense that has taken on some massive injuries came up huge.
McCaffrey had 201 total yards from scrimmage and scored twice. A young 49ers defense allowed only one touchdown. There weren’t many big plays from either team, and it wasn’t the most exciting game for a Sunday night audience, but the 49ers never lost control of the game and got a crucial win.
It wasn’t a pretty win for the 49ers. But their 5-2 record is looking good.
San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey (somewhere in the middle) was up to the rugged task of leading the 49ers’ victory on Sunday night. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
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Niners’ defense starts strong
The 49ers had injury issues coming into the game, most notably missing quarterback Brock Purdy, receiver Ricky Pearsall, defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner. They have been able to overcome the offensive absences, but it was yet to be seen after Warner’s season-ending injury last week how their defense would look.
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San Francisco’s defense played very well in the first half Sunday night. Three of the Falcons’ five first-half drives gained 18 or fewer yards. And one of the good drives ended with a big mistake.
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Near the end of the half, the Falcons were in field-goal range with no timeouts left, and Penix was pressured. He threw it away but was not outside the tackle box, and it was called intentional grounding. The penalty had a 10-second runoff, which ended the half and cost the Falcons at least a shot at three points before halftime.
The 49ers relied heavily on Christian McCaffrey, as usual, and he scored the game’s only touchdown before halftime. The 49ers led 10-3 going into the half, which was a surprising score given their questions on a depleted defense.
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49ers increase their lead
The Falcons finally got a touchdown in the second half. Bijan Robinson scored on a quick pass, and the 49ers’ lead was down to 13-10. Still, everything the Falcons were doing on offense was difficult. The 49ers’ defense is low on star power, but has a lot of energetic young players. They were flying around the ball Sunday night.
The Falcons had a shot to take a lead in the fourth quarter when they drove into 49ers territory. San Francisco responded with a massive stop. Bijan Robinson was stuffed on third-and-1 and then the 49ers broke up a fourth-down pass. The Falcons have been very inconsistent on offense this season, and the version that blew out the Buffalo Bills last week never showed up against the 49ers.
The 49ers needed to make one big play after that on offense to all but put the game away, and they looked McCaffrey’s way. On third-and-13, Mac Jones found McCaffrey open and hit him for 17 yards and a crucial first down. Instead of kicking a field goal and going up by six points, allowing the Falcons a shot to win it in the final two minutes, the drive kept going and then McCaffrey pushed the pile into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown to build a double-digit lead.
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There have been games over the past few years in which it has looked easy for the 49ers. They had many stars and could overwhelm plenty of opponents. That might not happen too often this season, with the endless bad injury luck they’re experiencing. But it’s a veteran group with an elite head coach who knows how to win games. That’s how they’re remaining in a tie for first place in the NFC West.
Falcons vs. 49ers live blog
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Falcons and 49ers face off in prime time:
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Ryan Young
We’ve got a Monday Night Football doubleheader coming up next to wrap up the week.
Buccaneers at Lions
7 p.m. ET | Ford Field | ABC/ESPNTexans at Seahawks
10 p.m. ET | Lumen Field | ESPN -
Ryan Young
This backup role is working out well for Mac Jones.
He went 17-of-26 for 152 yards with an interception tonight.
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Ryan Young
The 49ers hang on to grab the 10-point win after a huge night from Christian McCaffrey. He had 129 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and another 72 receiving yards on the night.
The 49ers now sit at 5-2 on the year.
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Ryan Young
Christian McCaffrey just led the 49ers on that drive to seal the win. After a huge 17-yard reception to keep them alive on third down, McCaffrey fought his way into the end zone for the touchdown. He’s up to 186 total yards and two touchdowns on the night.
The 49ers lead now 20-10 with 2:26 left.
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Ryan Young
The 49ers stuffed Bijan Robinson at the line on third down, and then broke up a short pass to Drake London on fourth to force the turnover. What a huge stop for the 49ers.
They’ll take back over now with 8:16 left.
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Ryan Young
The Falcons are driving again early in the fourth quarter, and are across midfield now thanks to this nearly 20-yard catch from Kyle Pitts.
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Ryan Young
Penix nearly found Washington deep on the left side, but Washington couldn’t quite make the catch. So the Falcons will punt it away now with 1:06 left in the third quarter.
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Ryan Young
The momentum here has totally changed. The Falcons just forced a quick 3-and-out after Juszcyk was stuffed on a short run, so they’ll get the ball back right away after Robinson’s touchdown.
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Ryan Young
There’s Bijan Robinson. The Falcons finally found the end zone for the first time tonight after a quick drive, capped by a screen pass to Robinson for the 10-yard touchdown.
We’ve got a 3-point game again midway through the third. The Falcons needed a score there.
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Ryan Young
The 49ers went on a nice 11 play drive to open the third quarter, but it stalled out with a few incompletions and a stuffed run just outside of the red zone.
Eddy Pineiro drilled a 43-yarder, so their lead is now 10.
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Ryan Young
The 49ers will get the ball out of the break, too.
49ers
Mac Jones
9/14, 69 yards, 1TDChristian McCaffrey
76 yards, 1 TD on 12 carriesJauan Jennings
26 yards on 3 catchesFalcons
Michael Penix
13/19, 128 yardsBijan Robinson
22 yards on 7 carriesDarnell Mooney
50 yards on 2 catches -
Ryan Young
Atlanta wasn’t going to knee this to halftime. Penix just hit London for a 19-yard gain, and then immediately picked up 38 more after Mooney made a wild grab on the left side.
But the drive fell apart at the 49ers 22 yard line when Penix threw it away. He was hit with an intentional grounding call, which wiped the last 10 seconds off the clock.
It’s halftime now. What a brutal end to the quarter for the Falcons.
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Ryan Young
The 49ers nearly fumbled it away themselves, but Eddy Pineiro came out and hit a 55-yarder of his own. We’re all tied up now.
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Ryan Young
Bryce Huff just drilled Michael Penix in the back, and the 49ers quickly jumped on the ball in the pile. What a huge shift there to put the 49ers in a great position to add more points now before the break.
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Ryan Young
Christian McCaffrey is having a huge night, and it’s not even halftime. He’s up to 76 rushing yards on 12 carries already, and he just punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to put the 49ers in the lead just before the break.
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Ryan Young
The Falcons failed to convert on that interception, and had to punt it away pretty quickly. So the 49ers will take back over deep in their own territory midway through the second.
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Ryan Young
Kaden Elliss was in the perfect spot just now to take advantage and five Atlanta a massive momentum shift early. The ball went flying off of Jauan Jennings’ hands and right into Elliss’ arms for the first turnover of the night.
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Ryan Young
The 49ers just sacked Michael Penix on third down to get a huge stop and push the Falcons out of the red zone. They settled for a 38-yard field goal instead for the first points of the night.
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Ryan Young
We’re scoreless after 15 minutes tonight, but the Falcons are driving here and will have a shot to put points up on the board out of the break. Michael Penix is 9-12 for 56 yards so far, too.
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Ryan Young
Mac Jones got the 49ers across midfield, but he completely missed Jauan Jennings there on third down. So they’ll come out and punt and try to pin the Falcons deep.
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