It wasn’t pretty; in fact, it was completely ugly. But for the second week in a row, the Broncos are victorious. Despite another tough streak for Russell Wilson and the offense, Denver had the best of the 49ers on “Sunday Night Football,” forcing three turnovers and a safety to secure an 11-10 win — just the second game in franchise history. the NFL to finish with that score. The low-scoring deal propels the Broncos to the top of the AFC West alongside the Chiefs, while dropping San Francisco below .500 in the NFC West.
Here are some takeaways from Sunday night’s conference showdown:
Why the Broncos won
Nathaniel Hackett has a defense that can (barely) save his attack, which remains totally rhythmless. Seriously, Denver’s “D” was tough from start to finish but really stood up in critical moments. Allowing just one-third conversion all night, the unit saw four different players fire Jimmy Garoppolo, including Bradley Chubb and Josey Jewell. A late pick and fumble recovery essentially sealed their win, and instant pressure on Garoppolo earlier in the night forced the QB out of his own end zone for a safety that would prove fatal in the final score.
The less said about Hackett’s squad, the better, as errant pitching, shoddy protection and conservative calls still plague them. But at least Wilson showed hints of his vintage, dual-threat self on the stretch, connecting regularly with Courtland Sutton (8-97) to set the go-ahead score. Their production wouldn’t have been enough against an elite competitor, but against a 49ers team riddled with errors and injuries, it was just enough.
Why the 49ers lost
Losing Trent Williams to left tackle in the third quarter didn’t help, but San Francisco’s problems grew deeper. Everything set them up for the win on a night in which Denver tripped over itself while possessing the ball. And yet Kyle Shanahan’s offense, with Jimmy G at the helm, could only move the chains when not third, intermittently finding Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk in space but never chaining the splatter games. Jeff Wilson, averaging 6 yards per bag, was underutilized on the ground.
And Garoppolo, despite having an efficient start and some impressive precision throws, got out of shape in some bad places, like when he accidentally dropped out of the end zone for safety or threw a pick into essentially triple coverage with the game in play. Wilson’s turnover, a fumble on their last record, was a killer. So did their seven penalties, which spoiled an otherwise tough night from a defense that sacked Wilson four times and stressed him out much more.
Turning
You could look early in the game and call Garoppolo’s unintended safety a big influence on the final score, but in terms of how the game unfolded, Wilson probably turned it around the most, with his freestyle in the fourth quarter. Unable to push the ball down beforehand, Russ took it upon himself to rush on a key third-and-10 with 8:16 to play, and the Broncos were down 10-5, finding Kendall Hinton on a nice 27 strike. yards that helped get the team’s only touchdown of the night. Once Denver officially took the lead, it suddenly fell to San Francisco to step up their own offense.
Game of the game
Wilson’s dart to Hinton while on the move was exactly the kind of play the Broncos are paying him big bucks to deliver:
And after
The 49ers (1-2) will return home for another prime-time game, this time against the rival Rams (2-1) on “Monday Night Football.” The Broncos (2-1), meanwhile, will look to stay above .500 as they travel to Vegas to face the rival Raiders (0-3), who lost a close game to the Titans on Sunday.
