This, of course, is always subject to change. But the complete suffocation of the Steelers—in Pittsburgh, no less—was something to behold. And the numbers really do tell you everything you need to know.
• At one point in the second quarter, the disparity in yards from scrimmage was 199–1.
• The Steelers picked up their initial first down with 1:16 left in the first half. By then, they were down 20–0.
• Through three quarters, the Niners had 334 yards to the Steelers’ 133, 19 first downs to Pittsburgh’s nine, and nearly 30 minutes of possession.
The beatdown was so thorough that Nick Bosa, playing just three days after reporting to San Francisco to sign a brand-new five-year, $175 million extension (we’ll have more on that on the site Monday), was able to play every snap adhere to the Niners’ plan to pace him a bit—simply because the Steelers had so few offensive plays that there was no need to pull him from the game in the first half.
And it’s not a mistake, either. Next to Bosa was big-ticket free-agent tackle Javon Hargrave and behind him was Fred Warner, who looked like a create-a-player in this game. The secondary has Charvarius Ward and Talanoa Hufanga, who both had picks. And the offense has the best left tackle of the last 10 years, in Trent Williams, and an embarrassment of skill-position riches (Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle).
“I kind of say this every year, just because of how confident I am in our [front office and coaches] and the players that we have,” Bosa told me after the game. “But adding [Javon] Hargrave and Clelin [Ferrell] and a few of the other guys, I just knew that we were going to be back talent-wise to 2019. Or, I think, better even with depth. It was tough to not be a part of it [during training camp], because every year we’re expecting to go the whole way.”
At least based on what you can take from one week, I’d say that’s a pretty fair expectation.
And especially if Brock Purdy keeps playing the way he did (a 111.3 QB rating) in Pittsburgh.
