So the San Francisco 49ers played a preseason game. And for roughly a quarter, we got what was a new and improved 49ers unit. You had a Robert Saleh-led defense that looked much more functional than before, Mac Jones having a nice throw or two, and then the team you could count on to motivate you to pull your hair out, the 49ers’ special teams, did something like this:
Then the first quarter ended. And then the events that led to a Denver Broncos’ 30-9 win transpired.
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Something to keep in mind here after turnovers, whiffed tackles, and…well…whatever Carter Bradley was doing in that extended showcase: the 49ers benched a great deal of their starters before the game started. That’s not to say the team on the other side of the ball, the Denver Broncos, didn’t have their second and third-stringers to start the game either—that’s NFL preseason, but you didn’t see Brock Purdy, Fred Warner, and friends. And for a brief moment, the 49ers looked pretty good without those guys on the field, though it was a moment.
The rest of the game, you saw a lot of players who might not make it to Week 1.
Which brings us to the biggest eyebrow raiser of the night. The 49ers’ depth is a big question mark. We knew they were a top-heavy team. If injuries hit again, a repeat of 2024 could be a reality.
Of course, it may make more sense to point at something else: the whiffed tackles, the offensive line, the 49ers special teams, but the lack of depth stole my attention from anything else. The 49ers are a very top-heavy team, and if the starters go down, courtesy of the injury bug, it’s not going to be pretty.
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That’s what I found as the biggest eyebrow raiser for Saturday night’s game against the Broncos. We need to remember this is Week 1…of the NFL Preseason. There are a lot of things left to install, a lot of vanilla playcalling to sit through, and a lot of that terrible NFL+ Commercial with a guy going through a carwash (That was clever until it was played for the 5o0th time that night) to air on repeat before we get to the real thing. Take caution, but don’t get too negative about it.
But there isn’t much depth. The 49ers have some of the best starters in the league. Hopefully, they can all stay healthy.
And depth — or the lack of it — may decide the 2025 season. What was your biggest eyebrow raiser Saturday night?
