The San Francisco 49ers entered the season as one of the biggest powerhouses in the league, and they lived up to that status in Week 1.
They dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers from start to finish, shutting them down in the second half en route to a 30-7 road win.
The Niners were favored by just 1.5 points ahead of this game, but they looked like pros playing an FCS team.
Things got so bad that Niners star LT Trent Williams recently admitted to the SF Chronicle that there was a point where he actually wished the Steelers could get anything going on offense so he could get a breather.
Williams pointed out the fact that there were so many three-and-outs that the Niners offense had to be on the field for so long, and it was getting tiring (via JPAFootball).
This is bad: #49ers LT Trent Williams said the 49ers defense was dominating the #Steelers offense so bad that he was HOPING the Steelers would eventually do something, so that he could get a break, per @sfchronicle
“At one point, you just kind of wanted [the Steelers] to get a… pic.twitter.com/RiVfiubLWV
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 13, 2023
The Steelers got 15 first downs in the game, but only managed 239 yards of total offense (198 passing, 41 rushing).
They got most of those yards in garbage time in the second half, but they couldn’t do much with that.
The Niners sacked Kenny Pickett five times for a loss of 34 yards, and they forced the Steelers to punt six times.
This wasn’t pretty at all, and the Steelers offense looked out of sync, sluggish, and rusty.
Now, they could face the upcoming game without Pat Freiermuth and Diontae Johnson, as both left the contest with injuries.
You know things are bad when your rival is literally rooting for you to do something so he can get off the field for a while and this was that kind of day for Mike Tomlin’s team.
NEXT:
LeSean McCoy Says 1 Team Made A Big Statement In Week 1
