The San Francisco 49ers seemingly dominated the New York Jets defense in week 1, but some key stats indicate that defensive back Sauce Gardner and company actually held their ground.
Gardner and the Jets’ defense were asked to defend the powerhouse 49ers’ offense for a total of 70 plays and yet they only surrendered two touchdowns on Monday night. Neither of those touchdowns came through the air.
The 49ers were forced to kick six field-goals after sustaining drives into plus territory. This means that despite obvious fatigue, the Jets’ defense was unwilling to allow the 49ers into the end-zone more than once in each half.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy completed just 65.5 percent of his 29 pass attempts and the Niners relied heavily (38 rushing attempts) on the ground attack to dictate the game.
Sure, analysts will criticize Gardner for taking a voluntarily gatorade break on the team sideline in the 2nd quarter. Yet, those same analysis subjectively disregard the fact that the Jets’ defense spent an inhumane 40 total plays on the field in just the first half. A half in which they surrendered just 16 points.
If and when Jets’ offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett deploys a scheme to sustain drives and get scores, fans will have a fresh rested Jets’ defense to assess. However, it is beyond unrealistic to expect defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s defense not to miss tackles when they’ve been on the field the entire game.
Sauce’s deleted MNF post talking about his absence in the 2nd quarter 🧐 pic.twitter.com/i9kya52p1g
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 10, 2024
