SANTA CLARA – All-white throwback jerseys are to serve as the 49ers’ heat shield if Sunday’s home opener with Arizona turns into another scorching showdown like last year.
That intention may not appease The Faithful clamoring to see the home reds, but what truly matters is the home team emerging 3-0, not the Cardinals donning their all-red outfits.
“Everything counts, you know? Is that a huge deal? I’m not sure, but you want every advantage that home field allows you and you get to pick,” general manager John Lynch said of the uniform choice, in Thursday’s KNBR 680-AM interview.
A year ago, the 49ers wanted to switch from red to white jerseys ahead of the Cardinals’ visit, but that request was denied, and the 49ers melted down in a 24-23 loss, with temperatures approaching, if not cresting, 100 degrees.
Acknowledging this rematch will likely take place in the more forgiving 80s, Lynch added: “That’s not what wins and loses games, but everything we can do to give us any slight advantage we’re going to do.”
Anything? Follow these five things and the 49ers will be 3-0 by sundown:
1. UNLOCK McCAFFREY
Everyone, just be happy that Christian McCaffrey’s calf is not backfiring and he again is a rushing-and-receiving raconteur, which is especially helpful while the 49ers are down wide receivers.
McCaffrey’s gone for over 100 all-purpose yards in each win this season. He senses a breakout rushing attack is imminent. Or at least a run longer than 13 yards, which he’s yet to hit.
“We’re close. Definitely close,” McCaffrey said. “A lot of it is just can’t get tackled. Being able to break those long ones comes from all 11 guy being on point and me stepping up.”
Veteran defensive tackle Calais Campbell is well aware, telling Arizona reporters: “We’ve got to be elite, trying to stop the run and contain 23 this week. Really their whole stable of backs, but especially McCaffrey, he’s cream of the crop, the best in the business.”
McCaffrey is averaging 3.5 yards per carry. So is his backup, Brian Robinson Jr. If McCaffrey’s last game indeed was his most efficient as a 49er in terms of making yards out of nothing – as Lynch said of the analytics – then the 49ers need to block better, which is hard to do without George Kittle, by the way.
2. QUARTERBACK PROTECTION
Brock Purdy is “highly unlikely” to start following his Week 2 hiatus. So with Mac Jones filling in again, the offensive line must again be on point in protecting him, which it did splendidly in New Orleans.
Arizona’s revamped defense has Trent Williams’ attention after its Week 2 showing against Carolina. “They had a great game. The safeties fly around, the linebackers are physically, and obviously they made a lot of upgrades to the D-line that’s been showing up,” Williams said.
Seventh-round pick Connor Colby was in in line for his first start at left guard, but a groin injury Thursday put that in doubt.
Attacking the 49ers’ linemen will be 18th-year veteran Calais Campbell, a 6-foot-8 stalwart who produced two sacks in the final minutes.
The Cardinals’ cornerback corps has been hit hard by injury, but Jones said their scheme is cloaked in disguises, so if the 49ers need to attack it, the pass protection must be ready to answer the bell.
3. COVER McBRIDE AND MORE
It’s not Marvin Harrison Jr. nor Stanford product Michael Wilson that are the 49ers’ primary concern as Kyler Murray targets. Rather, it’s Trey McBride, the NFL’s only tight end in the George Kittle pay grade ($19 million per year).
McBride has 12 receptions (six each game) for 139 yards through two games, after 111 for 1,146 yards last season. He has just six touchdowns in 51 career games, so Murray obviously has a wandering eye in the red zone.
Odds are second-year cornerback Renardo Green will be a popular target like the first two games, but defensive coordinator Robert Saleh likes how Green has responded. “People have to remember he’s just a second-year kid, a second-year young man and he’s learning,” Saleh said. “I love his energy this week. He always bounces back. I don’t think it fazes him.”
Deommodore Lenoir misses the action of playing in the slot, and he’d love to notch the 49ers’ first interception this season on the outside covering Harrison, who had a touchdown last game and eight last year as the No. 4 overall draft pick.
4. VENGENCE FOR JAUAN
Jauan Jennings got baited into an end zone brawl and ejected from last season’s finale, leaving him 25 yards shy of 1,000 in his breakout year. Sean Murphy-Bunting and Starling Thomas, the Cardinals’ cornerbacks he mixed it up with last meeting, are both injured. Well, so is Jennings, but he shook off a Week 1 shoulder injury to play in New Orleans, and now he must overcome a Week 2 ankle injury that has him questionable to play this week.
If Jennings isn’t healthy enough to be a No. 1 target, then Phoenix native Ricky Pearsall surely would like his say against Arizona, too. He had six catches for 69 yards and a touchdown in that 2024 season finale, and he’s off to a strong start this season as, well, a starter. He had 108 catches in the opener and set up the winning drive, then he was a key target in the first half Sunday at New Orleans before finishing with four catches for 56 yards.
With Kittle sidelined at least the next three games, and with Demarcus Robinson serving the final game of his suspension, the 49ers again could need McCaffrey to help shoulder the receiving load. Said Campbell: “McCaffrey in in the pass game is a special, dynamic player and they do a good job of finding ways to get him the ball.”
5. CONTAIN KYLER
Nick Bosa got to Sam Darnold in 2.6 seconds for his win-clinching sack in Seattle. Bryce Huff needed only 2.44 seconds for the NFL’s fastest sack this season, the one that popped the fourth-down ball free to seal the 49ers’ win in New Orleanns. Speed rules, right?
Well, Murray has speed, too. The 49ers’ Wide-9 scheme can backfire if the ends go up field and the quarterback ducks inside to escape and run for damaging yards. This is where an interior presence is vital, and the 49ers need rookie Mykel Williams and Yetur Gross-Matos to do that in their pass-rush package.
Murray’s 50-yard, second-snap touchdown run in last year’s visit showed how dangerous he is with his legs. When Murray eventually scrambles for safety, the 49ers must avoid a penalty for hitting him after a delayed slide.
“He’s a late slider,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said. “But he is fast, he is elusive, he is a jitterbug, and he is a passer first. He’s as challenging as it gets.”
James Conner has been a challenge, too, however.