The enjoyment of the 3-0 San Francisco 49ers lasted less than 24 hours. The focus quickly shifted from the 16-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals to Nick Bosa’s knee.
But it shouldn’t be lost that the 49ers are now 3-0 in games they definitely would have lost last season. The tides are changing. The vibes are good. And despite the injuries, the 49ers have shown that they can be a team that wins games in an ugly manner, and they can win close games.
The 49ers only won one division game and two one-possession games in 2024. They’ve already won two NFC West matchups, and Sunday marked their third one-possession win of 2025, despite the injuries.
And while the 49ers will have to learn about life after Bosa in 2025, here are the three things we learned from the win over Arizona:
The injuries might have gotten to be too much
The 49ers entered the 2025 season without Brandon Aiyuk, Malik Mustapha, and Kevin Givens. Then they lost Brock Purdy and George Kittle for a few weeks after Week 1. Week 2 wasn’t kind either, with injuries to Ben Bartch and Jauan Jennings.
But Week 3 had the most significant blow of them all. Nick Bosa went down with a knee injury early in Sunday’s win, and Monday’s news was the worst-case scenario—a torn ACL, ending the pass rusher’s season.
At least with Aiyuk, Kittle, Purdy, or Jennings, we can expect them to take the field for the 49ers in 2025, but Bosa will be missed. Especially considering how rebuilt the defense is. Mykel Williams was taken with the idea of how to pair him with Bosa, not for him to be an individual entity. Same with the trade for Bryce Huff. Alfred Collins and CJ West were selected to be a part of a defensive line headlined by Bosa.
And with one play, Bosa is gone.
Now, maybe a slight silver lining in it all is that the defense played well and held Arizona’s offense to 13 points after Bosa’s exit. But there is no replacing Bosa, especially for the length of time the 49ers will be without him. As the Golden State Warriors made famous, it’ll be a “strength in numbers” situation for the 49ers’ pass rush from here on out.
The run defense is back
No running back has been a thorn in the 49ers’ side more than James Conner since the running back joined the Cardinals back in 2021. He’s rushed for at least 80 yards in three of his six games against the 49ers, with at least one rushing touchdown in four of those six games.
Before he exited Sunday’s contest with a brutal leg injury, the 49ers defense held him to nine carries for 22 yards. Trey Benson didn’t fare much better in relief, with San Francisco holding him to 42 yards on 10 attempts. If Benson’s outlier 29-yard run is removed, his day would have been nine rushes for 13 yards.
But maybe most importantly, it is how well the 49ers handled Kyler Murray’s legs. While he had a few scrambles for positive yardage early on, the San Francisco defense didn’t let his running ability kill them, holding the mobile quarterback to 37 yards on six attempts. They dared Murray to beat them with his arm, and with the assistance of a few drops from Marvin Harrison, the Cardinals’ offense proved they weren’t up to the task.
A season removed from allowing 124 rushing yards per game, the 49ers have allowed 103 per game through three games this season. But handling Murray’s legs like they did on Sunday shows they are very much on the right track.
The 49ers have a kicker you can trust
After Eddy Pineiro nailed his 51-yard kick to end the first half, his making the 35-yard kick to win the game almost felt like a formality. That feeling wasn’t there when the 49ers would line up for a field goal just three weeks ago.
Pineiro has started his 49ers career a perfect five-for-five on kicks with his long at 51 yards. The last time Jake Moody made at least five kicks in a row was when he made six from Weeks 4 through 10 last season (he missed three games with an ankle injury), and even those kicks weren’t convincing. After that stretch of six kicks, Moody made 11 of his next 22 with a long of 53, making no more than four kicks in a row.
History shows Pineiro won’t have that drop, considering he’s a top-three kicker of all-time by field goal percentage (minimum 100 attempts). Moody lost something that the 49ers had with the likes of Robbie Gould, Joe Nedney, and Phil Dawson, and that was the trust that a kicker would go out there and make the dang kick.
All it took was one roster move, and the special teams group feels better already. Just don’t ask about Skyy Moore calling for a fair catch at the six-yard line.
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