Week 2: San Francisco 49ers Beat New Orleans Saints Despite Injuries

Despite their injuries on offense, the San Francisco 49ers kicked off Week 2 of the NFL season with a victory over the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Both teams came off a Week 1 win with varied expectations for this season. Pro Football Focus projected the 49ers to finish in the middle of the league, whereas the Saints were projected to finish at the bottom. 

In the offseason, the Saints hired a new head coach, Kellen Moore, and quarterback Spencer Rattler won the starting job. The 49ers hired new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, made more defensive additions through the draft, and utilized the offseason to get healthy. 

However, many of San Francisco’s starters went into Week 2 injured. Quarterback Brock Purdy, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and tight end George Kittle were all ruled out Sunday after suffering injuries last week.

The 49ers were the first team to put points on the scoreboard. Towards the end of the first quarter, quarterback Mac Jones threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Luke Farrell.  The Saints put their first points on the board with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Rattler to tight end Juwan Johnson. In the final two minutes of the half, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey caught a touchdown pass to put San Francisco up 16-7. 

During the second half, both teams scored twice. Jones threw another touchdown pass, and kicker Eddy Pineiro kicked a field goal. Rattler also threw two more touchdown passes. 

With less than two minutes left in the game, the Saints had possession and could have taken the lead with a touchdown. However, on fourth down, the 49ers' defense was able to force a fumble to seal their win. 

The back-to-back victories were much needed for San Francisco after the disappointing 2024 season. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was proud of how his team performed despite losses on offense. 

“It’s awesome however you do it,” Shanahan said. “We did have to overcome a number of injuries. We’re real proud of the effort.”

Next week, San Francisco will host the Arizona Cardinals for their first home game of the regular season. It will be a tougher matchup and will test the strength of the 49ers’ backups. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. on Sept. 21.