{"id":247768,"date":"2025-09-23T17:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T21:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=247768"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T14:25:20","slug":"keys-to-the-san-francisco-49ers-3-0-start-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/23\/keys-to-the-san-francisco-49ers-3-0-start-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Keys to the San Francisco 49ers\u2019 3\u20130 Start"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers are off to a 3-0 start to the 2025 NFL season. On Sunday, they enjoyed a successful home opener, defeating the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> 16-15 on newly signed kicker Eddy Pi\u00f1eiro’s game-winning field goal. That win came at a cost. All-Pro defensive end Nick Bosa suffered a season-ending torn ACL<\/a> in the first quarter of the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the 49ers are no strangers to overcoming injury adversity. Backups and young players have contributed heavily to help the team remain perfect through three weeks. The following three players have played key roles in the team\u2019s success so far and will continue to do so as the season progresses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keys to the San Francisco 49ers\u2019 3\u20130 Start in 2025<\/span><\/h2>\n

Christian McCaffrey Fuels <\/span>San Francisco 49ers\u2019 3\u20130 Start<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ever since the 49ers acquired McCaffrey, the superstar running back and all-around offensive weapon has been the focal point of their offense. Last year, the team\u2019s offense clearly struggled without McCaffrey, who only played in four games due to major Achilles issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When McCaffrey\u2019s name popped up on the injury report before the team\u2019s 2025 opener, 49ers fans were right to be concerned about their team\u2019s fate. However, the running back has played in all three games. McCaffrey has excelled as both a rusher and receiver, \u00a0at times single-handedly moving the offense down the field. Through three games, he already has 176 rushing and 213 receiving yards, numbers that are sure to increase as the team continues relying on his extraordinary talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mac Jones<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Mac
Sep 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones (10) throws downfield against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When an NFL team\u2019s starting quarterback gets hurt, panic usually\u00a0follows. Brock Purdy, fresh off receiving a massive extension from the 49ers this offseason, sustained toe and shoulder injuries in the team\u2019s opener against the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> that held him out of the team\u2019s next two games. Fortunately, the 49ers\u2019 backup quarterback Mac Jones stepped in, leading the team to two straight victories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones, the New England Patriots’<\/a> first-round pick in 2021, is attempting to salvage his career in San Francisco. Poor performances in 2022 and 2023 led the Patriots to release him. In wins over the New Orleans Saints<\/a> and Cardinals, Jones has thrown for 563 yards with four touchdowns and only one interception. His steady play and composure leading the team\u2019s game-winning drive to beat the Cardinals is a major reason why the 49ers remain one of six undefeated teams in the NFL. If Purdy returns to action this weekend, Jones will be relegated back to the bench. Yet, these past couple of performances have raised the team\u2019s trust in him to succeed if Purdy gets hurt again this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unheralded Defensive Contributors\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

This year, the 49ers are once again led on defense by Bosa and middle linebacker Fred Warner. In the wake of notable offseason roster turnover that saw longtime starters Talanoa Hufanga, Charvarius Ward, and Dre Greenlaw sign<\/a> with other teams in free agency, some lesser-known younger players have earned key roles on a 49ers defense that has played well in the season\u2019s early goings. <\/span><\/p>\n

Linebacker Dee Winters, the team\u2019s sixth-round pick in 2023, has emerged as Warner\u2019s partner in the middle of the team\u2019s defense. In the secondary, young defensive backs Renardo Green and Upton Stout are disrupting other teams\u2019 passing attacks. Winters has 22 tackles, while Green and Stout have combined for five pass breakups.\u00a0 It will be up to these lesser-known names and the team\u2019s other healthy defenders to ensure the team remains competitive on defense without Bosa on the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Purdy returning, the offense may need to shoulder more of the load. The next few weeks will show whether the 49ers can stay unbeaten without Bosa or if injuries will derail them again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Image: Cary Edmondson – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers\u2019 3\u20130 start is powered by Christian McCaffrey, Mac Jones, and emerging defenders stepping up after Nick Bosa’s injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5641,"featured_media":247903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,54,6431],"tags":[922,9686,7261,4445,7325],"class_list":["post-247768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49ers","category-editorials","category-nfl-teams","tag-christian-mccaffrey","tag-dee-winters","tag-mac-jones","tag-nick-bosa","tag-san-francisco-49ers-news"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5641"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247768"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247906,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247768\/revisions\/247906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}