As someone who can only follow this sport in “coach mode,” I’m a bit of a stingy person. There’s always something to correct. Nothing is ever perfect, even when the score seems out of reach for the opponent; every move counts.

The San Francisco 49ers were in complete control of the team that many had ranked as the No. 1 team in the NFL, and even when the Niners were down 7-3, their control of the game was palpable.

You could feel the dam about to break. Although it never completely broke, the offense forced its way into Jets territory on every possession after the first period. At the same time, the defense made Aaron Rodgers, Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson very difficult all night.

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of Monday Night Football and examine the strategic decisions and their impact on the game.

winner

Jordan Mason

I asked Kyle Shanahan during the preseason how much he trusted Mason. Kyle said, “I have tremendous trust” in the undrafted free agent who has never had a full workload. We would find out if that was coach-speak or if Shanahan had no problem giving Mason the ball.

Mason caught his only first down on a third down where the 49ers had to stay on the field. So we had a high number of possessions and one first down. That should put to rest any doubts about the coaching staff’s confidence in Mason.

Mason had eight runs inside the tackles and averaged 6.4 yards per run. He averaged 3.9 yards after contact and had the third-highest run EPA of any running back when running inside the tackles in Week 1.

Mason ran for 147 yards that night when the Jets manned the box 50 percent of the time, and that had to have been music to Shanahan’s ears. Mason ran for 30 more yards than expected, which was fourth in the NFL.

The most impressive stat on Mason’s night was the eight runs at least 15 mph. The only player with more in Week 1 was a guy named Lamar Jackson.

Adam Schefter hinted that Christian McCaffrey will not play next week against the Minnesota Vikings. McCaffrey’s calf injury has been lingering for over a month. After Mason’s performance and looking at the schedule, I’m not sure CMC should play before the Niners face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Niners’ run defense

Last season, the 49ers were terrible in the running game. That was one of the few concerns we had going into Monday night. It was the first game without Arik Armstead and Dre Greenlaw, and the thought was that Breece Hall would be more effective if he switched from Zach Wilson to Aaron Rodgers.

It wasn’t him.

Hall rushed for 54 yards on 16 attempts, and one of those runs was 16 yards. The 49ers held Hall, an excellent runner, to 2.5 yards per run on 15 attempts.

The 68 yards the Niners allowed were the second fewest in Week 1. The number that stands out is -0.17. That’s the yards before contact they allowed, which was tops in the NFL.

The 49ers only occupied the box on 10 percent of their snaps. They stopped the run without extra defenders and were able to do so without relying on a series of tackles to lose the ball. That tells me that Monday night’s performance can be sustained going forward.

The Offensive Line

Hassan Reddick not being in the lineup helped, but Quinnen Williams is one of the best players in the NFL and Robert Saleh knows the 49ers offense inside and out. You’d think the Jets would have a few tricks up their sleeve to out-score the 49ers on offense.

It was dicey at first. On the first dropback of the game, Williams hit Colton McKivitz and charged with him into Brock Purdy. Jake Brendel sat on Purdy’s lap during another dropback early in the game.

After that, blocking took over. Purdy was only pressured on 25 percent of his dropbacks after those two early pressures. And even counting those, Purdy was one of the least pressured quarterbacks in Week 1.

To put Purdy’s pressure numbers into context, the 49ers offense was third in “time to create pressure” in Week 1 at 3.2 seconds, which is outstanding and almost a full second above the league average. This statistic shows that the offensive line gave Purdy ample time to make decisions in the pocket, which significantly reduced the pressure on him. Purdy had time to film another Applebee’s commercial in the pocket.

You don’t run 150 yards alone. The line cleared the way for Mason and Deebo Samuel, giving them 1.49 yards before contact. Again, that number is skewed because the Jets had 8+ defenders in the box on half the snaps. A “light box” refers to a defensive formation with fewer defenders near the line of scrimmage, making it easier for the offense to run the ball. But that makes the team’s 44 percent rushing success rate even more staggering. For comparison, the Niners were nearly as successful on the ground as the Chicago Bears, even though the Bears faced a light box 45 percent more often.

Dominick Puni was as advertised. Trent Williams was beaten twice in 65 snaps. And even when Aaron Banks left, Spencer Burford seemed relaxed:

loser

Points in the red zone

Scoring 32 points against the Jets is an accomplishment, but when we look at the bigger picture and what could put the 49ers at a disadvantage down the road, we need to take every opportunity to maximize their performance on the scoreboard.

Before the season started, I spoke to someone I respect a lot when it comes to evaluating teams. He said this 49ers team was the best he’d seen in the last seven years, and he rated them higher than anyone else in that span. And not just by a little bit, he rated them by seven points. A full touchdown!

So when you think about what this team is capable of and what they can become, you want to see them score a touchdown when they have 1st & 10 on the Jets’ 32.

On 3rd & 5 from New York’s 29-yard line, there is no reason whatsoever for you to run a trick play where you throw the ball to your quarterback – especially when you just gained 14 yards on the previous third down attempt.

The drive before the first half was brilliant. The offense kept the ball for the final 5:14 of the second quarter and ran down the clock while scoring three points. There were no complaints there, and we saw Rodgers score in the blink of an eye. That was the best time management from Shanahan you will ever see.

Brock’s shaky third-quarter drive ended with a 53-yard attempt by Moody.

A 4th & 1 attempt had some fans questioning Shanahan, but his left tackle needed an infusion. When you make decisions based on the flow of the game, there was little reason to worry about a field goal. New York hadn’t performed well on offense and needed two touchdowns and two conversions to tie the game with nine minutes left. And sure enough, on the next drive, they lost the ball on a down and pulled Rodgers.

The final field goal came as the 49ers tried to run out the clock, and a 3rd & 2 attempt ended with a sack of Purdy.

On the surface, the 49ers failed miserably when they had scoring opportunities, but when you think about it, it’s easy to conclude that this is all correctable in the future.

Third defense

The Jets were successful on third down six of ten times. Allen Lazard managed an easy first down early in the game, which took the wind out of the Jets’ sails.

There was a 3rd & 8 where Deommodore Lenoir was in perfect position, but it was a better throw and catch for a 16-yard completion. That’s a play you can live with.

The fact that Wilson is completely free in the middle and George Odum is two steps too slow on 3rd & 7 is not something you can live with. Rinse, rinse, repeat. On the next third attempt, just switch sides and Wilson will convert again.

The defensive line pressured Rodgers on the next two third-down attempts to force incomplete passes. Is that what this defense will rely on? Creating pressure with four? It didn’t seem like Nick Sorensen had many flashes in his debut.

Rodgers found Lazard for a long touchdown on the next third down attempt. Ji’Ayir Brown was late getting to the middle of the field.

The other conversions came in garbage time, but the biggest stop came in the fourth quarter. Hall tried to run up the middle, but Brown and practice squad player Sam Okuayinonu stopped the ball. That led to a deflection by Isaac Yiadom on fourth down and a turnover on second down.

So, again, it doesn’t look good statistically when you allow a team to convert 60 percent of their third attempts, but the Niners could improve their coverage in the middle.

winner

The role players

Mason is a role player, but Kyle Juszczyk was incredible in the run game and had the long 34-yard pass. Jauan Jennings caught all five passes aimed at him for 64 yards. Jennings is a nightmare opponent and a walking first down. Eric Saubert also had a couple of key blocks.

Leonard Floyd may not be a role player due to his past, but he was in pressure situations four times and ranked 11th among all defensive players in pressure rate. More importantly, Floyd caused two turnovers in four of those pressure situations. He makes an impact when he’s there.

Isaac Yiadom allowed a long catch but had the deflection on the fourth attempt and allowed 29 yards on four attempts. This will work.

Maliek Collins was able to stop two runs, allowing him to put pressure on the passer. And De’Vondre Campbell was not torched in the passing game as Green Bay Packers fans would have you believe.

Special teams

Mitch Wishnowsky had a 58-yard punt. A punt is the story here, but 58 yards isn’t too bad. Jacob Cowing caught the ball cleanly on both punt return attempts.

Jake Moody made 8 of 8 shots and had plenty of room from 53 yards out. Moody is a weapon for the 49ers as teams begin to rely on their kickers with strong legs. Teams are attempting longer field goals and teams have been making the longer extra point attempts at a similar rate to the old extra point rule before the NFL moved it back to the 33-yard line.

Don’t be surprised if the team continues to experiment with kickoffs in the first few weeks. The safest bet is for Moody to kick the ball through the goal posts.

The 49ers gave the Jets three chances to return kicks and there were no glaring missed tackles. That was the biggest win of the night after coverage units looked sloppy during the preseason. Ideally, Moody kicks the ball out of the end zone every time, but Xavier Gipson is a dangerous returner and his longest was 28 yards, while the Niners held him to 22 yards on another attempt.