49ers Steamroll Steelers in Season Opener

The 49ers came into Acrisure Stadium and made quick work of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

PITTSBURGH -- The San Francisco 49ers came into Acrisure Stadium and reminded the Pittsburgh Steelers of how far they have to go before they can compete with a Super Bowl contender like themselves. 

The 49ers dominated from the opening kickoff and ran away with a 30-7 victory on opening day in Pittsburgh. The offense was poor and the defense couldn't make up for it as the Steelers were routed on their home field. 

The Steelers won the toss and wanted to send their offense to the field right away. Kenny Pickett completed his first pass to George Pickens for five yards, but a jet sweep and sack backed them up into a punt on the opening possession. 

Pressley Harvin punted just 34 yards and the 49ers began their first possession on their own 46 yard line. Elandon Roberts stuffed Christain McCaffery on a third down and one just over midfield, but Brock Purdy and George Kittle converted on fourth and one with an 11-yard pass. 

The 49ers then found an easy rhythm, picking up 26 yards on the ground with McCaffery before Purdy hit Brandon Aiyuk for an eight-yard touchdown pass, to put the visitors up 7-0. 

The Steelers' brutal start got even worse on the ensuing possession, when Diontae Johnson slipped at the top of a comeback route and Pickett let a pass intended for him sail into the hands of Charvarius Ward for an interception. 

Purdy and Aiyuk were well on their way to carving up the Steelers' secondary again, but a holding penalty backed them up and allowed the defense to force a 46-yard field goal attempt. Patrick Peterson blocked the first attempt, but his entire side of the rush was offsides and Jake Moody converted the 41-yard attempt to make it 10-0 at the 4:38 mark of the first quarter. 

The Steelers went three and out again on their next drive. Pickett missed Johnson again, firing too high as his receiver streaked across the middle of the field on third down. 

Harvin backed the 49ers up to their own 32 yard line with a 54-yard punt but Purdy and company continued to operate comfortably and surgically. They marched 68 yards in nine plays and Aiyuk capped the drive with a difficult back-shoulder touchdown reception against tight coverage from Peterson. 

Trailing 17-0 with 13:30 until halftime, Pickett and the offense retook the field but it was more of the same - five-yard loss, incompletion and a sack before punting and incurring a facemask penalty against long-snapper Christian Kuntz. 

The 49ers started their next drive at midfield and some frustration began to emerge for the Steelers. Levi Wallace picked up an unnecessary roughness and T.J. Watt thought he had strip-sacked Purdy to force a fumble, but officials ruled otherwise and Mike Tomlin's challenge was unsuccessful. 

The Steelers' defense still forced a field goal, but the offense still couldn't create any momentum and gave the ball back after another three-and-out. 

The defense came up with another stop and the offense finally began to move the ball with some purpose. First Pickett hit Pickens for a nine-yard gain and then Najee Harris bounced outside for a 24-yard rush. Tack on 15 yards for a late hit on the 49ers and the Steelers were finally in business during their two-minute drill. 

Pickett connected with Diontae Johnson twice to get down inside the redzone, but missed him on what could have been an easy walk-in touchdown right before halftime. But it didn't matter as Pickett found Pat Freiermuth in the front of the endzone for a three-yard touchdown. 

Entering halftime down just 20-7, the Steelers had some momentum but it was quickly stomped out when McCaffery spun off a tackle from Levi Wallace and ran 65 yards for a touchdown. Aiyuk and Ray-Ray McCloud's blocks downfield were crucial to getting it in the endzone and re-extending the lead to 27-7. 

The Steelers picked up 26 yards and a first down on their next play to try and swing the pendulum back their way, but that was all they could muster. Still, their defense caught a second wind after getting a break at halftime and forced another punt, thanks to tackles for loss from Alex Highsmith and Watt. 

Another uninspiring drive from the Steelers ended in another punt, but Watt took the ball right back when he knocked the ball loose from Purdy on his third sack of the day. 

The Steelers took the turnover and drove deeper into San Francisco territory but their drive ultimately stalled and Pickett missed Freiermuth in the endzone on fourth and four and the 49ers took over on downs, leading by 20 as the game moved to the fourth quarter. 

Pickett completed five straight passes to move the offense up near midfield but he killed the possession with a brutal interception, thrown right to all-world linebacker Fred Warner as he blanketed Connor Heyward. Warner tipped the ball to Talanoa Hufanga and the 49ers returned the ball to the Steelers 45 yard line. 

Purdy led another methodical drive, taking San Francisco back into the redzone for another field goal to make it 30-7 with 5:34 to play as "Let's go Niners" chants rang out from 49ers fans who stuck around late into the fourth quarter. 

Pickett and the offense tacked on some yards in garbage time with completions to Pickens, Jaylen Warren and Allen Robinson but it did not affect the final score at all. San Francisco took over on downs with 1:09 left an knelt out the rest of their 30-7 win. 

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