The 49ers maintained their position atop the NFC West on Sunday night with a prime-time 20-10 win at Levi’s Stadium over the visiting Atlanta Falcons.
The defense, playing without injured captains Fred Warner (ankle) and Nick Bosa (knee), slowed down Bijan Robinson and the Falcons offense, and Christian McCaffrey led the team in rushing (129 yards, two touchdowns) and receiving (seven catches, 72 yards).
Tatum Bethune assumed Warner’s role in the middle of the defense and led the 49ers with 10 tackles.
Mac Jones had a second consecutive muted game in place of the injured Brock Purdy, completing 17-of-26 passes for 152 yards and a tipped interception. That was all well and good because the defense bottled up Robinson (40 rushing yards) and the Falcons.
Here’s what the 49ers had to say after the win:
Kyle Shanahan
On the win:
I challenged the team, saying I’d like to get 40 runs called. But that’s not just an offensive thing. In order to do that, you got to play defense like we did tonight. You got to play special teams like we did tonight.
On Chase Lucas:
You know he wanted that pick six but hell of a job, just being ready, losing Stout late in the week, being ready for his op.
On Tatum Bethune:
Tatum’s a real good linebacker. We were excited to get him out of college, we were excited having him all last year when he made the team and we’ve been excited about this offseason. So you never know when your op’s going to come. And unfortunately, his came with a bad injury to fred, but he’s been ready for this moment for a while and no one doubted him at all.
On Warner making an appearance:
I loved having Fred here. I saw him on the scoreboard up there. It was cool. He got a big cheer from the crowd. He had a big surgery this week, and we saw him on Saturday when he got back in the building.
On slowing Bijan Robinson:
He’s as good as there is, everyone knows that. You need 11 guys swarming to the ball. That guy gets too much space, it’s just hard to touch him. I thought we limited the space he got.
On Kittle’s blocking:
It always helps having Kittle back, as good of a blocker as there is. Other guys have been doing good too, though, so not to take anything away from them in terms of the run game.
On McCaffrey’s key catch late:
He actually tried to come out on the play. He never came out a number of thimes in the game. We never sent him back once, except for that play. I looked at him and said “go back, as long as you’re not hurt.” And he went back. It was a hell of a play, hell of a throw.
On what he saw as the o-line pulled McCaffrey for a score:
I saw a pile, and I saw the pile moving across the goal line. So I was happy.
Tatum Bethune
On his confidence:
I’ve been playing in big games since a little kid, man. Only thing I thought about was having Fred’s back and just make sure I play to the standard, man.
On filling in for Warner:
I just want to be Tatum Bethune. Fred’s done so much on this defense and made so many plays, and I want to do the same thing. I don’t want to be Fred, but I also want to to make plays the same way he does, and it’s inspiring. You don’t see linebackers do that around the league and he’s one of a kind. I’m just excited to be able to learn from him for a year and a half, and now it was my chance to learn and be able to make those types of plays.
On his game:
I was emotional before the game. I even cried before the game because I’m thanking God for this opportunity. It’s unfortunate Fred got hurt but it’s also opportunity for me to be able to expand and get better while I can before he gets back.
On the 49ers’ standard:
That violent football, run and hit. You know, 49ers are playing, especially games like this, Sunday Night Football, we show out. And I just wanted to make sure he had that same energy Fred brings to the defense and I guess we showed it tonight.
On the Warner jerseys:
Shout out to Dee Winters. Two days before, he told me he got a shirt for me. He wore the 54 jersey and it was a great idea for me to wear the 48 rookie jersey.
On Warner:
He showed up in a meeting room, surprised us. When a guy gets surgery, they don’t show up for a while.
Christian McCaffrey
On his key catch late:
I was about to come off the field and then came back in. Called that. Mac did a great ball, perfectly on time. … Yeah, I figured it was something. But it was a great call and a great time based on the defense that they’ve been playing in the red zone.
On the o-line backups stepping up:
I don’t know how many rotations we had today, but everybody who came in and stepped up did such a great job.
On Connor Colby pulling him into the end zone:
That’s a huge strain play for a guy like that, who’s in there, busting his ass, man. And those are the kind of plays that are just character plays.
On the backups stepping in well:
It’s a testament to the leadership. You have guys like Fred or Bosa come out and you got young guys and guys who haven’t been in that position step up the way they have.
On Bethune’s game:
When you sat behind one of the best linebackers to ever play, you get to see how he practices, how he prepares, how he studies tape, that’s a huge deal for a young guy to come in. And what a gift to have.
On Bethune and Winters:
They run and hit, you know, and that’s something that’s preached throughout the entire defense.
George Kittle
On his message to Connor Colby:
I said that was a great job and we’re going to get just a little bit better every single day. And that I expect to see him at our body maintenance on Mondays and Tuesdays because he does not kknow how to take care of his body yet as a professional athlete.
On Colby helping McCaffrey score:
Pulled him in there, didn’t he? Fantastic. That’s a good Iowa guy. Love it.
On the run game and his blocking:
My goal this week was CMC NFC player of the week. If I actually called that, that might be the best guess of all time. But I think 200 yards and two touchdowns has a shot for it.
On the defensive culture of the team:
The defense was so much fun to watch today because they were just flying around. … If you don’t play defense like that, you kind of stand out like a sore thumb.
On returning to the field:
I had so much fun playing football. It’s Sunday Night Football in Levi’s Stadium. I basically told the team. I was like “If you don’t have fun tonight, then you don’t have a pulse and you shouldn’t be in this locker room.”
On his zero-catch performance:
I thought with the game plan, based on the walkthrough, I thought I was going to have 150 yards and two touchdowns (laughs). So sorry, fantasy coaches and anybody that bet on me, my bad. Blame Kyle Shanahan, not me. … I would love to get the football. I love catching the ball. I love hitting people. I love running in open space. but like I said, if other guys are taking advantage of the opportunity and they’re winning their one-on-ones, I’ll take it.
On Fred Warner:
He is the aura-farming king (laughs). How about Fred Warner being shown on the scoreboard and we almost had to go on a silent count because we couldn’t hear a play call. How selfish of Fred Warner, goodness gracious.
On giving a team speech before his return game:
I don’t want to give the speech every single time. We have a lot of leaders on this team. We have a lot of voices on this team and I’ll speak when I need to but we have a lot of voices on the team that need to be heard and that will inspire people.
Mac Jones
On George Kittle:
George had a great impact in the run game. Obviously, want to get him some more footballs here, but we’ll get that going.
On backup center Matt Hennessy:
It was funny, we were talking this week about revenge week this week because he was in Atlanta and then sure enough, early in the game, he’s like “here we go.”
On Christian McCaffrey:
He definitely owes me some money (laughs). He fell down on those passes like that on the 2-yard line, so he wanted to run them in, but he did a great job. He’s an awesome, awesome competitor
On his knee and oblique injuries:
I definitely felt better. still feel like there’s some limitations to be honest but I’m working through it.
On finding success in his time spelling Purdy:
It means a lot. I think everybody on this team has had my back, Brock included, and just been so fun to work with Brock and everyone in the quarterbacks room. I’ve been fortunate to have some wins here, and we have been fortunate to have some wins.
On having fun at practice:
It’s very important I think that’s why you play, right? You play to have fun and win, and when you can do both, it’s really owesome. And even when you’re losing, you still have to go out there and enjoy the week of practice, enjoy the process.
