49ers Studs and Duds: Deebo Samuel is still the man for San Francisco

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are 3-0 for the first time since their NFC Championship-winning 2019 season, beating the Giants Thursday night 30-12 to lay claim to not only that record, but also the status as the league’s best team.

Here are the players that helped them win a difficult-at-times game in front of a national TV audience. (And a couple of players who didn’t have great games.)

Studs

RB Christian McCaffreyThere’s not much anyone can do to stop him. The Niners wisely used Elijah Mitchell more in this game, but it was still wildly evident when McCaffrey was in the game — he’s so much better than everyone else.

The Niners blocked well for CMC Thursday, but his ability to break tackles, run past defenders, and overpower them, too, is stunning to watch.

WR Ronnie BellNow that’s a home debut. Playing in place of Brandon Aiyuk, Bell caught his first touchdown as a professional, toe-tapping in the corner of the end-zone to give San Francisco a 10-3 lead in the first half.

Bell also made a great special teams play as a gunner, tackling the Giants returner on the San Francisco 10-yard line the series before the touchdown.

He’s no Aiyuk, but he’s a solid football player.

DT Javon HargraveThe big man has big skills. His second-quarter sack, where he effectively lifted 6-foot-4, 310-pound guard Shane Lemieux en route to Daniel Jones, perfectly encapsulates how good he’s been this season.

QB Brock PurdyThis was arguably Purdy’s worst game of the season. The 49ers still put 30 points on the board.

In the first half, he couldn’t connect on the 49ers’ bread-and-butter passing route — the dig — throwing above, below, behind, in front, but seemingly never on-target.

Of course, because he is magic, Purdy wasn’t punished for his mistakes. As we saw when his errant pass to Samuel bounced 20 feet in the air, Bell could catch it for a first down.

And when his play improved in the second half, the 49ers pulled away from an overmatched Giants team. He finished the day with 310 passing yards despite an average depth of target of fewer than five yards.

This might sound like naysaying. It is. But for what it’s worth, Purdy was the better quarterback on the field Thursday by a wide margin.

TE George KittleSeven catches for 90 yards. It was a vintage Kittle performance in a game where one was needed.

WR Deebo SamuelHe was asked to be the go-to man for the Niners in the pass game and did a brilliant job, despite not getting the best service from his quarterback, particularly early.

McCaffrey and Samuel alternated between brilliant individual efforts, with Samuel thrice breaking short passes into big gains.

He ended the day with 131 yards of total offense and a touchdown, which came on a sweet nine-route play in the late stages of the fourth quarter.

McCaffrey might be brilliant. Kittle had a breakout game, too. But Deebo is still the man for the 49ers’ offense.

Duds

LT Trent WilliamsThree penalties.

Three penalties?

I know only one counted, but that’s a jarring stat line.

Was Williams incredible as a blocker on Thursday? Of course. He’s one of the greatest tackles in the history of the game.

But we’re grading on the curve here, and three penalties (even if they didn’t burn the Niners) aren’t good.

Gunners Tre Swilling and Shemar Jean-Charles

We’re stretching here, but Swillings and Jean-Charles’ special teams penalties burned the Niners.

Swillings’ holding penalty buried the Niners deep in their own territory on the first series of the second half. Jean-Charles’ kick-catch interference penalty gave the Giants solid field position, which they quickly turned into their only touchdown of the game.

The RefsAnother set of off-setting penalties? Really?