49ers are first place in talent, cap space, and wins

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-7 on Sunday, and goodness, it was never even that close. QB Brock Purdy looked flawless in his return from injury, RB Christian McCaffrey and WR Brandon Aiyuk lit up the stat sheet, the upgraded defensive line recorded 5 sacks, and an uncertain special teams unit turned in perfect marks in every phase.

Nick Bosa played 32 snaps under his new mega-contract as the NFL's premier edge rusher, and the only time Pittsburgh was able to build any momentum at all was when Bosa sat out at the end of the first half. LT Trent Williams took a brief breather after an apparent injury, but returned just a few snaps later. TE George Kittle and CB Charvarius Ward, both questionable going into the game, played full roles without incident. Even WR Ray-Ray McCloud, whose start to the season remained questionable due to a broken hand, started the season at full capacity, single-handedly saving a potential botched punt return and delivering this massive block to spring McCaffrey for a touchdown:


After yet another offseason full of drama and hand-wringing, the 49ers left remarkably little to worry over in their season debut. The Lance discussion has been left behind, seemingly for good. Robbie Gould's departure seems less impactful with rookie kicker Jake Moody going 6-of-6 in his debut (3 field goals, 3 extra points), including a rare double-icing before his first NFL field goal try. And with injury seemingly the only opponent that can reliably take down San Francisco, the Niners turned in a clean sheet on Sunday, with no post-game injuries after CB Ambry Thomas cleared his concussion tests.

Which makes it almost unfair that the 49ers now have the most cap space in the NFL, after a set of shrewd contractual moves last week. After finalizing Bosa's heavily-backloaded, "triple option" contract, San Francisco executed restructures of Arik Armstead, George Kittle, and Trent Williams, freeing up a significant chunk of money for the 2023 season. They now have over $40 million in cap space to work with this year for in-season trades and signings. There should be no issues with running out of depth in pursuit of a championship, and the Niners can still add a star or three this year if they need to, giving them a rare combination of strength and flexibility in their roster construction.

All of that adds up to the most optimistic 1-0 start I've ever had the privilege of experiencing in my two and a half decades as a Niners fan. Last year, I wrote that the 49ers had never been so prepared for a Super Bowl run. Now, they're even stronger. Purdy is legit, the roster is even better, the NFC is open for the taking, and San Francisco shares a lead in the West that'll take a monumental shift to lose control of. This is still football, and momentum still takes you only as far as the first snap of next week's game. But right now, Niners fans shouldn't just be excited - they should be ecstatic.