49ers Notebook: Sky high after 3-0; Eddy Piñeiro enjoying the ride; Rookies making their mark; Pearsall caught that 34-yard pass... right?

The San Francisco 49ers have every reason to be thrilled with their 3-0 start, considering the circumstances.

The 49ers have managed to win their first three games despite not having quarterback Brock Purdy (toe, shoulder) for two of them. They're without a number of other injured starters, including tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee), and safety Malik Mustapha (knee). They were without wide receiver Jauan Jennings (shoulder, ankle) in their 16-15 home win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. They've had to start and/or give heavy reps to multiple rookies and recently acquired players. And they played two of their first three games on the road.

Despite that, they stand at 3-0 after three weeks, with a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the horizon. And they've done it in scrappy, hard-nosed fashion, pulling out three close wins against plenty of adversity.

"I've just been so proud of the guys in all three games," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the win over the Cardinals on Sunday. "All three of those games are games that could have gone either way. We've had to overcome a lot in those games going into them with some injuries and some people we've lost during the games in all three. I think those were some of the games that I think we struggled to win last year, and to have three like that and to win all three, can't say enough about the guys in there."

The fact that two of those wins came against divisional opponents is icing on the cake. With Sunday's win over the Cardinals as well as a 17-13 Week 1 win at Seattle, the 49ers stand alone atop the NFC West, where every division rival has already taken a loss.

"Oh, it's big," Shanahan said. "I mean, they all count, but you like to say towards the end the division games count a little bit more. So, these are three wins that could have gone either way. Especially having two on the road and especially two in our own division. Really good start for us and we've just got to make sure to keep it up."

Their performance has been far from perfect, but there's reason to believe things will get better for the 49ers from here. There was one dark cloud looming over Sunday's win due to an undiagnosed knee injury to defensive end Nick Bosa, but given the fact that the team is still coming together while other players will be returning from injury in the weeks ahead, the 49ers feel like they are trending up.

"This team is not at its full potential," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said Sunday. "We're still trying to figure out who we are, too. It's been gritty and grimy, but we have found ways to figure things out and still finish with a win. We know we're not a finished product, but we're going to continue to grow, and right now we're doing that at 3-0 and 2-0 in our division. Which is a good place to be."

We're going to talk about a few of the players who have helped the 49ers get off to that 3-0 start and much more in this version of 49ers Notebook, starting with their new kicker and a couple of rookies that made a big impact against the Cardinals on Sunday.

49ers are finally kicking with confidence

It's quite possible and maybe even very likely that there won't be a more important in-season roster move made by the 49ers in 2025 than the decision to waive kicker Jake Moody after Week 1 and replace him with veteran Eddy Piñeiro.

After entering the league as a third-round pick of the 49ers in 2023, Moody entered the season on thin ice after an erratic end to the 2022 season. The 49ers decided they had seen enough of Moody after he missed a 27-yard field goal and had another field goal blocked in the Week 1 win in Seattle, and fortunately they had one of the league's most accurate field goal kickers in Piñeiro available to take his place.

Piñeiro's first kick with the 49ers, an extra point attempt in the 26-21 Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints, sailed wide right. But Piñeiro has been perfect since then, and his kicks have been sailing through the uprights with confidence. On Sunday, Piñeiro played a huge role in the win over the Cardinals, nailing a 35-yard game-winning field goal as time expired after hitting two field goals earlier in the game, one of them from 51 yards.

Why was Piñeiro, who had an 88.3 percent success rate on field goals coming into the season, waiting for a job opportunity to start the season? Who knows, but it doesn't seem to matter after already having a game-winner under his belt with the 49ers.

"I was sitting on a couch three weeks ago, watching the first game of the season, and now I'm here," Piñeiro said Sunday. "It's a blessing and I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to come here and show what I can do."

The 49ers and Piñeiro are still getting to know each other, but they've obviously already seen enough to feel like they can trust him to make clutch kicks. The 49ers made it easier for him Sunday after running back Christian McCaffrey made a catch during the game's last drive that moved the ball from the 36-yard line to the 16, but they likely would have had no problem calling on him from any distance after they had gotten within field goal range.

"I was confident," Shanahan said Sunday. "We don't have a lot of life experiences together, but yeah, I was feeling good with it and he definitely kept that going. We were in field goal range earlier before that. Loved the screen that Christian did, the guys blocked great for him, got it in there, made it easier, and then we centered it and he hit the game winner."

Piñeiro has a little swagger to him as well, as he showed with his celebration after the game-winning kick.

"He seems like it, carries himself that way," Shanahan said. "He was cool breaking down the team there at the end. But, we've enjoyed him here in these two weeks and liked how he's handled himself. You definitely like guys even more when they make kicks."

For Piñeiro, his approach to Sunday's game-winning kick was simple -- make it, or else.

"Yeah, I mean, I know I have to make the kick. If not, I probably won't be here," Piñeiro said. "Just have to make kicks, like I said a week ago. So, I'm just happy that I'm able to make some kicks and, and I can be here and enjoy the ride."

While Moody still has the potential and the powerful leg to become the kicker the 49ers hoped he'd be when they drafted him, Piñeiro is already well on his way towards giving the team a level of confidence in their kicker they may not have had since Robbie Gould. They already know he can nail a game-winner if they need him to do so again.

"Yeah, I've had many," Piñeiro said. "Of course, you know, the more game winners you have, the more experience you have. But this one felt great and I'm super excited that the team was able to put me in position, because it's not just me, it's our O-line and our D-line, and we did well today."

If a dog's gonna bite, he's gonna bite as a pup

While the 49ers are still waiting for a number of their rookie players to make an impact (due in part to injuries), a number of them have already proven they will be valuable contributors for the rest of the season and beyond.

Defensive lineman and first-round pick Mykel Williams is looking like a hit, as he has made an impact against the run while being disruptive against the pass. Defensive tackles Alfred Collins (Round 2) and C.J. West (Round 4) haven't had the reps and impact that Williams has had, but all three made their presence felt at times on Sunday.

Here's another look at Williams making a stop on a third down play in the third quarter against the Cardinals.

In the secondary it's been fifth-round pick Marques Sigle, who has been a starter at safety and had seven tackles on Sunday, and third-round pick Upton Stout, who has filled a role at nickelback. Stout came up with one of the biggest plays of the game against the Cardinals when he broke up a pass on third down that forced a punt after the Cardinals took a 15-13 lead on a late fourth quarter safety.

"It was unbelievable," Shanahan said of Stout. "I mean, they had him beat on the play. He had some separation. That's how kind of Upton's been with everything. Just never quits, never stopped, ate up the cushion. I didn't get to see, but it looked like he raked out the ball when the guy was bringing it down in transition. Huge game, wouldn't have been able to win it without that play."

Linebacker Fred Warner summed it up by correctly pointing out that the game probably would have been over had Stout not made that play.

"That was it right there," Warner said. "I think we knew if we couldn't get off the field on that drive, that the game would probably pretty much be sealed, given where the time in the game and the amount of timeouts we had left. So, Upton Stout came up with a huge, big-time PBU [pass break up] there on that throw and gave our offense a chance."

While veterans like Warner, Bosa, linebacker Dee Winters, and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir have remained the backbone of the defense through three games, the rookies have done their part in making this defense look better than expected after a heavy amount of turnover following the 2024 season. Hopefully it will become part of the weekly routine the rest of the way.

"I think it speaks to the work that they've all put in and their maturity," Warner said. "I have to give it to them and the way that they've prepared which has allowed them to come in and be ready for their moments. They don't play like rookies. They are coming in week in and week out making these big time plays and we're going to need them to continue to do so."

Better safe than sorry

One of the biggest highlights of the game against the Cardinals for the 49ers was wide receiver Ricky Pearsall's 34-yard catch on a 4th-and-2 that set up the first 49ers touchdown in the fourth quarter. But at the time, there was uncertainty on their end as to whether or not Pearsall made the catch.

"They were telling me it was dicey towards the sidelines, so that's why we hurried up and ran a play," Shanahan said. "I never got to see the replay or anything, but it was a big-time throw, big-time catch."

What did Pearsall think? Did he have control??

"I have no idea. I didn't see the entire replay," Pearsall said. "I just knew it was in my hands and, you know, I thought I caught it so I didn't get to see if I had like full maintain of the ball, but yeah, I think it was a catch."

Quick friends

Pearsall and fellow wide receiver Kendrick Bourne have only been teammates for a couple weeks, but it already seems like they have known each other for much longer.

Bourne, who signed with the 49ers on September 9 to help boost numbers at the banged-up receiver position, seems to have struck up an instant rapport with Pearsall. Bourne has seemingly been a well-liked player throughout his career, and he's proven to be a good match for Pearsall.

"I feel like I've known the dude for a long time, but I've really only known him for like a week," Pearsall said Sunday. "He's a great dude, you know. He's always smiling and laughing and that's what I'm about. He's one of those energy guys, good dudes to be around. And, you know, you're going to hear him when you when you're in the media room with him, when you're in the huddle with him and it just makes me play more free as well. We're just enjoying the game and that's what it's about."

Meanwhile, Bourne has been impressed with Pearsall, who caught eight passes for 117 yards on Sunday.

"Oh my goodness," Bourne said. "He is impressive. Just even coming in with his energy. We connected. We were dancing and enjoying each other. We came up with a handshake so fast. I'm proud of him and I told him how impressive it is that he is doing what he is doing at his age. I told him his
conditioning, his stamina are top tier and if he can play like that, he's going to have a great career, get paid and make a lot of money."

What will Bourne's role with the 49ers be for the rest of the season? It could diminish once Aiyuk returns and once Demarcus Robinson comes back from suspension, but he's made his presence felt since rejoining the team he spent his early NFL years with.

"Kendrick was awesome (Sunday)," Shanahan said. "Kendrick seemed pretty good every time we went to him. Thought there was one low one I would've loved him to catch on one third down I believe. But, K.B. just in these two weeks, every time we've gone to him, he's made some big plays. Love how he steps back to the ball and love how he finishes after."

Go easy on him

Christian McCaffrey would absolutely prefer the punishment he's gotten through the first three weeks of the season over what he went through in 2024, but that doesn't mean he feels particularly great about it.

After missing most of the 2024 season due to injuries, the 49ers have been leaning heavily on McCaffrey through three weeks. On Sunday, he carried the ball 17 times for 52 yards while catching 10 passes for 88 yards, all while taking a beating at the hands of the Cardinals.

After the game, McCaffrey was asked if he happened to enjoy the type of punishment he took on Sunday.

"No, I do not," McCaffrey said emphatically to laughter. "Yeah. No. I don't like getting hit. I don't want to get hit. I mean we sometimes there's games where, you know, you take a lot of shots, sometimes there's not, but I feel great right now and, um, you know, once again I think just the nature of the beast is sometimes, uh, when it rains it pours."

Quarterback Mac Jones has been impressed with McCaffrey's toughness on gamedays and in practice and has learned some lessons from him along the way.

"We were both in the cold tub next to each other," Jones said. "I was asking him, like, 'You took a lot of hits.' He's like, 'Yeah, I'll be good though.' He's just tough... that's just who he is and he takes care of his body the best I've ever seen. Every day and I've learned a lot about the body and what you need to do to get ready for the next game."