49ers cruise to victory over lacklustre Dolphins

San Francisco’s domination of the Super Bowl-favourite Los Angeles Rams in Australia was the league’s most eye-catching performance in opening week. The team looked strong on both sides of the ball and gave every reason to believe they would have no trouble in dealing with the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins began their rebuild with an honourable, although comprehensive defeat in Las Vegas, though a couple of their rookies showed their talent, in particular Caleb Douglas.

The tone was set for the afternoon when a promising Miami drive was ruined by a missed field goal, which gave the 49ers strong field position, not that they need it, to romp down the field with ease and allow Christian McCaffrey to dive into the end zone from a yard out.

The Dolphins’ offense put up a strong response, though, and this time were rewarded with some points, albeit only 3 of them.

Brock Purdy found the end zone for a rare rushing touchdown of his own as San Francisco began to break the game open, though Riley Patterson’s second field goal kept the away side within touching distance, trailing 14-6 at halftime.

There was little more for the Miami faithful to smile about thereafter, as the 49ers piled on 3 touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of the third quarter, via George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk and McCaffrey, with the star running back’s second coming on the back of a fumbled punt attempt by Bradley Pinion.

With the game well and truly beyond doubt as the teams entered the final term, San Francisco attempted to run the clock down as quickly as possible, while the Dolphins wanted to maintain their pride and take some confidence into next week.

Malik Willis found Ryan Miller for a 77-yard touchdown in the game’s dying stages, giving the travelling supporters something to cheer about, albeit ultimately nothing more than consolation, as the 49ers ran out as comprehensive 35-13 winners.

Kyle Shanahan’s team keep on rolling. While Miami certainly won’t be the toughest test they face all year, there were plenty of examples of strong teams lowering their colours against weaker opponents on Sunday across the league, but the 49ers didn’t play with their food and so far appear to be as tough a test as any in the NFL.

Touchdowns
Miami: Miller
San Francisco: McCaffrey 2, Purdy, Kittle, Juszczyk

Top Performers
Miami: Uche, Willis
San Francisco: McCaffrey, Purdy, Kittle, Stout

Injuries
Miami: Douglas (ankle), Beal Jr. (hamstring), Wright (unknown)
San Francisco: Robinson (leg), Evans (hip), Thompson Jr. (ankle), Height (hand), J. Jones (foot)

Crowd: TBC