The 4 biggest surprises about the 49ers a month into the season

The San Francisco 49ers beginning the season undefeated isn’t surprising. The Rams looked like a team that had just gotten off a 16-hour flight. The Dolphins and Cardinals were feisty at best. And Bo Nix was gunshy.

All eyes will be focused on the Seattle Seahawks, but let’s look at the biggest surprises during the first month of the season that led to the Niners entering Week 5 undefeated.

We just watched how the Denver Broncos operate offensively. They’ve allowed five sacks all year. The biggest difference is Bo Nix hasn’t had to scramble the same way Brock Purdy has. The 49ers have the eighth-highest scramble percentage in the NFL. That matches the eye test. Credit to the offensive line, but Purdy could’ve easily been sacked 5-6 times this season. The fact that he hasn’t is a Christmas miracle and easily the biggest surprise this season.

Only 13 more games to tie Dan Marino.

A lot of love for the offensive line, and rightfully so. A healthy Puni looks like a borderline All-Pro. According to Sports Info Solution’s total points earned metric, Puni has been the best lineman on the Niners and the 12th-best in the NFL.

Seven spots behind him isn’t Trent Williams; it’s Jake Brendel, who has one of the lowest blown-block rates in the league. Brendel is the third-best center.

After Brendel is Connor Colby, who looks like a completely different player from a season ago, Colby is more assertive, and it’s paying off.

Next is Colton McKivitz, who hasn’t really had the “lookout” blocks in pass protection that we’ve seen in years past.

Puni has earned 10 points, Brendel has 9, and the other two have 8. Williams sits at 6. We know his job is harder because the 49ers leave Trent on an island and put more on his plate.

Despite being isolated, Williams has the lowest pressure rate allowed this season at 3.5% among any left tackle. His blown blocks have come against some funky defensive looks, where slants and stunts have crossed his face.

Still, the offensive line is more than holding its own. They’ve been a weapon late in games.

In Week 4, Raheem Morris used 6-man pressures 13.6% of the time. In 2025, Brian Flores used 6-man pressures 13.9% of the time. So, for a game, Morris was effectively Flores.

Some fans have been concerned about the lack of sacks, but the illusion of pressure has worked in Morris’s favor. The two-minute drill to end the first half is a great example. He blitzed Nix on four consecutive plays last week. There were no sacks, but there were four incompletions in a row. We’re seeing free rushers, which shows the scheme is working.

Above all, we’re not seeing some of the defense’s weak links exposed the way they were a season ago. A month into the season, Morris feels like an upgrade.

The feather in Morris’s cap has been erasing deep passes. The 49ers have allowed a league-low 33% completion percentage on downfield passes this season. The only other team to allow a rate below 40% is the Niners’ opponent this Sunday.

We’ve also seen Morris adapt to his personnel. Keion White lines up everywhere. Literally. He’s the only player in the NFL to play at least 10% of his snaps at four different spots. Morris has also logged more Dime snaps (19) already this season than Saleh did all last year (17).

Base personnel is up, too. Morris is using it 35.7% of the time, compared to Saleh’s 18.5%.

Above all, we’re not seeing some of the defense’s weak links exposed the way they were a season ago. A month into the season, Morris feels like an upgrade.

The 49ers offense was expected to be potent. De’Zhaun Stribling and Ricky Pearsall would complement Mike Evans. We’ve seen early and often why they brought in Evans, but it’s been a one-man band. The 49ers dwarf the rest of the league in EPA per pass.

But they’re not relying on the speed of Pearsall and Stribling. Shanahan’s scheme has gotten the best of everybody. Evans is a big reason why. George Kittle’s screen pass to end Week 4 highlights how Shanahan is always two steps ahead of his competition.

What’s getting swept under the rug is that the 49ers sit sixth in rushing success rate. It’s a metric they were abysmal at a season ago.

When the Niners suffered all their injuries last year, they were bottom three in every meaningful statistic. This year they are anywhere between 17th and 19th. Hovering around average has been good enough. As they get healthier, they should start to creep closer to 10th, but kudos to Raheem Morris for bending, not breaking, on that side of the ball.