Battered 49ers limp home with plenty of swagger at 2-0 after gutty win in New Orleans

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NEW ORLEANS -- Fred Warner had to wipe away tears as he walked off the field at the Superdome, he was so overcome with emotion.

The walking-wounded San Francisco 49ers are 2-0 -- with both wins on the road -- after hanging on to beat the New Orleans Saints 26-21 in front of a lot of Niners fans on Sunday.

Ricky Pearsall, meanwhile, was taking it all in, smiling ear to ear.

"On that last drive that they had, it got actually pretty loud for us," Pearsall said. "How cool is that?"

Pretty cool, especially after things had gotten a little warm and uncomfortable just an hour earlier, three minutes into the third quarter.

After Mac Jones had held on to the ball too long and fumbled, left tackle Trent Williams and right guard Dominick Puni both walked gingerly back to the sideline, right before the Saints cut the deficit to 16-14.

Did the 49ers simply have too many injuries to do it again?

They were already without Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk before losing fullback Kyle Juszczyk (concussion) and guard Ben Bartch (ankle) Sunday. And Williams hadn't practiced all week with a sore knee and ...

But it didn't matter, thanks to Jones' swagger and three touchdown passes, along with timely defensive plays by Warner, Nick Bosa and Bryce Huff.

"Mac made such big plays. ... To put up 26 points, that's going to be winning football for us every week," Warner said.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said "there is a chance" Purdy will be back from his turf toe injury for next Sunday's home opener against the Arizona Cardinals, but the defense will give this team a chance to win if he is back this week or next.

There were definitely lapses, as Alvin Kamara averaged 4.7 yards per carry, and Spencer Rattler threw a career-high three touchdown passes (two would have been a career high as well for the accuracy-challenged QB, now 0-8 as a starter). But Warner punched out the ball from Kamara in the third quarter, Bosa sacked Rattler on third down with 3:50 left and Warner broke up a pass on third-and-1 with 1:07 left.

That set up fourth-and-1 for the game, and as Bosa said, "We saved our best pass rush of the game for the last play."

The entire pocket collapsed, with Huff getting to Rattler and knocking the ball loose.

"Just be one of 11 guys doing your job -- nobody has to be Superman," Warner said. "They're the ones that have to be Superman in those moments. All the pressure is on them, especially without a run game (due to the clock)."

The defense also got a boost when Thomas Morstead's two punts in the final five minutes pinned the Saints back at the 11- and 6-yard-line, respectively.

"It was a huge, big-time win," Shanahan said. "Lots of stuff went good in the game, lots of stuff went real bad. I thought every phase, offense, even special teams, really contributed in that win. That was real cool.

"Fred's turnover was huge. And those two punts at the end were huge. Everyone had their part in doing not great, but everyone also had their part in doing really well, which ended in a win, and it was a hell of a deal."

Christian McCaffrey contributed 107 total yards as well as a touchdown grab just before halftime. Early in the fourth quarter, the Saints worried too much about McCaffrey's route, springing receiver Jauan Jennings free down the middle for a 42-yard TD catch-and-run that made it 26-14.

McCaffrey and Bosa both mentioned Jones' "swagger" and "fun energy," and the veteran has fit in well with the team's competitive practices.

It starts with Warner and trickles on down.

"All our guys have bruises on their arms after practice because Fred is always trying to punch the ball out at practice," Pearsall said.

On Warner's forced fumble, Kamara caught the ball on a swing pass at a weird angle and was trying to bring the ball down from near his head when the thundering footsteps of Warner got louder and louder.

"I came in thinking I was going to catch the ball when it flies off his head, but time kind of slowed down, and I was able to punch it out," Warner said. "I knew he was still up -- that's why they didn't show it on the big screen."

The defense could have put the game on ice the next time it took the field, up 26-14, but two third-down penalties helped the Saints get downfield on a touchdown drive that will give defensive coordinator Robert Saleh plenty to yell about this week.

"It was a little sloppy at times ... (but) there is no better feeling than for us to close it on the road," Bosa said.

The whole thing made Shanahan nostalgic, recalling a 48-46 win at New Orleans in 2019, when both teams entered at 10-2.

"One of my favorite times in my career was 2019, how many fans we had here, how loud that game was," Shanahan said, "and then watching them on Bourbon Street after. And then coming back from our walk-through on the bus yesterday, just seeing a bunch of groups of Niner fans walking around."

The crowd was at least a 50-50 split, and the 49ers didn't have to resort to the silent count on offense.

And on defense, the crowd just had to match Warner's yelling and energy.

"We have so much to clean up, but it's great to do that after a win," Warner said.