San Francisco 49ers: Studs and duds vs. Panthers in Week 8

The San Francisco 49ers aced their biggest test yet with a dominant win over Carolina in Week 8. These were the Niners’ studs and duds in the victory.

Though the San Francisco 49ers entered a home game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 8 as the only undefeated team remaining in the NFC, the doubters about Kyle Shanahan’s team remained. After all, they had not played many great teams prior to Sunday, so how they fared against a hot Panthers team would tell us a lot about the 49ers.

They fared pretty well if winning by 38 points and hanging 51 on a good defensive team is what you consider impressive.

San Francisco submitted one of the most dominant efforts that the NFL has seen in the 2019 season, particularly when talking about playing a good team. The vaunted 49ers defense, led by Nick Bosa and the defensive line, wreaked havoc against Kyle Allen, getting pressure on him all day. The result was seven sacks, three interceptions and a long day at the office for the backup in Carolina.

While Jimmy Garoppolo was efficient and solid, the 49ers quarterback didn’t have to do too much thanks to his defense and the run game. The combination of Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida again proved to be a fearsome duo, perhaps one of the best in the league and the former notched a career day. Meanwhile, San Francisco was in such quality field position throughout the affair it was short fields for them to score on for much of the game.

It wasn’t a perfect effort for the 49ers but, considering the pressure to prove themselves and the level of competition, it was about as close as you can get to that without achieving it. With that in mind, though, let’s take a look at four major studs and a couple of minor duds from the San Francisco 49ers’ huge win over the Panthers in Week 8.