MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 11. Myles Garrett recorded 23.5 sacks last season. Against Trent Williams on Friday, he recorded zero pressures. Zero. It was the first time since 2018 that Garrett finished a game without a single pressure, according to analyst Warren Sharp, and Williams did it across 27 pass rush snaps.
The 49ers beat the Rams 27-7 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, but the individual battle in the trenches told its own story. Williams, at 38, shut down one of the most disruptive defensive ends in football. Garrett said after the game that his knee didn't feel 100 percent. Williams didn't notice, or at least didn't care. "He's still really hard to block," Williams said.
The left tackle's day was defined by more than just the matchup with Garrett. San Francisco's offense put together a 15-play, 99-yard drive capped by a Deebo Samuel touchdown, the kind of possession that sets a tone for a season. Williams admitted he wasn't fully present for it. He was fighting cramps.
"I didn't even know we went 99," Williams said. "Well, I ain't gonna say I didn't know. It didn't dawn on me because as soon as he scored, I tried to head to the locker room to get an IV."
Once the IV was in and the cramps faded, Williams could appreciate what the drive meant. "That's what we're capable of," he said. "When you're running the ball effectively, you're passing off of it, you can do things like that."
The win wasn't without cost. Tight end Jake Tonges suffered a severe right knee injury late in the second quarter and was carted off after reaching the sideline. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said he believed Tonges suffered an MCL injury, though he stopped short of a full diagnosis. "It wasn't good," Shanahan said. "There's some issues with it that we've got to see how it is. There's a little more information to it, but we don't know yet."
Tonges needed assistance leaving the field after he leg-whipped Garrett, ducking and hitting the pass rusher's thigh with the back of his lower right leg. The timing is awkward for San Francisco. All-Pro tight end George Kittle is easing his way back from a torn Achilles suffered in January, and he admitted after the game he wasn't in great playing shape. Kittle had two catches for 12 yards on five targets.
Tonges was coming off a breakout season. The 2022 undrafted free agent had 34 catches for 293 yards and five touchdowns last year, including the game-winning touchdown catch in a 17-13 season-opening win at Seattle. He signed a two-year, $8 million extension in March. Behind Kittle and Tonges, the 49ers have Luke Farrell, a six-year veteran who had 11 catches for 85 yards in his first season with the team in 2025.
Samuel, meanwhile, answered questions about whether he had anything left. He left for Washington after the 2024 season, was viewed as an aging star, and re-signed with San Francisco in August to a backdrop of fans calling him washed. On Friday he caught six balls for 48 yards and a touchdown, ran once up the gut for 12 yards, and returned two kicks for 74 yards.
"Deebo is a dog, man," rookie running back Kaelon Black said. "Swiss Army knife, for sure."
Samuel's night carried extra weight because rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling was carted off with an ankle injury. At 30, Samuel might not be expected to produce like this every week, especially as the season grinds on. But for one night in Melbourne, he looked like the player who defined San Francisco's offense a few years ago.
"From training camp from the day that I got here, they welcomed me with open arms," Samuel said. "Like I said earlier when I got here, it felt like I never left. I was really only gone for seven months and right back."
The defense had its own reunion. Linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw played together up the middle for the first time in nearly two years, after Greenlaw spent last season with Denver. Their connection showed up in the fourth quarter. Greenlaw wrapped up Rams tight end Tyler Higbee, and Warner came through to punch the ball out for a fumble. The 49ers were up 17 at that point, and the turnover effectively ended the game.
Asked if he had held Higbee up deliberately so Warner could sneak under and poke the ball free, Greenlaw didn't hesitate. "No doubt. I know he's coming. That's exactly what the mindset was."
Greenlaw finished with six tackles. Warner had 11 and was credited with the forced fumble. The numbers don't capture the comfort level between two players who spent six seasons together before a year apart. They looked like they'd never been separated.
According to Yahoo Sports.