Evan Silva’s Matchups: Jets at 49ers

Editor’s Note: This Matchup was written by John Daigle, with input from Evan Silva.

Monday Night Football

New York Jets @ San Francisco

Team Totals: Jets 19.5, 49ers 24

Kyle Shanahan’s play-calling goes head-to-head with Jets HC Robert Saleh, who’s familiar with the organization’s day-to-day practices for his time there as DC (2017-2020). New York’s defense presents a season-opening nightmare for Brock Purdy after limiting opposing offenses to 5.9 yards per attempt (third) and 5.0 yards per play (fourth) in 2023. Disgruntled EDGE Haason Reddick’s holdout trickling into the season at least removes double-digit sacks in four consecutive years from this pass rush; Will McDonald IV logged 19% of defensive snaps in Year 1 and failed to add the 15 pounds he promised (at 235). Even with LT Trent Williams in the mix, Purdy’s bull case stems entirely from Shanahan’s system. … Christian McCaffrey leads the league in carries (343), yards from scrimmage (2,478), total touchdowns (26), and first downs (134) since joining the Niners in Week 7 of the 2022 season and is “doing great” (per GM John Lynch) upon returning to practice from his August calf/Achilles scare despite the team’s signing of veteran castaway Matt Breida. Hampered by a quad injury during the postseason, the world has not seen CMC at full strength since December. His range of outcomes includes last year’s 21.9 per-week touches and/or ceding reps to backup RB Jordan Mason, who has exploded for 5.8 yards per touch (on 86 touches) since being drafted in 2022. Mason is a priority stash on managed rosters regardless of McCaffrey’s (supposed) health. For what it’s worth, we’re projecting fourth-rounder Isaac Guerendo for two carries off the bench.