San Francisco, CA
NY Jets will face the full strength San Francisco 49ers to open season
Research (and common sense) would suggest that deadlines are strong motivators of behavior.
Current case in point, the San Francisco 49ers ended two holdouts just days before the first game of the season, locking up left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk for the next few seasons.
Combine those with the contract given earlier this offseason to running back Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers have essentially managed to run back all of the key players that led them to the Super Bowl just last season.
So after all that, it sounds like the 49ers will have McCaffrey, Williams and Aiyuk for the Jets game on Monday. Waiting on word if Montana and Rice are returning as well.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) September 3, 2024
Now there are two ways to look at this as a New York Jets fan whose team will square off against the 49ers next Monday.
- That it would’ve been a much easier game had even one of these players opted to skip it.
- That it now operates as a much better measuring stick of how good the new look New York Jets actually are.
This game is now harder to win for the Jets and there really isn’t any reason to argue otherwise. However, if the Jets can win then there won’t be any space for analysts, fans, or anyone else to explain away why this doesn’t mean that the New York Jets are actually that good because they’re seeing the 49ers at their best rather than with backups in key spots.
As the expression goes “to be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man.” And the 49ers have now set the Jets up with a chance to do just that by getting these deals done in time for Week 1. Now it’s time for the Jets to make good on all that offseason hope and show that they’re ready to compete with the best.