San Francisco 49ers Create New Narrative with Win over Cowboys in Week 1

The San Francisco 49ers reminded the world that sensational narratives aren’t restricted to fictional love dramas between vampires, werewolves and high school teenagers.

Thankfully, their sometimes tight-lipped but otherwise insightful and articulate head coach, Jim Harbaugh, reinforced the notion that all relevant Niners storylines are game-related.

San Francisco opened its 2014 NFL campaign with a dominant 28-17 victory on the road over the Dallas Cowboys. In between quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s near-flawless execution and the defense’s takeaway-driven performance, the 49ers showed their gridiron play remains in the NFL’s upper echelon.

Yet, mere hours before Sunday’s kickoff, another report surfaced with details of more conflict and dysfunction surrounding this team.

According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, via NFL.com’s Marc Sessler, sources told him that Harbaugh “is already losing the locker room.” Rapoport cited veteran players being “irked” by the joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens and a general “lack of respect” over how Harbaugh treats them.

The 49ers’ fourth-year head coach calmly responded to the report when asked about it from various members of the media during the postgame press conference, via CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco:

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I don’t think it comes from our players. We got the kind of relationship where they can come and talk to me about it. They have before, consistently in the past. And if they have an idea or something they don’t think is right, or something they think we can do better, they come and talk to us. That’s what I see from our players.

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Harbaugh then offered some insight into human nature and where the makeup of this team is actually found.

“Sometimes people hate you. Sometimes people love you. A lot of times they don’t even know you,” he said via The Sacramento Bee’s Matt Barrows. “Some people think you’re good. Some people think you’re bad. That’s opinion. That’s talk. This was a game.”

He wasn’t finished.

"There’s been a lot of rhetoric on a lot of different topics, and a lot of opinions,” Harbaugh said per Cam Inman of MercuryNews.com. This game was about steel in the spine, and when it comes to 49ers players, that’s where they excel. They’ve got titanium in the spine."

But if you think this was merely an expected deflection from the shrewd-operating Harbaugh, just listen to the esteemed veterans on this squad, per Maiocco.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who led the 49ers with 99 yards receiving and a host of pivotal grabs on third down, said during the televised presser that Harbaugh is the primary reason he returned for his 11th NFL season.

Frank Gore, who became only the 10th player in league history with over 10,000 career-rushing yards in 10 years with his original team, noted that Harbaugh is a “great coach.”

But it’s Justin Smith—the seventh-year 49er who terrorized the Cowboys with two sacks, suffocating run defense and one of Pro Football Focus’ highest awarded grades in Week 1 (subscription required)—who said it best:

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That’s the way the world is…You have some success and [they] try to tear it down. We have no problem. Everything seems gravy to us. We’ll let the outside world run wild with that and turn it into a soap opera. We don’t know what’s going on. It’s news to us, too.

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At least there’s no tearing down of any success when it comes to the 49ers' collective performance in Dallas.

Kaepernick completed 11 of 13 passes with two touchdowns and a near-perfect 156.6 passer rating through the first two quarters. It was the highest-rated half of his career, according to Inman. He finished with a 93.5 QBR, outpacing every other quarterback during the first week of the season.

Oh, and Kaep also went “through [his] progressions,” connecting with Boldin, Michael Crabtree and third option Stevie Johnson, per Barrows. He offered a sarcastic—but playful—smile.

Furthermore, rookie running back Carlos Hyde displayed explosive ability with seven carries for 50 yards and a touchdown. Inman notes that Vernon Davis was the last 49ers rookie who logged a score on opening day back in 2006. The Pro Bowl tight end added two touchdowns of his own on Sunday.

Even though the offensive line and overall defensive play against the run were less than stellar, there was little room for any negative evaluations following this game.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Niners’ smothering work in pass coverage was especially impressive. Safety Eric Reid, linebacker Patrick Willis and cornerback Perrish Cox each tallied an interception. Those three, not to mention safety Antoine Bethea and rookie corner Dontae Johnson, all earned positive grades from Pro Football Focus.

More so, Cox and Johnson accomplished their notable feats as injury replacements. They came in for starting corners Tramaine Brock (toe) and Chris Culliver (concussion) and combined for 111 dominant snaps.

Pro Football Focus

Secondary coach Ed Donatell praised his unit’s valiant efforts.

“Super job of guys filling in,” Donatell said, per Inman. “You’ve also got to credit (safeties) Eric Reid and Antoine Bethea because they held it together. It’s unfortunate when you lose guys.”

That said, Culliver did return Dan Skuta’s forced fumble of DeMarco Murray 35 yards for a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage. Both he and rookie slot corner Jimmie Ward looked strong before leaving with concussions.

First-year pass-rusher Aaron Lynch did his part as well with a quarterback hurry and a deflection at the line of scrimmage. This was a great sign for the Red and Gold in light of Aldon Smith’s nine-game suspension.

On a final note, this matchup was decidedly over at halftime. The 49ers didn’t score in the second half because there wasn’t any need.

Then again, they did execute a clock-eating, fourth-quarter drive featuring Gore and Hyde. The methodical series only went for naught due to a rare missed field goal from Phil Dawson.

And lest we forget, Tony Romo’s lone touchdown pass was only made possible following a dubious “illegal contact” penalty on backup safety Craig Dahl during an otherwise halted 3rd-and-21.

In other words, the final score should have been 31-10.

So, we ask you, what’s the real narrative when it comes to the 49ers in 2014?

After an offensive explosion, defensive showcase and double-digit, rhetoric-squashing beatdown of “America’s Team” on opening day, we reckon it has something to do with the game of football.

All team and player stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference and ESPN.com. Advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Joe Levitt is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, waxing academic, colloquial and statistical eloquence on the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him on Twitter @jlevitt16