SEATTLE — Besides George Kittle’s recruiting efforts, there was one clear reason why Mike Evans chose to make the 49ers only his second team in 13 NFL seasons.
“I feel like they’re one piece away,” he said back in March after signing up to catch passes from Brock Purdy for the next three years. “And I’m that piece.”
Evans already had a Hall-of-Fame resume. Now, Canton can add clairvoyance to his plaque.
The veteran receiver has added an element the 49ers, a team that has reached the Super Bowl twice in the last seven seasons, have never had. Will that be enough to put them over the top?
Mike Evans’ massive impact
There’s been a certain amount of awe emanating from the 49ers’ locker room ever since they pried Evans away from the Buccaneers. To most of his teammates, he isn’t Mike; he’s Mike Evans. He’s a novelty to be admired almost as much as he is one of the guys.
But he is also one of the guys. They still almost can’t believe it.
Turns out, professional football players get star-struck, too. And it hit a fever pitch Sunday afternoon, after Evans put a down-and-out receiving corps on his back and led the 49ers down the field against the Seahawks, pulling off something they couldn’t without him nine months ago.
Seven catches for 113 yards. Four for 75 and a 2-point conversion on the 12-play march to take the lead for good in a 32-29 win. Leaping acrobatics. Physical play. Separation created by size.
“A true X receiver,” Purdy said.
Christian McCaffrey, familiar with singular overpowering offensive performances, shook his head in appreciation as he took the podium after Evans following the game.
“That guy,” McCaffrey said, “is unbelievable.”
“He’s just a walking aura,” added linebacker Fred Warner. “I can’t help it. I’m on the sideline watching him do crazy stuff, I’m like, ‘We have Mike Evans.’ Like, I can’t believe it. He’s unreal. He literally doesn’t say anything. He just shows up every week and just works and then goes out there on Sunday and just dominates.”
And, we might add, does so with broken ribs that are very much still on the mend.
“It’s just what I’m here for,” Evans said. “I mean, I do feel like I’m one of the best receivers in the game. Hurt or not, I’m out there.”
The 33-year-old Evans was still out there after Deebo Samuel was forced out of the game with a hamstring. He was there after the 49ers lost another receiver, when Jacob Cowing hurt his ankle.
When the 49ers began their go-ahead drive, they were down to three receivers: Evans, Brandin Cooks, who was recently signed off the streets, and Jordan Watkins, who was inactive for their first two games. Kittle, to boot, was sick as a dog with flu-like symptoms.
All of the 68,000-plus in the stands, everybody on both sidelines and the coaching boxes — they knew who Purdy would have to get the ball to if the 49ers were going to pull this one out.
“I think the way Kyle called the drive there sort of would answer your question on that,” Purdy said. “We’ve got to get Mike the ball here, obviously.”
It didn’t matter. Evans was inevitable.
The drive began with an offensive pass interference that put them behind the chains. But the first-and-20 presented a chance to get Evans one-on-one with Josh Jobe, and Purdy gained the penalty back and more with a 15-yard connection. Shanahan schemed up more ways to get Evans into man coverage, and he exploited them like Shanahan hadn’t seen since Julio Jones.
Certainly not in these parts since … actually, who? Terrell Owens? Samuel, John Taylor and Jerry Rice are the only other 49ers with at least 113 yards and a TD in a win over Seattle.
Evans picked up a first down on another catch for nine yards. He leaped and twirled and plucked the ball out of the air as Jobe fell to the ground for 23. And, backed up by another penalty, Evans turned a second-and-21 into a first-and-goal with a back shoulder catch down the sideline for a gain of 28, the 49ers’ longest play of the day to set up their go-ahead TD.
He simply took over the game.
“That’s exactly it,” Shanahan said. “That’s exactly why he’s here.”
The 49ers put up more points in the win than in all three of their meetings last season (26). Evans wasn’t the only reason — four takeaways on the other side of the ball required all of 29 yards on five plays from the 49ers offense to score their first 21 points — but he was a big one.
Purdy was wobbly in the early going. Who did he find to steady himself? Evans, of course. The only two of his first seven pass attempts that he completed were to Evans, for a red-zone first down and touchdown. He went on to complete 17 of his final 22 attempts.
Purdy has a 149.9 passer rating on 34 targets to Evans this season, which according to CBS Sports research is the best of any of the NFL’s 55 QB-WR duos with at least 25 chances.
“As a quarterback, man,” Purdy said, “any time I have an op to go to him, it always feels good. … He’s a dog, that’s all I can say.”
Shanahan and general manager John Lynch set out this offseason to address the deficiencies that have left them emptyhanded while their division rivals have celebrated Super Bowls.
They hit a home run with Evans. Not only has he saved them as other receivers drop like flies, he earned high praise from Warner, who said the 49ers are “eager to go out there and prove it every single time we step out there” and the way Evans plays “is just the epitome of that.”
McCaffrey even took it a step further.
“It’s really cool,” he said, “when you get new guys that come in and they just continue to up the standard that the Niners have built for so long.”
Lynch also went out and traded for Osa Odighizuwa, who was responsible for one of the 49ers’ five sacks. He drafted Gracen Halton, who forced a fumble and recovered it in the end zone. He signed Corliss Waitman, who set up the defensive TD with a punt that pinned Seattle at the 4.
And that’s why the 49ers are 5-0 and in the driver’s seat in the best division in football. The Rams are still favorites to win the Super Bowl in Vegas. But should they be?
San Francisco is two up in the loss column, with a win over Los Angeles already. Their second matchup will be played in the bay. They are likely the only team that can match the Rams talent for talent.
And as great as Sean McVay is as a head coach, Kyle Shanahan owns the head-to-head matchup.
So, I ask you, who do you trust if these teams were to meet in the playoffs?