What the 49ers said after beating the Falcons on Sunday Night Football

The ers maintained their position atop the NFC West on Sunday night with a prime-time - win at Levi s Stadium over the visiting Atlanta Falcons The defense playing without injured captains Fred Warner ankle and Nick Bosa knee slowed down Bijan Robinson and the Falcons offense and Christian McCaffrey led the unit in rushing yards two touchdowns and receiving seven catches yards Tatum Bethune assumed Warner s role in the middle of the defense and led the ers with tackles Mac Jones had a second consecutive muted match in place of the injured Brock Purdy completing -of- passes for yards and a tipped interception That was all well and good because the defense bottled up Robinson rushing yards and the Falcons Here s what the ers had to say after the win Kyle Shanahan On the win I challenged the squad saying I d like to get runs called But that s not just an offensive thing In order to do that you got to play defense like we did tonight You got to play special teams like we did tonight On Chase Lucas You know he needed that pick six but hell of a job just being ready losing Stout late in the week being ready for his op On Tatum Bethune Tatum s a real good linebacker We were excited to get him out of college we were excited having him all last year when he made the squad and we ve been excited about this offseason So you never know when your op s going to come And unfortunately his came with a bad injury to fred but he s been ready for this moment for a while and no one doubted him at all Related Articles Instant analysis of the shorthanded ers - win over the Falcons ers Studs and Duds Christian McCaffrey is still the NFL s top running back ers-Falcons Niners defense leads win on Sunday Night Football How to watch ers vs Falcons on Sunday Night Football ers officially activate George Kittle put Fred Warner on injured reserve On Warner making an appearance I loved having Fred here I saw him on the scoreboard up there It was cool He got a big cheer from the crowd He had a big surgery this week and we saw him on Saturday when he got back in the building On slowing Bijan Robinson He s as good as there is everyone knows that You need guys swarming to the ball That guy gets too much space it s just hard to touch him I thought we limited the space he got On Kittle s blocking It dependably helps having Kittle back as good of a blocker as there is Other guys have been doing good too though so not to take anything away from them in terms of the run match On McCaffrey s key catch late He indeed tried to come out on the play He never came out a number of thimes in the championship We never sent him back once except for that play I looked at him and disclosed go back as long as you re not hurt And he went back It was a hell of a play hell of a throw On what he saw as the o-line pulled McCaffrey for a count I saw a pile and I saw the pile moving across the goal line So I was happy Tatum Bethune On his confidence I ve been playing in big games since a little kid man Only thing I thought about was having Fred s back and just make sure I play to the standard man On filling in for Warner I just want to be Tatum Bethune Fred s done so much on this defense and made so numerous plays and I want to do the same thing I don t want to be Fred but I also want to to make plays the same way he does and it s inspiring You don t see linebackers do that around the league and he s one of a kind I m just excited to be able to learn from him for a year and a half and now it was my chance to learn and be able to make those types of plays On his battle I was emotional before the challenge I even cried before the encounter because I m thanking God for this opportunity It s unfortunate Fred got hurt but it s also opportunity for me to be able to expand and get better while I can before he gets back On the ers standard That violent football run and hit You know ers are playing especially games like this Sunday Night Football we show out And I just longed to make sure he had that same potency Fred brings to the defense and I guess we established it tonight On the Warner jerseys Shout out to Dee Winters Two days before he notified me he got a shirt for me He wore the jersey and it was a great idea for me to wear the rookie jersey On Warner He established up in a meeting room surprised us When a guy gets surgery they don t show up for a while Christian McCaffrey On his key catch late I was about to come off the field and then came back in Called that Mac did a great ball perfectly on time Yeah I figured it was something But it was a great call and a great time based on the defense that they ve been playing in the red zone On the o-line backups stepping up I don t know how countless rotations we had at present but everybody who came in and stepped up did such a great job On Connor Colby pulling him into the end zone That s a huge strain play for a guy like that who s in there busting his ass man And those are the kind of plays that are just character plays On the backups stepping in well It s a testament to the leadership You have guys like Fred or Bosa come out and you got young guys and guys who haven t been in that position step up the way they have On Bethune s battle When you sat behind one of the best linebackers to ever play you get to see how he practices how he prepares how he studies tape that s a huge deal for a young guy to come in And what a gift to have On Bethune and Winters They run and hit you know and that s something that s preached throughout the entire defense George Kittle On his message to Connor Colby I revealed that was a great job and we re going to get just a little bit better every single day And that I expect to see him at our body maintenance on Mondays and Tuesdays because he does not kknow how to take care of his body yet as a professional athlete On Colby helping McCaffrey outcome Pulled him in there didn t he Fantastic That s a good Iowa guy Love it On the run battle and his blocking My goal this week was CMC NFC athlete of the week If I genuinely called that that might be the best guess of all time But I think yards and two touchdowns has a shot for it On the defensive beliefs of the association The defense was so much fun to watch in the current era because they were just flying around If you don t play defense like that you kind of stand out like a sore thumb On returning to the field I had so much fun playing football It s Sunday Night Football in Levi s Stadium I basically stated the company I was like If you don t have fun tonight then you don t have a pulse and you shouldn t be in this locker room On his zero-catch performance I thought with the event plan based on the walkthrough I thought I was going to have yards and two touchdowns laughs So sorry fantasy coaches and anybody that bet on me my bad Blame Kyle Shanahan not me I would love to get the football I love catching the ball I love hitting people I love running in open space but like I mentioned if other guys are taking advantage of the opportunity and they re winning their one-on-ones I ll take it On Fred Warner He is the aura-farming king laughs How about Fred Warner being shown on the scoreboard and we almost had to go on a silent count because we couldn t hear a play call How selfish of Fred Warner goodness gracious On giving a club speech before his return event I don t want to give the speech every single time We have a lot of leaders on this crew We have a lot of voices on this company and I ll speak when I need to but we have a lot of voices on the squad that need to be heard and that will inspire people Mac Jones On George Kittle George had a great impact in the run contest Obviously want to get him particular more footballs here but we ll get that going On backup center Matt Hennessy It was funny we were talking this week about revenge week this week because he was in Atlanta and then sure enough early in the event he s like here we go Related Articles Instant analysis of the shorthanded ers - win over the Falcons Ex-NFL running back Doug Martin dies in Oakland police custody sources say ers-Falcons Niners defense leads win on Sunday Night Football How to watch ers vs Falcons on Sunday Night Football ers officially activate George Kittle put Fred Warner on injured reserve On Christian McCaffrey He definitely owes me particular money laughs He fell down on those passes like that on the -yard line so he desired to run them in but he did a great job He s an awesome awesome competitor On his knee and oblique injuries I definitely felt better still feel like there s chosen limitations to be honest but I m working through it On finding success in his time spelling Purdy It means a lot I think everybody on this company has had my back Brock included and just been so fun to work with Brock and everyone in the quarterbacks room I ve been fortunate to have chosen wins here and we have been fortunate to have particular wins On having fun at practice It s very vital I think that s why you play right You play to have fun and win and when you can do both it s really owesome And even when you re losing you still have to go out there and enjoy the week of practice enjoy the process