San Francisco quarterback Mac Jones completed all 14 of his first-half passes to stake the 49ers to a 10-point lead, and that was the margin at the end of a 34-24 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
Brock Purdy practiced on a limited basis in preparation for Sunday’s contest, but the 49ers kept their No. 1 QB on the sideline for the fifth game in a row because of a toe injury.
That gave Jones his seventh start in San Francisco’s nine games this season, and the former Alabama All-American couldn’t miss in the first half.
Jones went 14-of-14 for 143 yards and two touchdowns as San Francisco moved to a 17-7 lead at halftime.
“I thought Mac did a hell of a job,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Extremely efficient what he was doing going against a real tough pass rush. Probably only one negative play in the game, just the fumble there at the end of the second quarter. Hell of a (strip-sack) play by, I think, it was Brian Burns who did it.
“But Mac played really well, took care of the ball, got the ball to the right guys and made a couple plays with his legs, too.”
On the 49ers’ first possession, Jones had six completions for 47 yards and one touchdown on a 12-play, 68-yard drive. Jones threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey as San Francisco tied the game at 7-7 with 4:16 left in the first quarter.
Jones also had a quarterback sneak for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the 49ers 41-yard line to keep the opening series going.
On San Francisco’s second possession, Jones had four completions for 51 yards and one touchdown on an eight-play, 80-yard drive. Jones threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jauan Jennings as the 49ers took a 14-7 lead with 13:08 left in the first half.
Jones said he did not know he finished the first half without an incompletion.
“I never really, like, think about it like that to be honest,” Jones said, “just because, like, it’s more about my eyes in the right spot. But that is cool. And I mean, honestly, right before half, we had a touchdown and I just took too long and didn’t step up on that fumble or whatever it was. So we really were going to score there, so I was pissed about that. But just trying to keep moving the offense down the field however we can do it, and what a great job by the offensive line with the running game and limited sacks.”
In the second half, Jones completed 5-of-10 passes for 92 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
San Francisco ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 24 rushing attempts in the second half, when the 49ers moved 76 yards in nine plays, including eight straight runs for 63 yards, and 60 yards in six plays for touchdowns to stay ahead of the Giants.
Jones had a 39-yard completion to McCaffrey on the second touchdown drive in the second half to advance the 49ers to the New York 20-yard line.
Jones posted a passing-efficiency rating of 135.2 by completing 19-of-24 passes for 235 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The rating was the second-best of Jones’ career behind a 142.1 in the New England Patriots’ 45-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 14, 2021.
One of the most exciting parts of the game for Jones occurred on the final snap, when quarterback Adrian Martinez, the United Football League MVP for the Birmingham Stallions in 2024, made his NFL debut with the 49ers.
“Kyle already took his headset off, and I’m like, ‘Come on, Adrian,’” Jones said. “So I just subbed myself out, snuck to the sideline. But I was happy. I think Adrian was going to go in either way, and they wanted him to get in there. But when they scored, you just got to get the first down with the offense. So once we were taking a knee, I definitely wanted Adrian to be there, and he’s just been awesome, to be honest.”
San Francisco improved to 6-3, with a 5-2 mark with Jones at quarterback, with the two losses coming in the previous three games.
A starter for the Patriots in the first 42 games of his career, Jones had seven starts as an injury replacement for Trevor Lawrence with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season and equaled that number on Sunday as Purdy’s backup in 2025.
“I’m pretty confident in myself,” Jones said. “I think I’ve had my, I’m not going to say issues, but I’ve been had my up and downs with that, and I really just stoned it down to just believing in myself and believing in Kyle and the system here, and the guys just let me be myself, which is kind of different than what I’ve had in the past. So I appreciate that. And it takes, you know, I say all 33 -- all 11 on offense, defense and special teams. So really just thought we had a good team win.”
The 49ers play the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC West showdown in their next game. San Francisco and Los Angeles square off at 3:25 p.m. CST Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Will Purdy be back at quarterback by then or will the 49ers roll with Jones again?
“We’ll reassess it the same way we did this week,” Shanahan said. “Wasn’t that close to doing it. I considered it throughout the week, but I just want to make sure he gets 100 percent better and don’t put him out there too early. Thought about it as a possible backup or emergency, but I think the more time we give him the better. …
“Anytime you’re dealing with this turf toe, it’s something that probably won’t fully go away all year. Regardless of when he comes back, he’s going to always have to deal with it a little bit, especially the people you talk to who have gone through turf toe. So it’s really about just assessing when’s the best time to come back that you have to deal with it the least. And it’s a little bit of a tricky decision.”
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