The offensive cavalry has gradually arrived for the San Francisco 49ers over the last few weeks.
George Kittle returned, Jauan Jennings gradually got healthier, and rookie Jordan Watkins finally made his way to the lineup, while the offensive line was fortified by the returns of twin veteran guards in Spencer Burford and Ben Bartch.
That's led to a noticeable upswing in San Francisco's offensive performances, but the final piece fell into place last Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals with quarterback Brock Purdy's return. His efficiency and quick processing led to a 200-yard, three-touchdown performance and contributed massively to the team's blowout 41-22 victory. That much is clear.
What may not quite be as clear is how the return of another one of his targets might have contributed to that: The return of second-year wideout Ricky Pearsall.
Ricky Pearsall was a quiet (but crucial) X-factor in 49ers win over Cardinals
Ricky Pearsall, I hear you say? The player with one catch for 0 yards? That Ricky Pearsall?
Indeed, and here's why.
While Pearsall impacted little on the box score, his mere presence appeared to open up areas of the field locked off by opposing defences throughout the previous few weeks.
Whether through a combination of the lack of Mac Jones' deep-ball accuracy, or the lack of a deep threat within the offense (neither Jauan Jennings or George Kittle are known for being burners, for instance), the Niners' explosiveness has been lacking.
Pearsall's return, however, opened up large areas of the field. From almost the first offensive snap, it appeared as if Cardinals' safeties were preoccupied with the idea of not allowing Pearsall to make any deep receptions, with him frequently bracketed in coverage.
Kyle Shanahan did try to scheme Pearsall open on a couple of occasions, and with better blocking, he might have had a touchdown as you can see on this play linked here.
But the vast majority of the receiver's impact came in facilitating work for others. His threat opened up significant space in the short-to-intermediate area of the field, and no one knows better how to exploit that than Purdy.
When you have players like Kittle and Christian McCaffrey to rack up catches and YAC yardage in open space as a result, too, that helps the 49ers' overall offensive scheme function almost entirely as it's intended. And that makes the Niners a much more threatening team, as well as allowing them to cover for the inexperience in their defense.
Pearsall has had a difficult introduction to the league. After being shot in a robbery incident as a rookie, troubling muscle injuries, as well as this year's lingering knee injury, have held the young pass catcher back from reaching his full potential. With two 100-yard games so far this season and impressive showings in the other games in which he's been available, he looks as though he might finally be able to ignite the spark of his potential the rest of the way.
If he doesn't, at least he's still having an impact on the field. That can only be good for San Francisco.