All right.

Welcome to Brew Report for Friday, September 11th.

We'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge, um, today's date, of course, is the 25th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the history of our country.

Um, would like to acknowledge, of course, um, those who lost their lives in the tragedies at the Twin Towers and, and the Pentagon, um, you know, acknowledge, uh, those who lost loved ones, and of course, salute again.

Um, our heroes, um, from, from, from, from that dark period of time, um, the first responders, the, the police, the firefighters, the military who acted so bravely in the aftermath of September 11th.

Um, I'll never forget that day, um, and I don't think our country ever will either.

Um, we do have NFL football over the last two days, of course, with the NFL season kicking off.

We had, we have 2 games down now and 270 to go.

And uh we just wrapped up the first NFL game in the Eastern Hemisphere with the Los Angeles Rams, the most hyped team in the NFL coming into 2026, losing their opener to the San Francisco 49ers, not just losing it, losing it going away.

The Niners are able to take control of the game in the second half.

And beat the Rams 27 to 7, and they beat the Rams in just about every way.

They won this game in the turnover battle, in a big 4th-down stop, um, in the, the third quarter that helped them take command of the game, um, and, you know, there were two very long drives to open the second half, that turned this from a close game at the half into one that the 49ers would win going away.

Um, you know, one thing that was really obvious here is seeing how physical the Niners continue to be, and when they've been able to beat the Rams over the course of the decade that Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh have been going at it, um, in the NFC West, they've typically won the games at the line of scrimmage, and that was certainly the case tonight.

Um, the running game went for 174 yards on 30 carries.

That helped in the efficiency of the offense, and Brock Purdy was, of course, another factor in that very efficient night, um, for the Niners young quarterback, 25 of 34, 205 yards, 3 touchdowns.

Uh, Nick Bosa looked good.

Fred Warner had 2 forced fumbles.

The Niners were able to recover one of those.

Um, you know, we'll see how the Niners hold up over the course of time.

We've talked a lot over the last few months about the age of their team, um, and, you know, so with, with, with older players on the roster like Trent Williams, like Christian McCaffrey, like George Kittle, uh, you know, on the defensive side of the ball, Nick Bos is in his 8th year, Fred Warner is in his 9th year.

Um, so we'll see how they hold up in that regard, um, with all the age in their team.

But it looked pretty good on, on Thursday night.

In fact, it looks like a 49ers team, the sort of 49ers team that we've seen since Kyle Shanahan arrived there again, almost a decade ago, this being the first game of the 10th year of both Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, Sean McVeigh in Los Angeles.

There are gonna be questions, of course, on, on the Rams' handling of the travel here.

The Niners were in Australia for a week.

Um, the Rams came in 28 hours before kickoff, and it did look like the Rams team wore down in the second half of the game.

So, you know, uh, was that a result of, of how they handle the travel?

I, I, I don't know.

Um, you know, that's something that, you know, obviously, we're gonna have to investigate, the Rams, gonna have to investigate the NFL look at when they, you know, undoubtedly go back to Australia.

Uh, you know, but it, it, there was at least circumstantial evidence there that the Niners maybe had a little bit of an edge with the way that they traveled.

Of course, with the caveat that week one is so often a liar, and week one can also often, uh, create results that deceive you, um, because there's a unique aspect to it, just in the amount of unscattered looks each team is gonna see, um, the, um, the, the, the element of new players and new places, new systems.

Uh, new assistant coaches, new ideas, all of that.

So, you do have all of that to consider, but, you know, certainly a great start for the Niners and, um, you know, some obvious questions to, to ask about the Rams' handling of this, um, this whole thing coming out.

And it wasn't something the Rams did haphazardly coming in.

There's a lot of research and work that went into it, but obviously, um, whether that was a factor in the, in the finish or not, the circumstantial evidence is there that Maybe they would have been better off spending the week prior in Australia.

All right, our second topic for today, the Seahawks are able to come back from a double-digit deficit in the second half at home without their starting quarterback with a banged-up secondary to beat the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl 60 in the first game of the 2026 NFL season.

And there is so much that this says about the Seahawks.

There's so much it says about the Seahawks' program and what Mike McDonald has built there.

And to me, a lot of it boils down to the way the team got better over the course of the game.

Um, when Sam Darnold went down in the first series, there was very clearly an effect, and that team, that, that Seahawks team did not look like it was moving the same way offensively for the rest of the first half.

And it didn't look like they really could get out of their own way.

So what changed?

Well, I'd say Drew Locke settled in.

They found a way to get Jackson Smith jigba the ball on a more consistent basis.

Brian Floury settled in as a first-time play caller, and then on the other side of the ball, they got their stride a little bit, they started playing a lot better upfront, despite the fact That they were missing, um, some very important pieces in the secondary.

Of course, Kobe Bryant, Tariq Wallen left for the Bears and Eagles in the offseason respectively.

On top of that, you had Nick Emanori, um, out.

He was one of the key components of the Super Bowl.

Tyokata, who was set to be the replacement for Kobe Bryant at one of the safety spots, he was out, and yet the Seahawks' secondary.

was able to pick off Drake May 3 times, including a pick at the very end from Josh Joe to clinch the game.

So, Drew Locke plays well, the Seahawks' secondary plays well.

Again, I think a sign of the of the the depth and resilience that program has.

Mike McDonald has that place in a really good spot.

And the good news is it looks like they dodged a bullet on Sam Darnold too.

Um, he could be back within the next few weeks, within a month, maybe, somewhere in there.

Um, and that's really good news considering what they were fearing that that hip injury could be.

Um, as for the New England Patriots, again, week one can be a liar, and week one can deceive.

Now, I would say with, uh, with, with the quarterback, there are fair questions to ask now.

He did have a lot of turnovers, um, in the four games that the Patriots played in the 2025 playoffs, and that was after a step up in competition.

If you look at the Um, the, the, the schedule they played in going 14 and 3, they played Buffalo twice, but there weren't a ton of top shelf defenses that they saw over the course of the season, and then.

In the playoffs, they saw Jesse Minter and the Chargers personnel.

They saw, uh, they saw Matt Burke and Damio Ryans and the Texans personnel.

They saw Vance Joseph and the Broncos personnel and in the Super Bowl.

They saw Mike McDonald and, um, and the Seahawks personnel then saw, of course, McDonald and the Seahawks again on Thursday night.

Um, and we, we, we, we've seen that that, that turnover problem crop up again and again.

And so it's something certainly Drake May needs to clean up.

Um, and I think part of it too is he's being challenged in different ways now that there's a year of tape on him and Josh McDaniel's offense.

And so, there's, uh, you know, I think, uh, uh, uh, uh, I need to learn how to counterpunch a little bit there for them too.

I do think Drake May and the Patriots are gonna be fine.

Are they're gonna be 14 and 3 again?

Probably not.

Schedule is much tougher this year.

I think Drake May's got a chance to evolve and uh one of, if not the best quarterback in the league in time.

I don't know if it's gonna happen this year, but in time, I think there's a chance that happens .

But I do think that, that, that Thursday night was another example that he may have a little ways to go before he gets there.

Finally, our third topic, looking forward towards the weekend.

I've got 3 games that I've got my eyes on, and we'll go through these quickly, the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Texans at Energy Stadium.

Um, a rematch of a, a Thursday night game that was very memorable towards the end of last year.

The Texans historic defense, um, a defense that I think has got the talent and a chance to stack up with.

The 2000 Ravens, the 2002 Buccaneers, the 2015 Broncos, whoever you want to name of those, the defenses that really stand out, you know, over the course of the last 30 or 40 years.

I think that the Texans have the tools to get there and they'll be going up against, of course, Joe Brady in his first game as Bills coach.

What's that gonna mean?

For Josh Allen.

I think it's a fascinating matchup again.

Can Josh Allen and that Buffalo offense have the sort of day they haven't had of late against the Houston Texans in Houston.

That'll be interesting to see.

The Sunday night game is a fascinating matchup.

The Giants and the Cowboys, uh, you know, we're gonna get to see the, the, the, the debut of the John Harbaugh era.

Does it look like a John Harbaugh team right out of the box.

Um, you know, they've got a stacked coaching staff , ton of experience, Da Wilson coming over from Tennessee to call the defense, Matt Nagy, Greg Roman, Brian Callahan, Willie Taggart, all these guys in the offensive staff to put together something new and different.

Um, so you have all that going into the game, the Giants, you have all the pass rushers that they've drafted over the last couple of years and these big, tall, long edge rushers, and, you know, on the offensive side of the ball, you get the return of Malik Neighbors.

So there's reason to be excited there.

I think the interior, the offensive line, the interior, the defensive line, there are questions, and I think those will help to answer how far the Giants can go and then on the other side.

You know, Dallas Cowboys team that I think is, is wildly talented in the starting 22, but has some depth questions and those depth questions are gonna be um asked very quickly this year with Tyler Smith, they're all-proguard already out.

Um, it should be a really interesting matchup, um, a new, a new coaching hire on the defensive side of the ball there too, and Christian Parker.

Uh, what do they do with the pass rush a year past Micah Parsons now, Donovan Ezaraku and Rashaw Gary and Quinnin Williams, are they able to get that group going a little bit faster than they were able to get that, the, the, the pass rush going last year.

Um, all that will be really interesting to see.

And then, of course , on Monday night, the matchup at Arrowhead, the Denver Broncos coming off an AFC championship game appearance, having lost Bo Nix before that game.

Uh, they're one of the best teams in football all year, a deep balanced roster, and they're going up against the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes coming back.

And Mahomes has comeback is one of the biggest stories of the 2026 season period.

We'll get to see the first chapter of that on Monday Night Football, and we'll in all likelihood see it with the Chiefs playing without their starting left tackle, Josh Simmons, and with the situation upfront that was dire enough that they had to trade for someone else's rookie and going getting Diego Pounds from the Ravens.

Um , just after the cutdown.

So, can the Chiefs make it happen?

Will we see the difference that the Kenneth Walker can make for Patrick Mahomes?

And what does Patrick Mahomes himself look like in that game?

And of course, the Broncos coming back, bringing so much depth and balance back.

It'll be really interesting to see the way that that plays out.

Can't wait to get to all of that Sunday, Monday, we'll have 3 reports coming for you all week.

Next week, one at the beginning of the week, one towards the end of the week, a mailbag in between.

We'll have all of it here.

As always, you can leave any comments you have for us, any feedback you have for us, any questions you have for us down below here on the YouTube page, or you can get to me on my social media at Albert Breer on Twitter, at Albert Abreer on Facebook, at Albert_Breer on Instagram.

Appreciate you guys coming out.

We'll see you next week.