49ers news: Jordan Mason is the NFL's leading rusher after a month

A win is a win, and that's exactly what the San Francisco 49ers did on Sunday. The 49ers ended their two-game losing streak with a 30-13 win in Week 4 over the New England Patriots.

After looking less than normal over the last few games, the 49ers returned to form that resembled the form you'd expect from one of the better teams in the NFC. While playing two fewer games than the Patriots and splitting time of possession nearly 50/50, San Francisco outgained New England by more than 200 yards and dominated both sides of the ball.

However, this was not without errors. Brock Purdy threw an interception while a fumble was lost on another special teams fumble.

All in all, the 49ers are on the right side of the win column and can take a lot of positives with them.

This week's edition of The Fred Warner Show

We may need to carve out a weekly section on Fred Warner. The all-world linebacker finished the game with seven tackles, one pass deflection and one interception for a touchdown, in what will go down as another standout performance from Warner.

Oh yeah – that was all in the first half because Warner missed the second half with an ankle injury.

The 49ers' offense had two prime chances to score touchdowns, but was only able to hit two field goals early in the game. With New England facing a third down, quarterback Jacoby Brissett fired a pass to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton that would have scored the first down. A leaping Warner would pull the ball down out of orbit and fall to the ground with the ball before getting up and sending the ball back 45 yards to finally break the end zone seal.

With San Francisco now two points ahead, New England responded with their best performance of the game. On an 11-play, 50-yard drive, the Patriots offense scored on a fourth-and-1 for another set of downs inside the red zone. Rhamondre Stevenson attempted to make the first tackle up the middle, but was hit by Warner at the line of scrimmage, allowing Ji'Ayir Brown to fly in and complete the tackle and New England drive. The offense would get the turnover on downs and score a touchdown to take a 20-0 lead.

Warner only played one half but made two impact plays that resulted in points. With the conclusion of the first quarter of the season, Warner has not only ensured that he is the Defensive Player of the Year, but also the Most Valuable Player.

Drive of the game

I wanted to avoid giving out the same award in consecutive weeks, but a Sunday drive forced me to do so. The San Francisco 49ers, with plenty of help from the referees, scored three touchdowns on a single drive. How can that not be the driving force of the game?

After Warner and Brown combined to stop the Patriots on fourth down, Purdy took the lead by hitting George Kittle for a quick 11 yards. A few plays later, Purdy found Jauan Jennings deep over the middle for 32 yards, moving the offense into plus territory.

Then the referees decided to intervene.

Jordan Mason took a Purdy pass and caused Marco Wilson to miss the first tackle before spinning upfield and getting into the end zone with the help of a Kittle block. But as Mason passed Kittle, the linesman fired a flag directly at Mason, meaning he was holding Kittle. The thing is, there was no stopping it. Kittle protested unsuccessfully and the points were removed from the board.

A few plays later, the sideline judge threw a flag just as the ball was snapped, on a play where Purdy used his feet to keep the play alive before finding Kyle Juszczyk for a touchdown. The flag was announced due to an illegal move where two players moved without being reset. The replay would only show Jauan Jennings in motion, who was set before the snap.

With the second score gone, the 49ers finally got their touchdown with a sensitive play for the score. On a third down, Purdy threw a ball for Kittle to go up and get it, and then he went up and got:

One trip, three points. Unfortunately for the 49ers it only counted as one, but the score extended the lead to 20.

Special teams scare

With September coming to a close and the spookiest of all months upon us, San Francisco's special teams decided to deliver a weekly scare to welcome the spooky season.

Since New England started the game with the ball, the 49ers offense should have gotten the ball early in the second half. The offense even had a chance to extend the lead to four points on the first drive of the second half, but they never got that chance.

Issac Guerendo had the ball knocked out of his hands on the return by Christian Eliss, who then jumped on the ball to give the New England offense an extra chance with excellent field position. It would take five plays, but New England's offense would actually make money when Brissett found Austin Hooper for a touchdown, cutting San Francisco's lead to ten.

The fumble gave New England free points and some momentum to start the second half. Well, they had that momentum for about five minutes. That's until…

Brock Purdy chose the jugular

Shanahan didn't give Guerendo another chance and sent back Deebo Samuel and Patrick Taylor to return the ensuing kickoff. Not wanting to give the 49ers a chance to come back, Patriots kicker Joey Slye sent the kickoff into the end zone for a touchback.

Purdy wasted no time in stealing the momentum from New England. On the opening play of the drive, Purdy uncorked a rope about 45 yards downfield to a rushing Samuel, who hauled it in for a 55-yard gain. Mason scored on a four-yard run three plays later to extend the 49ers' lead back to 17.

That drive led to an unusual sequence that saw two of the 49ers hit deep on two of the next three drives. On the drive that followed the Mason touchdown, Purdy targeted Chris Conley with a deep strike, but Conley stumbled at the end of the route, resulting in an incompletion. Two drives later, Purdy would attack Jauan Jennings deep for a lead of 45 to open the drive before Purdy would throw his only interception.

Big plays were crucial for the 49ers, with six plays yielding gains of 20 or more yards on Sunday.