The 49ers take over NFC West with third straight win, plus a massive World Cup upset

Happy Tuesday, all. Hope you’re well. We have some big news to go over right at the top. Early this morning, Saudi Arabia earned themselves a place in World Cup history with one of the great shock wins in the tournament’s 92 year history. They overcame an early deficit to stun Lionel Messi and Argentina and win 2-1 at Lusail Stadium.

For a deeper dive on the wild upset click here, and don’t forget to sign up for our World Cup newsletter.

Let’s get to the rest of the news.

Good morning to everyone but especially to…

THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The 49ers are hitting their stride and looking like a team no one will want to face… again. San Francisco easily dispatched the Kyler Murray-less Cardinals, 38-10, in Mexico City for their third straight win last night. They now lead the NFC West.

Two large reasons the 49ers dominated: Jimmy Garoppolo played nearly perfect:

And the San Francisco defense was way too much for Arizona to handle:

The 49ers offense did pretty much whatever it wanted to all night. Christian McCaffrey helped with 106 yards from scrimmage and Deebo Samuel scored his first touchdown since Week 5. San Francisco earned an A+ in our weekly grades.

Honorable mentions

And not such a good morning for…

THE UNITED STATES MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM

A dominant start. A brilliant breakthrough goal. A steep drop off. A brutal mistake. A frustrating draw. The United States men’s national team took its supporters for a ride on a rollercoaster of emotions Monday, ultimately settling for a 1-1 draw with Wales.

 In a vacuum, it’s a decent — even a good — result. Given what it could have been, it’s a disappointment.

• The United States dominated possession in the first half, and the goal finally came in the 36th minute, with Christian Pulisic sprinting down the middle of the field and putting a perfect through pass to Tim Weah. It was awesome.
• That would be the USMNT’s only shot on target, though, and a poor second half finally caught up to them when Gareth Bale drew a foul from Walker Zimmerman in the penalty box. Bale converted the penalty kick — even with Matt Turner getting his fingertips to it — in the 82nd minute.

Holding onto a lead at the World Cup is no easy task, especially for a historically young team like this United States one. But…