The San Francisco 49ers have opened the 2026 season 4-0 without allowing a single sack, a feat no team has pulled off since Peyton Manning’s 2005 Indianapolis Colts. It’s only the fifth time it has happened since the NFL began tracking team sacks in 1963.
The protection is coming from an offensive line that’s stayed together: left tackle Trent Williams, left guard Connor Colby, center Jake Brendel, right guard Dominick Puni and right tackle Colton McKivitz have all been on the field together, and continuity is showing up in the results.
Coach Kyle Shanahan admitted even he didn’t see this coming. “It starts with the O-Line, but collectively it’s been a huge deal and definitely wasn’t expecting to do that all the way up until now,” he said.
General manager John Lynch pointed to the same factor on his weekly KNBR appearance Thursday. “And all these guys have played a lot of football, but they got to play a lot of football together,” he said. He added that the line has had to raise its game to sustain the streak: “I will acknowledge I think they’ve elevated their game and I think they’ll have to.”
Quarterback Brock Purdy credited the group’s daily approach. “Yeah, they’re awesome. Just how they come to work every single day, attacking meetings and practice and it just translates on Sundays,” he said.
Williams, for his part, says the talent has been there all along. “I’ve always thought we had the talent to be one of the best O-lines in the league,” he said.
Lynch also credited the scheme itself for setting up favorable situations before a single block is thrown. “It’s how you’re running the ball on first and second down so that we’re in advantageous third downs,” he said.
And when protection does break down, Purdy’s own instincts have kept plays alive. Shanahan described the balancing act: “There’s certain times you’ve got to hang in there and really let something develop and take a hit as you throw. And there’s times you’ve got to give up on something and make the play.”
Lynch summed up the stakes for the team’s early-season success. “I think we see that as kind of a collective stat,” he said. “But those guys, there’s no doubt about it, they’re playing at a very high level. It’s a big reason our record is what it is.”
The streak faces its next test against Seattle, whose defensive front is capable of ending it. Whenever that sack finally comes, the 49ers will have already put together one of the rarer runs in modern NFL history.
