San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen got creative in the first possession against the New England Patriots.

He blitzed, which is a rarity. Sorensen used an extra defensive end, Yetur Gross-Matos, and lined him up as a defensive tackle on the first third of the game. Sorensen keeps mixing it up, and that’s what you want to see. New England converted their first two third downs. Malik Mustapha was in a position to make a tackle in the first third but he could not stop the ball carrier.

Isaac Yiadom had great coverage in the final third of the drive to force an incompletion and a 49ers punt.

The 49ers got a shock on their first offensive possession when rookie right guard Dominick Puni went down on one knee at second and had to leave the game. Fortunately, he ran away under his own power and returned in one go.

The offense moved the ball down the field with relative ease. Brandon Aiyuk caught a 38-yarder. Deebo Samuel and Jordan Mason had productive rushes, while Brock Purdy’s scrambling ability not only extended plays. However, the 49ers could not find the end zone after entering the red zone and had to settle for three points.

On the ensuing possession, Sam Okuayinonu forced a fumble to give the Niners a short field. That’s how the 49ers will have to leave the field: timely turnovers.

It gave San Francisco a short field, but again the offense stalled in the red zone. That was the 49ers’ 14th trip inside the red zone and only their sixth touchdown. The red zone offense lagged in the first month of the season.