Ronnie Bell Makes Big Special Teams Tackle For 49ers Against Giants, Rewarded With TD On First Career Catch

The San Francisco 49ers elected to play it safe with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on Thursday Night Football against the New York Giants. Aiyuk suffered a shoulder injury during the team's Week 2 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. With the wideout missing the game, rookie Ronnie Bell figured to see some opportunities on offense.

Though Aiyuk practiced on a limited basis on both Tuesday and Wednesday, San Francisco decided not to push their top receiver out there on a short week. Aiyuk reportedly wanted to play, but the team went the cautious route, giving him 10 days to recover before their Week 4 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Plus, the 49ers entered the game as 10-point favorites at home against the New York Giants.

The team drafted Ronnie Bell in the 7th round of the 2023 out of Michigan. He saw limited snaps on offense over the first two weeks, getting most of his playing time on special teams.

On Thursday Night Football against the Giants, Bell made his first big impact on special teams. Following a punt by the 49ers, Bell made a solid open-field tackle against Giants returner Eric Gray.

Remember that Bell is a wide receiver. Hard to argue with his tackling form, though. That's textbook.

Ronnie Bell follows up a great special teams play with a touchdown catch for the 49ers

The Giants ultimately punted on their ensuing drive, giving the ball back to the 49ers offense. San Francisco converted multiple third downs, including one third-and-15 and one third-and-13.

They moved the ball to the Giants 9-yard line and faced ... you guessed it ... third down. The redzone is an area where Aiyuk excels, having caught two touchdown passes from inside the 20-yard line in the team's Week 1 over Pittsburgh.

But with no Aiyuk, quarterback Brock Purdy needed to find another target. Insert: Ronnie Bell.

While fading away from the endzone, Purdy flicked a pass out towards the left pylon. Bell went up, caught the ball, got both feet down and scored the first touchdown of the game.

Not only was it the first touchdown catch of Ronnie Bell's NFL career, but it was the first catch of his career. Not only that, it was the first TARGET of his three-game NFL career. And it went for a touchdown. Talk about a storybook start. Well, minus the two games where he had 0 opportunities.

San Francisco 49ers rookie WR Ronnie Bell made his first career catch against the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football, scoring a TD. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Bell was not the most likely player to score the first touchdown of the game. Far from it, in fact. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Bell was 40-1 to be the first touchdown scorer. The book says they took a $50 bet on Bell to score that TD, too. Big win for one lucky bettor.

The 49ers are looking for their first 3-0 start since 2019. They reached the Super Bowl that season, losing to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.