Brock Purdy kept doing Brock Purdy things, and the 49ers kept surviving whatever the day threw at them.
On Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco beat the Arizona Cardinals 36-30 to stay unbeaten, with Purdy throwing four touchdown passes and finding George Kittle for the clincher with 91 seconds left. The win came despite another pileup of injuries, and the 49ers leaned hard on their biggest offensive weapons - Purdy, Kittle and Christian McCaffrey - to pull it out.
McCaffrey set the tone on the final drive. He opened it with an 11-yard catch on the first play, then later powered through the middle for 12 yards to push the 49ers to the Arizona 42. Purdy then appeared to seal it with a 45-yard scramble into the end zone that had the stadium buzzing, but the play came back when Kittle was flagged for holding near the goal line.
No matter. Two plays later, Purdy rolled right and hit a wide-open Kittle for a 20-yard touchdown that made it 36-27 with 1:31 remaining.
The game turned late in the third quarter, when San Francisco looked to be in control with a 10-point lead and about to get the ball back. Then an Arizona punt grazed the leg of 49er Siran Neal, and the Cardinals recovered at the San Francisco 28. Arizona cashed that break in for a touchdown, and suddenly the fourth quarter became a fight.
Even with all the turbulence, the offense was crisp. The 49ers piled up 437 yards on just 50 snaps and converted 5 of 8 third downs. Arizona finished with 365 yards in 81 snaps and went 9 of 18 on third down.
Purdy was the headline again. He finished 15 of 27 for 297 yards and four touchdowns, added 34 rushing yards on two carries, and now has nine touchdown passes on the season. He would have had even more on the ground if not for the holding call that wiped out the scramble score.
The first drive set the tone for the night in a big way. On third-and-12 from their own 18, the 49ers called a trick play that ended with Mike Evans catching a short pass from Purdy in the left flat and flipping it to a curling Deebo Samuel, who raced down the sideline for an 82-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Shanahan wasn’t shy about trusting his quarterback late. “I am very comfortable with Brock throwing the ball. I feel like I’ve always been,” he said when asked about choosing to pass more than run with the 49ers in position to milk the clock late in the game.
The defense had a long night, especially with the absence of Nick Bosa looming over the unit. San Francisco’s defense was on the field for 38:44, and while it bent plenty - especially after halftime - it still did enough to help close out the win.
The injury list kept growing, too. Evans was carted off in the first half with a rib/oblique injury.
Trent Williams left in the third quarter with a stinger in his shoulder and did not return. Gracen Halton also didn’t come back after cramping in the second half.
San Francisco now has one more game in its stretch of three straight home contests after the opener in Australia. The next stop is a Week 4 matchup against the Denver Broncos next Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:25 p.m. Then comes the return to the road, with a Week 5 showdown in Seattle.
In Other News...
Deebo Samuel Just Had One Of The Strangest Stat Lines Ever
Deebo Samuel delivered one of the oddest box-score quirks youll ever see in the 49ers win over the Cardinals, turning an 80-yard hook-and-ladder into a touchdown without officially catching a pass. It was the kind of play that reminded everyone how uniquely dangerous San Francisco can be when Samuel is lined up all over the field and the ball starts moving side to side.
Even stranger, the output came with a bit of history attached. Samuel finished with the most receiving yards in an NFL game without a reception, topping a mark that had stood since 1961, and he added two rushing attempts for 14 yards. For a player whose value often comes from his versatility, this was a rare line that fit the eye test, the highlight reel and the record book all at once. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Win Came With A Bigger Brock Purdy Concern
The 49ers got the result they needed Sunday, outlasting the Cardinals 36-30 in a game that had plenty of familiar San Francisco fingerprints on it. Brock Purdy handled the offense well despite the injury issues around him, George Kittle delivered a pair of touchdowns, Christian McCaffrey found the end zone on the ground, and Fred Warner again set the tone on defense with 17 tackles.
Still, the win came with the kind of discomfort that can linger beyond the final score. Mike Evans exited with a rib strain, Trent Williams was among the key injuries affecting the passing game, and Dre Greenlaw also left with a quad issue, leaving the 49ers to sort through what Sunday cost them as much as what it gave them. For a team that keeps finding ways to win, the bigger question now is how long it can keep doing it while pieces keep dropping out. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Win Came With A Bigger Concern Fans Could Feel
The 49ers got off to a fast start Sunday with a hook-and-ladder touchdown involving Deebo Samuel and Mike Evans, then kept stacking points even as the game started to turn into something more uneasy. Christian McCaffrey added a touchdown of his own, and the defense mixed in stops while the Cardinals found enough offense to stay around the fight, leaving San Francisco ahead at halftime with the kind of lead that can still feel fragile.
What made the win feel bigger than the scoreboard was the injury picture developing around it. Deommodore Lenoir and Mike Evans were among the players who dealt with issues, and for a team trying to build rhythm while scoring in spurts and trading field goals, the concern was impossible to ignore. The 49ers walked into the locker room with control of the game, but also with the kind of health questions that can linger long after the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]