Brock Purdy barely had a chance to settle into his first game back from a toe injury before making a quick read at the line of scrimmage and connecting with tight end George Kittle for a perfectly placed 30-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone.
If Purdy had any jitters about returning, they didn’t show. Now the San Francisco 49ers look like a team hitting their stride at just the right time. Purdy threw three touchdown passes, Christian McCaffrey had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving score, and the 49ers rolled past the sloppy Arizona Cardinals 41–22 on Sunday.
“It was vintage Brock, and that's a huge compliment,” McCaffrey said. “He was poised, made some great plays, some huge third-down throws. Kept us in the game, was smart the whole game.”
McCaffrey extended his NFL record with his 17th career game featuring at least one rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. Purdy completed 19 of 26 passes for 200 yards, while Kittle caught two touchdown passes.
“Brock’s presence in the huddle is just so elite,” Kittle said. “He plays the game with this joy that's so infectious. Five plays into the game, he hits me 30 yards downfield with a perfect pass. He was definitely feeling it—he’s got his confidence, got his swagger.”
Arizona dropped its sixth game in seven outings. The Cardinals were flagged for a franchise-record 17 penalties, the most by any NFL team this season, with 11 coming in the first half—tied for the most before halftime in the past 20 years. Jacoby Brissett, starting in place of the injured Kyler Murray for the fifth consecutive game, completed 47 of 57 passes for 452 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. His 47 completions set a new regular-season NFL record. Michael Wilson hauled in 15 catches for a career-high 185 yards, and tight end Trey McBride added 115 yards and a touchdown.
The 49ers (7–4) dominated from the start, taking just 16 seconds to grab a 7–0 lead. Skyy Moore returned the opening kickoff 98 yards to the Arizona 1-yard line, setting up McCaffrey’s 1-yard touchdown run on the very next play. Purdy, playing his first game since Sept. 28, bounced back from an initial misfire to complete three consecutive passes, including the 30-yard touchdown to Kittle, giving San Francisco a 13–0 advantage with 9:51 left in the first quarter. Arizona briefly responded with Bam Knight’s 6-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 13–7, but Purdy and McCaffrey quickly restored the 49ers’ momentum with a 9-yard scoring connection to push the margin to 19–7 early in the second quarter. The Cardinals became the first team since at least 2000 to allow two touchdowns in the first six minutes of back-to-back games.
“I am a defensive head coach and it's not acceptable,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “You can't win when you give up that many points.”
Eddy Piñeiro’s 47-yard field goal as the second-quarter clock expired extended San Francisco’s lead to 25–10. He had missed a 62-yard attempt on the previous play, but Arizona’s Calais Campbell was flagged for unnecessary roughness, giving the kicker a second chance. Arizona continued to hurt itself with penalties in the second half, including a called-back 60-yard touchdown run by Knight due to holding on tight end Pharaoh Brown.
Injuries affected both sides. The 49ers lost defensive end Robert Beal Jr. to a concussion, linebacker Tatum Bethune (ankle) in the second quarter, and Piñeiro (hamstring) in the third. The Cardinals were without receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., recently recovering from appendicitis surgery, among six other inactives. Running back Emari Demercado (ankle) exited in the second quarter, cornerback Garrett Williams (shin) in the third, and right tackle Kelvin Beachum (groin) in the fourth.
Up next, the 49ers host Carolina on Monday, Nov. 24, while the Cardinals return home to face Jacksonville next Sunday.
