The San Francisco 49ers offense got healthy and then put together its first 40-point game since the 2023 season.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense used some consistently good field position and plenty of mistakes from the Arizona Cardinals en route to the 41-22 blowout victory to move San Francisco to 7-4 and 4-1 in the NFC West.
While it was the offense that put up the points, we start our three stars on the defense:
Third star: CB Deommodore Lenoir
The 49ers haven’t had much luck this season at forcing interceptions, but on Sunday, the defense tripled its interception total on the season.
Malik Mustapha had the first interception of the game, when he found himself in the right spot at the right time, bringing down a Jacoby Brissett overthrow at the end of the first half. While that interception was crucial, preventing Arizona from scoring before halftime and giving the 49ers three more points, Lenoir’s interception was the one that put the game to rest.
With the game already teetering heavily in San Francisco’s favor, Arizona had the ball at the midway point of the third quarter with a chance to cut the 49ers’ lead to two scores. The drive started promising enough, with Brissett connecting with Michael Wilson twice for gains of 25 and 34 yards – the latter of which was with Lenoir in coverage – firmly placing the Arizona offense into 49ers territory.
But Lenoir would get his revenge on Brissett. After an illegal shift set up a first-and-15 for Arizona, Brissett would try to connect with Elijah Higgins, but Lenoir would jump the route and take the ball the other way. Lenoir would zig and zag his way down the field, and when it was all said and done, the return would go for 64 yards, moving the ball deep into Arizona territory.
Instead of an Arizona score to cut into the 49ers’ lead, five plays later, the 49ers offense would find the end zone to push the score to 35-10, effectively putting the game away, thanks to Lenoir’s interception.
Second star: QB Brock Purdy
It was nice to have No. 13 back on the field, and Purdy wasted little time making an impact on the game.
On the 49ers’ second drive of the game, Purdy showed what the 49ers were missing with Mac Jones: the deep threats. Facing the threat of a three-and-out on a third-and-8, Purdy dropped back and found a wide-open Jauan Jennings for a gain of 25 yards to extend the drive. The extension was much needed, as two plays later, Purdy would again take a shot downfield, this time to George Kittle, dropping the ball perfectly, leading the tight end to the endzone for a 30-yard touchdown to give the 49ers a two-score lead.
After a three-and-out, Purdy would lead the offense on another touchdown-scoring drive. The drive would start with another reception from Jennings, this time for 11 yards, followed by a Christian McCaffrey 14-yard run, and then a 10-yard catch would put the 49ers in the red zone. From there, Purdy would find a wide-pen McCaffrey in the flat for his second touchdown pass of the game, to put the 49ers up 19-7.
Purdy would close his day with his third touchdown pass of the day, taking advantage of Lenoir’s interception return, by connecting with Kittle for a second time to put the 49ers up 35-10. The quarterback’s day would finish with a stat line of 200 yards on 19-for-26 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions, although there were a couple of near-interceptions, which almost come with the territory of Purdy being the quarterback.
It was an awe-inspiring performance from Purdy, considering the type of injury he was returning from. His performance was just what the doctor ordered, with the 49ers offense needing to outscore its defense the rest of the season.
First star: RB Chrisitian McCaffrey
While Purdy’s return was the headline entering Sunday, it was McCaffrey’s performance that stole the headlines after the game.
Again, it wasn’t just McCaffrey on the ground that was dominant on Sunday, but it was also his ability in the pass game that earned him the No. 1 star against Arizona. McCaffrey would finish with 81 rushing yards and 40 receiving yards – his seventh game this season with more than 120 total yards – with a trio of touchdowns to lead the 49ers offense.
Skyy Moore deserves a massive assist for McCaffrey’s first score on Sunday, starting the game with a 98-yard kickoff return to set the 49ers’ offense up at the one-yard line. McCaffrey would cap off the one-play, one-yard drive with his first rushing touchdown of the game.
It would take a bit more effort for the 49ers on the drive to set up McCaffrey’s second score, but the scoring play would almost be as easy for McCaffrey. The offense would set up shop around midfield after a missed Chad Ryand field goal attempt, but it would take only four plays to get inside Arizona’s 10-yard line. On the fifth play of the drive, McCaffrey would leak out to the flat and find himself wide-open to bring in a pass attempt from Purdy and walk it into the end zone to extend the 49ers’ lead.
McCaffrey’s third and final score of the game came with the game well out of reach, but the running back had to earn it. With the 49ers facing a third-and-15, Purdy threw a prayer to McCaffrey, who was waiting right at the marker and had to make a tough, jumping catch to barely get the first down and extend the drive. On the next snap, McCaffrey would take a run up the middle for 20 yards – the 49ers’ first run of 20 yards or more this season – to get the ball inside the Arizona five-yard line. McCaffrey would use his third touch in a row to get the ball in the end zone, his second rushing touchdown and third total touchdown of the game.
It was a normal dominating performance from McCaffrey, but with the offense returning to its healthy self, the running back made his impact on 18 touches, his second-fewest of the season. If McCaffrey can be this impactful with fewer touches, that can only mean good things for a 49ers offense that is looking to improve their form with all the returns.
Throughout the season, I will track the three stars of the season, tallying points for each star award using a complex scoring system: three points for being the first star, two for the second, and one for the third. Through Week 11, the standings are:
- RB Christian McCaffrey – 12 points
- LB Fred Warner – 11 points
- QB Mac Jones – 8 points
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