Brock Purdy looked like his old self, but a 41-22 road win by the 49ers Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals saw a handful of important plays that had nothing to do with the offense.
It was far from perfect, but the 49ers‘ defense and special teams played the kind of complementary roles a team needs if it is striving to make the playoffs. And the 49ers, for all their injuries and flaws, are 7-4, get an extra day to heal up with a Monday night game against Carolina up next at Levi’s Stadium.
A record-setting day by Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett was no match for the 49ers’ play-making and served as evidence that inflated yardage totals have never been a match for defensive takeaways when it comes to winning football.
Brissett completed an NFL-record 47 passes in 57 attempts for 452 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw interceptions to Malik Mustapha and Deommodore Lenoir that pushed the 49ers’ season total of interceptions from one to three.
Then there was slot corner Upton Stout, who became the second 49ers’ rookie this season, along with Alfred Collins, to punch loose a fumble at the goal line, this one by Arizona tight end Elijah Higgins. It was recovered by 49ers defensive lineman Keion White.
The Mustapha interception led to one of three Eddy Piñeiro field goals — nine more points that weren’t related to the offense — and Lenoir’s pick and 64-yard return served as a setup to a 14-yard short-field drive culminating in a 4-yard Purdy-to-George Kittle touchdown and a 35-10 lead with 2:32 left in the third quarter.
“We’ve been waiting for that,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Malik started it off, D-Mo’s play was huge with a really good return and the play Stout made, ripping the ball out, was an unbelievable play. That, plus the way special teams played today kind of set the tone for the game.”
The biggest special teams play came at the outset when Skyy Moore took the opening kickoff and broke free up the middle, veered to his left and set sail for the goal line. Alas, he only made it to the Arizona 1-yard line before Kei’Trel Clark tackled him.
“It was super exciting, super exciting,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “The turnovers, the kick returns. Keep giving the offense short fields, that’s what we like and thrive in those situations.”
As the game was about to begin, Kittle said he turned to Colton McKivitz and said, “It would be so nice if he housed one right now.”
“Housed” is Kittle-ese for taking one to the house.
It turned out to be the next best thing. Purdy’s first offensive snap since Sept. 28 was a handoff to Christian McCaffrey for the first of his three touchdowns.
“You score seven points in just 16 seconds, that’s huge,” Kittle said. “I feel like our entire season we’ve taken like 10, 15 plays to score on every drive, which is fine. But having big, explosive plays is huge and to get one to set the tone of the entire game was fantastic.”
It was a new experience for Williams, taking his first snap at the 1-yard line.
“That’s a first for me out of 15 years,” Williams said. “Skyy jumped us off, man. He’s a difference-maker.”
Mustapha’s first career interception came on a downfield attempt on third-and-13 from Brissett late in the first half, with Mustapha almost taking out teammate Renardo Green in the process.
“It was long overdue,” Mustapha said. “It was a deep post. I was reading Brissett. I knew the seams were coming. But when I broke on it, he threw it more to the right than I anticipated. Once I got a jump on it, I was just locating the ball and able to get a clean catch.”
Green’s presence on the play came as a surprise.
“I thought one of their players hit me,” Mustapha said. “That’s why I didn’t get up. I didn’t know it was Renardo. Shoot, he could have got it, too. But it was dope.”
It set up a Pineiro field goal before the half and a 25-10 lead.
Higgins was the target when Brissett rolled right and threw on the run, with Lenoir reading it perfectly and breaking on the ball. He returned it 64 yards to the Arizona 14-yard line. Lenoir had a calf injury and was questionable going into the game and ended up with seven tackles and two passes defensed.”
Aside from two failures on point-after touchdowns — one on a miss by Piñeiro and another on a block — it was a strong day for the special teams overall under coordinator Brant Boyer and included a 42-yard kickoff return from Brian Robinson Jr.
“Not only just the returns but Eddy with clutch field goals, (Thomas Morstead) with clutch punts,” Williams said. “It’s definitely refreshing when special teams can go out there and make a difference.”
It was a makeshift defensive unit in that middle linebacker Tatum Bethune (ankle) gave way to Curtis Robinson, who led the 49ers with 11 tackles, and Robert Beal Jr. departed with a concussion. Both Curtis Robinson and Luke Gifford were evaluated for concussions but were cleared and returned.
The 49ers didn’t record a sack, but had Brissett under pressure on many of his 57 attempts, with Bryce Huff in particular winning one-on-one from the edge. The 49ers were willing to live with the onslaught of completed passes when mixed with the takeaways. Falling behind early, Arizona had just 36 yards on 14 carries with no gain longer than seven yards.
“We knew the run game wasn’t going to be an issue for us,” Mustapha said. “We were on it. They knew they had to lean on the pass. Once they started their hurry-up, we wanted to keep plays in front of us. Dink and dunk stuff wasn’t going to kill us. If it looks better for him on the stat sheet, then kudos to him. But that ain’t going to kill us.”
Staff writer Cam Inman contributed to this story.