Week 18 - Hosting the division rival (4-12) Arizona Cardinals in the final week of the 2022-23 regular season, the (12-4) San Francisco 49ers entered their regular season finale with their eyes set on the NFC's No. 1 seed, having already clinched their division. But in order to secure that top seed, Kyle Shanahan's 49ers would need both a win on Sunday as well as a loss from the Philadelphia Eagles who played host to the rival New York Giants. Riding a nine-game winning-streak, San Francisco would look to continue their red-hot play with a chance to sweep the NFC Western Division for the first time since 1997. Meanwhile, Arizona would have little to play for with the exception of one of their own calling it a career following Sunday's game as future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt who spent the last two seasons with the Cardinals following 10-years with the Houston Texans, announced earlier in the week that this would be his final season in the NFL.
After a meltdown on defense a week ago in their overtime win against the Raiders, the 49ers' No. 1 ranked defense got off to a bumpy start again on Sunday when the Cardinals scored two plays into the ballgame. Down to their fourth-string quarterback, Arizona's David Blough launched a deep ball 77-yards to A.J. Green who made the catch and weaved thru two defenders to find the end zone and give the Cardinals an early 6-0 lead. Looking to answer right back would be a San Francisco offense that received a pair of reinforcements returning from injury in running back Elijah Mitchell and wide-receiver Deebo Samuel. But both guys would take a backseat to Christian McCaffrey who got the 49ers on the board with a 21-yard touchdown on a screen-pass. 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson would have himself a day, adding to his team-leading interception total in the second quarter, picking-off Blough on Arizona's first play of the second quarter.
Taking over with good field position, the Niner offense would make quick work of the short field as Elijah Mitchell who has missed 12 games this season including the last five, logged his long-awaited first touchdown of the season with a 5-yard score. While the Cardinals would answer with a touchdown of their own on their ensuing drive, they would not have an answer for the 4-yard touchdown from Brock Purdy to George Kittle on San Francisco's next drive. Finding the end zone just before the end of the half, the 49ers would take a 21-13 lead into the locker room. Staying hot on offense, they would open the second half with that same intensity as Mitchell broke for a 37-yard gain to setup another easy score from 6-yards out to give him two touchdowns on the day. Tashaun Gipson would record his second interception of the afternoon and fifth on the season when he picked off a deep pass that the 49er offense would cash in for a Robbie Gould field goal. Adding insult to injury for the Arizona offense, the 49er defense would get a strip-sack on the Cardinals' ensuing-possession when defensive-end Jordan Willis got to the quarterback.
Entering Sunday's game having already made history by becoming the first rookie QB in NFL history with a win and 2+ TD's in each of his first four career starts, Purdy would add to that record on Sunday, hitting George Kittle in the end zone from a yard out to give the 49ers QB 3 TD's on the day. With his second touchdown reception of afternoon, it would be the seventh touchdown grab in the last four games for Kittle. With Trace McSorley taking over at quarterback to finish the game for the Cardinals, the 49er defense would force another pair of turnovers in the fourth quarter, including an interception from George Odum, his first of the season. The 49ers would walk away with the 38-13 win to claim their first-ever 10th consecutive victory, finishing the regular season with a record of 13-4. Throwing for 178 yards on 15 of 20 pass attempts, Purdy now trails only Jeff Garcia (8 in 2001) and Steve Young (7 in 1998) for the most consecutive games with 2+ pass TD in 49ers franchise history. Brandon Aiyuk becomes just the 13th player (11th wide-receiver) in 49ers franchise history with 1,000+ receiving yards in a single season, eclipsing the 1,000 yard plateau with 4 catches for 59 yards on Sunday to give him 1,015 receiving yards on the season. In his first game back since suffering a leg injury in Week 14, Deebo Samuel hauled in two catches for for 20 yards and one carry for 4 yards.
Noteworthy: 0 wins by teams in the week following a game vs SF this season (0-15), marking the first time in NFL history with a minimum of 10 games.
Playoffs Preview: With the Philadelphia Eagles beating the New York Giants 22-16 on Sunday and securing the NFC's No. 1 seed and a 1st round BYE, the 49ers claim the No. 2 seed, setting them up for a Wild Card match-up versus the rival Seattle Seahawks who punched their playoff ticket with an overtime win at home over the Rams and a bit of help from the Detroit Lions who eliminated the Green Bay Packers with a win at Lambeau Field. San Francisco will look to beat Pete Carroll and the Seahawks for a third time this season when they welcome them to Levi's Stadium on Saturday in what will be nothing short of a chippie affair between two teams who have had a recent history of not liking one another.
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