Week 3 - Just two weeks into the 2026-27 NFL season and it would be hard to find another team that has looked as impressive as the (2-0) San Francisco 49ers have with back-to-back wins of 20+ points to start the season. And with the division rival Seattle Seahawks having lost on the road to the Washington Commanders earlier in the day, the 49ers would have a chance to take sole possession of first place in the NFC West with a win on Sunday against the (1-1) Arizona Cardinals. Coming off a blowout loss to Seattle in their home-opener a week earlier, one might think the 49ers would have an easy win in store, but as we've learned time and time again, you can never count out a divisional opponent no matter the record. San Francisco would also be forced to take the field Sunday without their top pass-rusher in defensive-end Nick Bosa who reportedly pulled his calf during Thursday's practice and is expected to miss several weeks. Bosa joins a lengthy list of injured 49er defensive-linemen, giving them six injuries at the position through the first two weeks. Not to mention they began the season already without their first-round pick from a season ago Mykel Williams who is still recovering from a torn ACL injury suffered last year.
After winning the coin-toss and electing to differ, the 49er defense would force an Arizona punt on the Cardinals' first possession of the game. Taking over on offense, San Francisco looked like they were headed for a slow start of their own while facing a 3rd and 12 at their own 18, but a brilliantly executed hook and ladder play would turn the tide in a hurry and help the 49ers jump out to an early lead. After appearing to have come up short of the first down with a quick 2-yard pass to veteran receiver Mike Evans, the seasoned vet hit a streaking Deebo Samuel with a lateral who converted the first down and then some while breaking a tackle near the sideline and taking it to the house for an 80-yard touchdown. Facing another third and long on their second possession of the game, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy would hit receiver Jordan Watkins who turned his first reception of the season into a big one with a 26-yard gain to convert the first down on 3rd and 12. Three plays later, Purdy would hit Mike Evans inside the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown pass that snuck past the defender and made it thru the tightest of windows.
Chipping away at San Francisco's 14-0 lead just before the half, the Cardinals tacked on a pair of Chad Ryland field goals on their final two possessions of the first half to make it a 14-6 ballgame. But with 23-seconds remaining in the second quarter, Brock Purdy connected on another deep pass to Jordan Watkins who picked up 34-yards to give the Niners an opportunity to get three of those points back just before heading into the locker room. Coming in for his first and only field goal attempt of the afternoon, kicker Eddy Pineiro nailed a 57-yard field goal attempt to put his team back ahead, 17-6. Opening the second half with nice field position thanks to a face mask penalty on Arizona, the 49ers opened half number two just like they did the first -- with a touchdown-scoring drive as running back Christian McCaffrey made his first stamp on the game with a 1-yard score. Unfortunately for the home team, Pineiro would miss the extra-point attempt. Answering with their most successful drive yet, the Cardinals would respond with a touchdown of their own as QB Jacoby Brissett found his favorite target of the afternoon in receiver Michael Wilson to make it a 23-13 game.
Following a series of punts from each team, the Cardinals caught a huge break on special-teams when a punt bounced off a 49er player who fell to the ground, allowing for an easy recovery by Arizona. Several plays later the Cardinals would inch closer with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Brissett to rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, cutting the once 17-point deficit to a 3-point game near the start of the fourth quarter. Needing a long successful drive of their own, the 49ers would get just that by marching 64-yards on 12-plays, capped off by a touchdown pass from Purdy to tight-end George Kittle, once again making it a two-score game. However, the 49ers and Cardinals would answer each other with four consecutive touchdown-scoring drives to begin the fourth quarter. After Brissett found the end zone from a yard out, the Cardinals got as close as 2-points as Pineiro missed his second extra-point of the afternoon. Needing another clutch drive on offense, Brock Purdy delivered with his fourth touchdown pass of the day. After Purdy scrambled for a 45-yard touchdown on the ground that was nullified by a questionable holding call on Kittle, the two redeemed themselves two plays later when the two connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass. It would be the second touchdown grab of the day for Kittle who celebrated his very own bobblehead day at Levi's Stadium.
Now trailing 36-27 with under two-minutes remaining in regulation, the Cardinals attempted a last-ditch effort to pull off the double-digit comeback and even added another field goal, but their late-game heroics would fall short as they were unable to recover the ensuing onside-kick as San Francisco held on for the 36-30 victory to remain unbeaten and improve to 3-0 on the season. The win would come at a cost, however, as a number of injuries were suffered on the 49ers front, including Mike Evans (rib), Dre Greenlaw (quad) and Trent Williams (stinger), all of whom had to leave the game. Thankfully, none of which are expected to be long-term injuries. Strengthening his early season MVP candidacy, Brock Purdy added four more touchdowns on the afternoon, helping him become the first 49er QB since Steve Young in 1998 to tally at least 3 total TDs in each of the team's first three games to start a season. Finishing Sunday's game with a QB Rating of 133.8, Purdy's QBR of 93.7 for the season is the highest QBR of any QB in his team's first 3 games to start a season since the metric was introduced in 2006. Of QBs to play three games this year, Baltimore's Lamar Jackson is the next in QBR at 83.8. Purdy also has 8 games with a 140.0+ passer rating, the most in a player's first five seasons in NFL history.
Finishing Sunday's game with 297 yards passing, Purdy's favorite target of the game would be none other than George Kittle who hauled in 6 receptions for 82-yards and 2 touchdowns, tying him with fellow 49er tight-end Vernon Davis for 4th most receiving touchdowns in 49ers franchise history with 55. Kittle trails only Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and Gene Washington in that category. Deebo Samuel also had an interesting stat line, putting up 80 receiving yards and his 50th career scrimmage touchdown despite failing to record a single reception on the afternoon, marking the most receiving yards ever in a game without a single catch. The previous record was held by Timmy Brown who had 65 yards back in Week 12 of the 1961 season. Christian McCaffrey also added 75 yards and a touchdown on the ground for the 49er offense. His counterpart Jeremiyah Love also had a strong day on the ground, rushing the ball 21 times for 90 yards, the most by a Cardinals rookie running back since David Johnson in 2015. He would add another 19 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett who set an NFL-record for the most completed passes in a game with 47 the last time these two teams met in Santa Clara last season, finished with another respectful performance, throwing for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns in the loss.
Week 4 Preview: With the (3-0) 49ers seeing a number of new players fall to the injury bug following their Week 3 win, reinforcements are on the way as general manager John Lynch made a pair of moves by signing two veterans in receiver Brandin Cooks and linebacker Matthew Judon to the team. There's a possibility the pair will be ready to play this Sunday when the team gets set to host the (2-1) Denver Broncos. Beginning the season with a 3-0 record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1989-90, Brock Purdy and company will look to improve on that mark with a win against Bo Nix and the slow-starting Broncos. After falling flat in their season-opener against the Chiefs, the Broncos have won back-to-back games by coming from behind in the fourth quarter to win both, including a thrilling victory at home over the Los Angeles Rams. Capping off the win over the heavy Super Bowl favorites was former 49er Talanoa Hufanga who intercepted reigning MVP Matthew Stafford twice to seal the victory.
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