Make California Post a Preferred Source SANTA CLARA — Deebo Samuel caught the pitch from Mike Evans and was off to the races.
Right behind him were the rest of the San Francisco 49ers, who were undeterred by their growing injury report en route to steamrolling their way to a third straight win.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan went into his bag and dialed up a classic hook-and-ladder on the 49ers’ third snap Sunday afternoon. The speedy Samuel outran every Cardinals defender 80 yards to the end zone and the Niners outlasted their division foes for a 36-30 victory.
That ended up being the biggest play of the day from Brock Purdy, who completed only 14 of his other 26 attempts for 215 yards in his sloppiest passing performance of the season.
Purdy was missing three receivers going into the game and lost a fourth when Evans left in the first half with a rib injury, but the 49ers still faced little resistance moving the ball. They were so efficient that they outgained Arizona 437 to 365 despite running 31 fewer plays (81 to 50).
Down six defensive linemen, including Nick Bosa, the 49ers defense had more trouble getting off the field and was clearly running on fumes as the Cardinals made it a game after halftime.
Jacoby Brissett ran in from a yard out with 2:51 left in the fourth, closing the 49ers’ lead to 29-27, but Purdy answered with a 45-yard first-down scramble on the following drive and his second touchdown pass to tight end George Kittle to put the game on ice.
Here are the takeaways from the 49ers’ third win of the season:
No Bosa proved to be no problem for the 49ers’ defense, which only sacked Jacoby Brissett twice but had the Cardinals quarterback under frequent duress.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris helped accommodate by blitzing at a higher rate than the 49ers’ first two wins, including when they were most in need of getting a stop.
Pressure from Dre Greenlaw forced a bad throw that ended Arizona’s 16-play opening drive, and Keion White also got into the backfield on back-to-back third-down stops in the first half.
The 49ers’ offense had already been decimated by injury entering Week 3.
They lost wide receivers Christian Kirk and Ricky Pearsall in training camp. Then rookie sensation De’Zhaun Stribling went down in their season-opening win against the Rams.
The defense took a bit hit with the aforementioned Bosa injury.
Then this week, Evans and 12-time Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams were carted off the field.
Yet, the offense kept humming. In large part thanks to veteran tight end George Kittle. The former All-Pro caught six of his seven targets for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Over the last two games, he now has 162 yards and three scores.
Considering the Achilles tear was less than a year ago, Kittle is proving to be quite remarkable.
The NFL’s undefeated club shrank by two this weekend, with the Seahawks and Bengals taking their first losses of the season, leaving four teams in the company of the 49ers at 3-0 (the Eagles with a win over the Bears on Monday night would also be 3-0).
One big part of the 49ers’ perfect start has been … their perfect starts.
For the third game in a row, the 49ers pitched a first-quarter shutout. They are outscoring their opponents in the opening period 17-0 and have yet to trail in game this season.
They came closer than they ever have in the second half, though.
San Francisco forced the Cardinals to punt on their first three possessions of the game and didn’t allow them to get into the end zone in the first half, taking a 17-6 lead into intermission.
Arizona went 65 yards on 14 plays on its first drive of the second half to get into the end zone for the first time and scored TDs on three of its four possessions after halftime.
Despite the lopsided score at halftime, the 49ers’ defense was on the field for two-thirds of the first half for the second straight game, and they looked gassed by the time it was over.
With the 49ers already down three receivers — and losing Mike Evans to a rib injury in the first half — they needed one of their ball-catchers further down the depth chart to step up.
The second-year fourth-round pick out of Ole Miss had only two catches for 26 yards in his career and was inactive for San Francisco’s first two games of the season.
Yet, it was his number that Purdy dialed with the 49ers facing third-and-long in the first quarter. He hit Watkins for a 26-yard gain and a first down on a crossing route, setting up a picture-perfect back-shoulder throw to Mike Evans for a touchdown a few plays later.
Watkins’ first catch was essential to extending the 49ers’ early lead to 14-0. His second reception set up a 57-yard field goal from Eddy Pineiro to take a 17-6 lead into halftime.
Watkins finished with 60 yards, more than double his previous career total, and potentially a bigger role moving forward — especially if Evans’s rib injury forces him to miss more time.
The schedule only gets tougher going forward for the 49ers, who made it through their international season-opener and two potential trap games with their spotless record intact.
Cracks began to show against the Cardinals, though.
The 49ers will have significantly less margin for error the next two weeks, with two Super Bowl hopefuls awaiting them in the Denver Broncos (at home) and Seattle Seahawks (on the road).
But at 3-0, they’ve at least set themselves up so they can withstand a loss or two while they await reinforcements to arrive.
