NFL: SAN FRANCISCO VS. ARIZONA Undefeated 49ers top Cardinals behind Mccaffrey, Purdy
Three touchdowns by Christian Mccaffrey put the undefeated 49ers’ fourth win in motion Sunday.
But 35 minutes remained. Things stalled. The Arizona Cardinals rallied. The 49ers needed more.
Sure enough, Mccaffrey delivered with his fourth touchdown, and that fourthquarter score vaulted the 49ers toward an eventual 35-16 win that secured a 4-0 record for only the fifth time in franchise history.
The 49ers end their three-game homestand with its marquee attraction next Sunday night, when the Dallas Cowboys return to the site of their divisionalplayoff loss, 19-12, on Jan. 22.
Mccaffrey nearly matched the franchise’s single-game touchdown record, but a potential fifth score was denied at the 2-yard line on a 2-yard run in the final minutes, and rather than give him the ball again, coach Kyle Shanahan’s call resulted in a Brock Purdy sneak from inside the 1 to cap the scoring spree.
“Honestly I had no idea until I came in here he had four touchdowns,” Shanahan said in his press conference. “I’m kind of shocked. Now I kind of feel bad.”
“That would have been nice,” Mccaffrey said halfjokingly about a potential fifth touchdown. “No, (Shanahan) obviously has a lot going on ingame. That’s the last of anyone’s worries to do that. As long as we scored, I was happy.”
Purdy said he had no idea, either, that he finished 20-of-21, which set a franchise record. He started 13-of-13 and remains unbeaten in regular-season starts, and he’s gone 211 consecutive passes without an interception.
His lone incompletion appeared a third-and-long throwaway
— off his back foot, toward Mccaffrey, that went harmlessly out of bounds from the
Cardinals’ 46-yard line — only Purdy did not see that as an intentional miss.
“I’m still mad about the one (incompletion) to Christian,” Purdy said. “He broke out, was open and I should have hit him. We were in field-goal range.”
Not to be too overlooked was the Niners’ defense keeping its third opponent under 20 points this season.
This win, the 49ers’ 14th in a row in regular-season action, should go down in franchise lore, however, as Mccaffrey’s Four-score Address, which saw him compile 106 rushing yards (20 carries, 3 TD) and 71 receiving yards (7 catches).
Mccaffrey, a seventh-year veteran out of Stanford, finished one touchdown shy of the 49ers’ singlegame touchdown record (Jerry Rice, 1990 vs. the Atlanta Falcons; Ricky Watters, January 1994 playoffs against the New York Gaints).
“He’s a freak. He does everything for us,” Purdy said. “He can run the ball, run routes out of the backfield, line up as a receiver and run routes. We’re thankful for him. He takes hits but keeps going. All you have to do is get him the ball in space and he does the rest.”
Mccaffrey did break one record: this was the 13th consecutive game he’s scored, including playoffs, since entering the starting lineup after last October’s trade from the Carolina Panthers. Rice set the previous mark by scoring in all 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season.
“He’s a very good option in every situation,” Shanahan said.
Not only did Mccaffrey extend his NFL rushing lead (459 yards), his seven overall touchdowns this season put him in a tie for the league’s most with Raheem Mostert, formerly of the 49ers and now on the Miami Dolphins.
Sunday’s quartet of scores by Mccaffrey, in reverse order:
Touchdown No. 4: A 2-yard, uncontested dash up the middle completed a strangely necessary touchdown drive. The Cardinals had just pulled within 21-16 when the 49ers answered with a 75yard drive, starting with a 34-yard shot from Purdy to Brandon Aiyuk. A 13-yard completion to Mccaffrey got the 49ers to the 13-ayrd line, and a 7-yarder to him preceded the scoring run for a 28-16 cushion.
How vital was that touchdown drive? “Every drive is equally important,” Mccaffrey said. “Obviously some stakes are higher. We treat every play the same. It’s about executing and doing your job. … It’s special to be a part of a team where that’s the case.”
Touchdown No. 3: A 6-yard pass from Brock Purdy led Mccaffrey to the goal line for his first touchdown reception of the season. It pushed the seemingly unsurmountable lead to 21-3, on a drive that began with completions of 11 and 42 yards to Aiyuk.
Touchdown No. 2: Mccaffrey caught a backward pass from
Purdy, hurdled a defender at the 15-yard line, then powered through safety Jalen Thompson at the goal line to complete the 18-yard run for a 14-0 lead, 14:14 before halftime. Key blocks on that scoring path came from Kyle Juszczyk, George Kittle, Jake Brendel and Deebo Samuel. (Kittle also delivered a fourthdown conversion to keep alive that drive as the first quarter ended.)
“It’s a multitude of things,” Mccaffrey said of how that play unfolded. “First off, trust. Even though it’s a swing pass and in space, you still have a job to set up blocks. Make one miss, and in this offense, you can be gone. Juice had an amazing block, and Deebo took his team in an end zone. It’s so fun to play on a team that takes pride in its blocking.”
Touchdown No. 1: The 49ers couldn’t have scripted a much better opening act. Their defense forced a three-and-out (led by
Dre Greenlaw’s seconddown tackle and thirddown coverage), then a 7-0 lead was in place thanks to Mccaffrey’s 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 62-yard opening series. That officially made for Mccaffrey’s 13th consecutive game with a touchdown, a matching the scoring streaks of Dallas’ Emmitt Smith (1995) and Houston’s Arian Foster (2011-12).
Mccaffrey has a rushing touchdown in each game this season.he is on pace to become more than just the 49ers’ first NFL rushing champion since Joe “The Jet” Perry in 1953 and ’54.
The former Stanford star could become the first running back to win NFL MVP since 2012 (Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings). Quarterbacks have otherwise owned that annual honor the past 25 years except when it was seized by running backs: Terrell Davis (1998), Marshall Faulk (2000), Shaun Alexander (2005), Ladainian Tomlinson (2006) and Peterson
(2012). The only 49ers to win NFL MVP honors from The Associated Press: quarterbacks John Brodie (1970), Joe Montana (1989, ’90) and Steve Young (1992).
Among those endorsing a Mccaffrey-for-mvp campaign is teammate
Nick Bosa, who said: “As a D-lineman, I don’t give too much respect to running backs, because of how well we’ve played the run. But my mind has changed on that a little. There are some guys you have to prepare for and he’s most definitely one of them.”