Even with its receiving corps thinning by the quarter, San Francisco found a way. Brock Purdy threw four touchdown passes and the 49ers held off the Arizona Cardinals 36-30 Sunday at Levi's Stadium to stay unbeaten at 3-0.
A trick play to start
The first touchdown came on a call Kyle Shanahan made on the third play from scrimmage. Facing third-and-12, Purdy threw a quick pass to Mike Evans, who flipped the ball back to Deebo Samuel as he was tackled, and Samuel ran the rest of the way for an 82-yard score, the Associated Press reported.
Evans caught a 23-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead. Arizona answered with two Chad Ryland field goals, and Eddy Pineiro's 57-yard field goal at the end of the half made it 17-6.
Holding on
Christian McCaffrey's 1-yard run pushed the lead to 23-6 in the third quarter, but Arizona scored touchdowns on consecutive drives through Jacoby Brissett's passes to Michael Wilson and Jeremiyah Love to pull within 23-20. George Kittle's 10-yard touchdown catch made it 29-20, and after Brissett ran one in to make it 29-27, Purdy found Kittle again from 20 yards with 1:31 to play.
