4-0.
That’s all. The San Francisco 49ers are 4-0 and look like a 4-0 team. The Denver Broncos were the first big test for the 2026 offense, and they passed with flying colors. Yes, there were injured defensive backs with the Broncos, but the 49ers don’t have their starting wide receivers 100 percent healthy either.
The 49ers were nearly mistake-free, with a single penalty for five yards all game. Brock Purdy’s numbers were a bit more pedestrian with 19 for 30 and 218 yards, but his 107.4 passer rating
has him now four games in without dropping below 100 for the metric.
Oh, and another streak? Brock Purdy has yet to be sacked in 2026. Every game isn’t going to be pretty, but Purdy delivered where it mattered, especially that final touchdown to George Kittle.
Unfortunately, the 49ers play in a competitive division, and two of the other three teams also notched wins.
Arizona Cardinals (1-3)
When the score had the Cardinals with a 14-3 lead over the New York Giants toward the end of the first quarter, I was going to repeat how the Cardinals were much better than their record was—and also that the Los Angeles Rams beating up a Giants squad without their starting quarterback wasn’t near as earth-shattering as some may want to believe.
Then the Giants came back. At the end of the half, it was 19-17; the Giants and the Cardinals would be trading leads before the game ended.
While Giants quarterback Jameis Winston did Jameis Winston things, like throwing two interceptions and taking four sacks, Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw three interceptions and only averaged 4.7 yards per completion. Ick.
Arizona put up 123 yards of total rushing. And 166 yards of total receiving. I don’t mean to make this math class, but that’s under 300 yards of total offense. It’s very hard to win football games with that and three interceptions to boot.
The sad part is, the Giants weren’t exactly efficient either, getting 337 yards of offense. Once they had a successful two-point conversion near the end of the third quarter, it was pretty much all over, even if up by two points.
The good news? The Cardinals are no longer tied. They now have last place in the NFC West all to themselves.
Seattle Seahawks (3-1)
Well, this is a weird way to start a football game:
Sure, when the first plays from both offenses are interceptions, that’s a sign of the weirdness to come. The commentating team said it best: “Two plays, two picks.”
And I say: “Endless possibilities.“
Funny thing is, for the next three quarters this was all Seahawks. Then the fourth quarter rolled around, that’s when they let their foot off the gas.
How did this happen? Well, the Seahawks getting 14 penalties for a franchise-record 150 yards through the game certainly doesn’t help. This batch of laundry includes a facemask call and some roughing-the-passer flags, allowing the Chargers to sustain drives and get back into the game in the fourth quarter. The Chargers also outgained the Seahawks 138 yards to 11 in that same quarter.
Yes, you read that right. 11 yards in the final quarter of the game for the Seahawks offense.
With under a minute left, the Seahawks managed to sack Justin Herbert and force a fumble to end the game and get out of there. Had the Seahawks not played such a tremendous three quarters, that game could have been a disaster. Then again, that was a hell of a three-quarters.
Regardless, that was not four quarters of football from the Seahawks. It was, however, a win that puts them to 3-1.
Los Angeles Rams (2-2)
This marks the first game the Rams played on a Sunday afternoon. Four weeks into the season, they play a game that isn’t on prime time. After this, I think I’ll take the prime time games since the Rams have only won one of those.
And for a bit, they may have had no business winning this one. I mean when you have a catch like this, it’s just a bad sign for the visiting team:
I don’t care who you root for—that catch was awesome. So how did the Eagles blow this? Beyond the points, the Rams dominated in several areas, including time of possession, third-down conversions (the Eagles didn’t convert a single one), first downs, and more.
The Eagles had two turnovers, but they also suffered from some bad playcalling. And when you have that on top of you not converting a third down, two touchdowns seems more like a gift.
The first half had the Eagles up 20-10. The Rams were not going away, but the Eagles had their turnovers and their lead. Just no mistakes, no getting cute, and manage the game.
Just manage the game. Make good play calls:
That was not managing the game or making a good play call. Credit to the Rams for stopping a play that is rarely stopped. But no credit to the Eagles for running that. That looks like a looooong fourth and 1, to the point that it’s fourth and 2. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t seem like a good time to run that when you are on your own side of the field. Reminds me of another failed QB sneak I saw Sunday that probably should have been left on the playsheet.
But even with that blunder, the game stayed 20-10. Until the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. That’s when the Rams scored not one but two touchdowns to take the lead and the win. That’s right, with four minutes left in the game, the Rams scored 14 unanswered points. And their second touchdown came with nearly a minute remaining. So in reality, the Rams scored two touchdowns in three minutes.
When you are up 10, and that happens? Is that the Rams or the Eagles? Who knows. Even with the differential in stats, I’m wondering how the Eagles managed to meltdown in five minutes.
Onto Week 5
The Rams go back to prime time in Week 4. This time they host the Buffalo Bills. The Bills lost to the New England Patriots Sunday, so don’t expect them to be too happy with life a week later. Maybe the Bills can use the Rams to get right and hand them another prime-time loss.
The 49ers have their second test of the season against the Seattle Seahawks and that Seahawks defense. They are in Seattle and much healthier than they were last time, in the NFC Divisional. The Seahawks defense has given Kyle Shanahan fits in the past, but if the 49ers offensive line can keep Brock Purdy upright when the Seahawks rush four, then there could be an opening. The Seahawks are favored by three points this time, which is practically the “home-field” points. If the 49ers manage to win here, they are 3-0 in the division, and you could not ask for a better start.
Also, can we keep Brock Purdy at 0 sacks into Week 5? Please?
The Cardinals host the Detroit Lions. The Lions are favored by five points, so that should tell you what to expect. Given the defenses, I expect this to be a pretty high-scoring one. The over/under is at 52.5 points—so the oddsmakers tend to agree with me. The Lions lost to the Panthers Sunday night so expect them at 2-2 to come out with their hair on fire.
1st: San Francisco 49ers Next at Seattle Seahawks
2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: vs. San Francisco 49ers
3rd: Los Angeles Rams; Next: vs. Buffalo Bills (Monday Night Football)
4th: Arizona Cardinals; Next: vs. Detroit Lions
