It felt like the season officially began for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
After a pair of blowouts to open their season, the 49ers finally had a four-quarter slugfest with the Arizona Cardinals where they overcame adversity to grind out a 36-30 victory.
Here are our takeaways from Sunday's thriller at Levi's Stadium:
Brock Purdy good, not great
The box score will say Purdy was outstanding. He completed 15-of-27 throws for 297 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers. He also ran twice for 34 yards (although one carry was a kneel down that lost a yard). There were some issues though where Purdy looked indecisive at times. It's clear he doesn't quite have chemistry with players like KhaDarel Hodge, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins who saw a ton of action
in Week 3, especially once Mike Evans went down with a rib/oblique injury. That lack of trust in the other pass catchers might've played a role in a couple of head-scratching decisions from Purdy. That Sunday goes down as a "not his best" type of game is a testament to how good Purdy has been this season.
49ers defense hit by reality
San Francisco's defense was hanging on by a thread in the first two weeks and benefitted greatly from a couple of dominant offensive performances. Sunday the dam broke with defensive end Nick Bosa on the sidelines and a rotating cast of players in the secondary while that unit dealt with various injuries. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw and defensive tackle Gracen Halton also left during the second half. Those injuries caught up with them and they struggled to get off the field in the second half. Arizona scored three touchdowns and a field goal on five second-half possessions. They also put together three scoring drives of 14 plays. The 49ers need to find ways to get off the field with more frequency as their schedule gets tougher over the next few weeks. It won't be easy as long as they're this banged up.
Mike Evans injury
It didn't look good that Evans pulled up after running a route grabbing at his right side. He looked to be struggling to breathe as he slowly walked off the field, and a cart took him to the locker room. If Evans misses time it means the 49ers top five projected WRs from the preseason (Evans, Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson and Christian Kirk) would all be out for a Week 4 matchup with the Denver Broncos.
Christian McCaffrey workload normalizes
After looking like he'd be splitting touches pretty evenly with rookie RB Kaelon Black through the first two games, things looked more typical in a close Week 3 contest. Black didn't catch his only target, and he ran four times for 17 yards. McCaffrey racked up 75 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. He also caught four balls for 41 yards. Black did finally get a carry inside the 10, but he was largely an afterthought after out-carrying McCaffrey in the first two games.
A Jordan Watkins sighting
Shoutout to Watkins who made his 2026 debut Sunday. He caught two balls for 60 yards Sunday after catching two balls for 26 yards in his entire rookie season. There needs to be some chemistry built up with Purdy, but the burst after catch looked good and Watkins should be more involved moving forward until the 49ers get healthier at WR.
Eddy Pineiro's brutal outing
Head coach Kyle Shanahan after Sunday's game said Pineiro nearly got a game ball for drilling a 57-yard field goal to end the second half. Then Pineiro missed two extra points in the second half and nearly cost his team the game. The final quarter would've looked a lot different had the 49ers had those two additional points, but instead they had to hang on for dear life and play near perfect offense down the stretch to secure the win. This isn't the first time Pineiro has had problems making extra points. Hopefully this isn't a lingering issue for him in 2026.
Kyle Shanahan's gutsy play call
With 1:36 left the 49ers led 29-27 and had a second-and-10 at the Cardinals 20. Arizona had no timeouts, meaning San Francisco could almost run out the clock and kick a field goal to take a six-point lead. Instead of playing it safe, Shanahan went for the kill shot. He called a play-action pass where Purdy rolled out right and had a wide open George Kittle in behind a defense that sold out to stop the run they were sure was coming on second down. The result was Kittle's second TD grab of the game and a nine-point lead for San Francisco that ultimately pulled the plug on Arizona's comeback hopes.
NFC West standings update
The Seattle Seahawks lost 33-31 to the Washington Commanders in the early slate which leaves the 49ers alone atop the division with one-sixth of the season down. The Los Angeles Rams also fell 30-26 to the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football, meaning the 49ers are the only team in the division to earn a win in Week 3. LA is also tied with the Cardinals in the NFC West basement.
Here's what the division standings look like:
- 49ers (3-0)
- Seahawks (2-1)
- Rams (1-2)
- Cardinals (1-2)
There's a long way to go, but the season is off to a good start for the 49ers.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 8 thoughts, takeaways from 49ers' thrilling Week 3 win over Cardinals
