SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers went deep in the playbook to open up the scoring against the Arizona Cardinals.
Coach Kyle Shanahan dialed up a hook-and-ladder call on San Francisco's third play from scrimmage Sunday to turn a precarious third-and-12 from deep in 49ers territory into an 82-yard score.
Brock Purdy threw a quick 6-yard pass to Mike Evans, who flipped it to a sprinting Deebo Samuel as he was being tackled well short
of the first down. Samuel then sprinted down the sideline, broke a tackle near midfield and scored to make it 7-0.
The scoring on the play is unusual with Evans getting credit for a 6-yard catch and Samuel getting credit for 76 yards receiving and a TD reception without catching a pass. Purdy gets credit for the entire play 82-yard pass play and touchdown.
The 76-yards receiving on a touchdown without being credited with a catch are the most on any play since at least 2000. The previous high was 52 yards for Kenyan Drake on a game-ending touchdown for Miami to beat New England on Dec. 9, 2018. On that play, Ryan Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, who lateraled to DeVante Parker. Parker ran 3 yards before flipping it to Drake, who ran the rest of the way for the score that gave the Dolphins a 34-33 win.
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