The San Francisco 49ers are officially a machine.
Riding a five-game winning streak heading into a divisional matchup on the road, Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy and the 49ers showed no signs of slowing down on the way to a blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15.
With their ticket already punched to the postseason, the 49ers used a 45-29 win over the Cardinals to secure the NFC West divisional championship for the second straight season and the third time in five-years.
Before the 49ers turn the page to a highly-anticipated Monday Night Football battle with the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas night, here’s a look at all of the good and some of the bad from Sunday’s win in the desert.
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Good: Brock Purdy
Brock Purdy firmly stamped his position in the NFL’s latest race for Most Valuable Player with his third four-touchdown performance of the 2023 campaign on Sunday against the Cardinals.
In a homecoming in his home state, Purdy tossed four touchdown passes against the Cardinals, two to Deebo Samuel and two to Christian McCaffrey. Purdy notched 242 yards on 16-of-25 passing in Glendale. Purdy hit six different pass catches for at least two or more catches on Sunday.
In the second quarter, Purdy exited the game after taking a hard helmet-to-helmet shot from Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck. After missing three plays, Purdy quickly returned in time to deliver a touchdown pass before halftime.
Purdy helped fuel a season-high 45 points for the 49ers against the Cardinals.
Good: Deebo Samuel
Rinse and repeat.
As the 49ers continue to crack off victories, Deebo Samuel is staying hot. The 49ers’ dynamic weapon caught four passes for 48 yards with two touchdown connections with Purdy. Samuel also notched one carry for 11 yards.
Samuel has now tallied five touchdowns over the last three weeks for the 49ers. The former South Carolina Gamecock has led the 49ers in receiving in three of their last four games. The 49ers have won every game this season where Sameul is fully healthy for the entire contest.
Good: Balance
While it’s unfair to call the 49ers one-dimensional, there has been times where Christian McCaffrey has carried the load for Kyle Shanahan’s high-powered offense. However, as the season progresses and the 49ers continue to pile up wins, the offense has become more and more balanced.
While McCaffrey was still heavily involved with 18 carries and five receptions for a team-high 187 total yards and three touchdowns, the 49ers continued to spread the ball around.
Seven different playmakers touched the ball during the 49ers’ blowout over the Cardinals with 26 runs and 28 passes to total 406 yards of offense in Arizona.
With the NFC West wrapped up and ticket punched to the postseason, the 49ers should continue to stay with a balanced attack to ensure their long list of playmakers stay healthy for the playoffs.
Good: Christian McCaffrey
If you were to make an argument for a different player outside of Brock Purdy for the NFL’s MVP award, Christian McCaffrey at least deserves to be in the conversation.
McCaffrey quietly notched a hat-trick with three touchdowns, two through the air and one on the ground. McCaffrey piled up a total of 187 yards on 18 carries and five receptions.
McCaffrey caught a game-long 41-yard touchdown reception. The former Stanford Cardinal back was so open on his long touchdown that he had enough time to fall down and get back up before scoring.
McCaffrey has put together a ridiculous campaign with a league-best 1292 yards on the ground with 13 rushing touchdowns (trailing only Miami’s Raheem Mostert). McCaffrey has added 509 yards receiving with seven touchdowns through the air.
Bad: Run Defense
The 49ers had trouble slowing down the Cardinals rushing attack on Sunday. With Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead out of the game due to injury, the 49ers’ backup interior of Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens struggled in Arizona. With the pair of star defensive tackles out of the game, linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw weren’t able to fill gaps and clean up tackles.
The 49ers’ defense allowed 234 yards on th ground, including a 49-yard touchdown run from Cardinals reserve back Emari Demercado.
The Cardinals averaged 7.8 yards per carry on Sunday against the 49ers. Three different members of the Cardinals notched 49 or more yards rushing on 30 attempts on the ground.
The 49ers will clean things up in the run game before meeting the Ravens and their high-powered rushing attack on Monday Night Football on Christmas.
Good: Charvarius Ward
After not practicing all week due to a groin injury, Charvarius Ward not only played, but put together one of his best performances of the season.
Ward quickly got the 49ers’ defense involved in the scoring with an interception that turned into his first-career pick-six. After picking the ball off, Ward weaved through the Cardinals’ offense to scamper for 66-yards into the end zone.
After securing a pick-six, Ward wasn’t done. In the fourth quarter, Ward stole a pass from Kyler Murray intended for Zach Pascal for a two-interception day.
Along with a pair of picks, Ward notches three tackles and two pass deflections.
