Game recap

Cardinals @ 49ers

2026 Wk 3 · SF 36, ARI 30

An 80 yard lateral score, four Purdy touchdowns, and a 24 point Cardinals second half that fell short.

FanIQ Research · September 28, 2026 · 6 facts, every one from the play-by-play

An 82 yard touchdown on a 2 yard pass: Purdy to Evans, lateral to Samuel, tied for the longest lateral score since 1999.

Rare

Touchdowns of 60+ yards involving a lateral, 1999 to 2026 (regular season and playoffs)

Season	Game	Yards	Play
2002	NYG @ IND	82	K.Collins to A.Toomer, after Barber lateral back to Collins
2026	ARI @ SF	82	B.Purdy to M.Evans for 2, lateral to D.Samuel for 80
2003	NO @ JAX	75	A.Brooks to D.Stallworth, two laterals, final untimed play
2006	CIN @ NO	72	D.Brees to J.Horn, pass thrown after lateral from McAllister
2018	NE @ MIA	69	R.Tannehill to K.Stills, laterals to Parker and Drake
2008	PHI @ ARI (playoffs)	62	K.Warner to L.Fitzgerald
2001	NYG @ PHI	60	K.Collins to A.Toomer, lateral to Barber and back
2003	NYJ @ PHI	60	V.Testaverde to S.Moss, handoff and pitch back

Deebo Samuel's box score in this game

Targets	Receptions	Receiving yards	Receiving TD	Carries	Rush yards
0	0	80	1	2	14

At 8:40 of the first quarter, from the San Francisco 18, Brock Purdy threw a 2 yard pass to Mike Evans at the 20. Evans pitched it to Deebo Samuel, who ran the remaining 80 yards. The play scored the first points of the game and was worth 7.66 expected points, the biggest single swing of the afternoon. Samuel finished with 80 receiving yards and a touchdown on zero targets and zero catches, and the 82 yards make it the longest touchdown of his career, ahead of a 79 yarder against Detroit in 2021.

Why it matters. Lateral touchdowns of this length are almost always desperation plays on the last snap of a half. This one came on a designed first quarter throw with the game scoreless, and 80 of the 82 yards came after the pitch. Only one other touchdown in 28 seasons of play data has covered 82 yards with a lateral involved, and that 2002 Giants play used the lateral before the throw. For a 49ers offense that reached 8.9 yards per play, it set the tone: one snap covered 82 yards, and Arizona's longest play of the day covered 19.

Arizona ran 80 plays and never gained 20 yards on any of them, the eighth such game since 1999.

Anomaly

Team games of 80+ pass and run plays with no gain of 20+ yards, 1999 to 2026 regular season

Season	Game	Team	Plays	Yards	Longest	First downs	Result
2011	NYG @ NYJ	NYJ	89	331	15	20	L
1999	MIN @ NYG	NYG	83	346	19	23	L
2001	ARI @ CAR	CAR	83	318	18	19	L
2007	WAS @ NYG	NYG	82	307	19	19	L
2011	SEA @ CLE	CLE	82	301	19	19	W
2016	DEN @ NO	DEN	81	339	18	24	W
2013	NYG @ DET	DET	80	358	17	23	L
2026	ARI @ SF	ARI	80	365	19	25	L

Arizona's passing volume in this game

Player	Targets	Receptions	Yards	TD
Michael Wilson	17	11	89	1
Trey McBride	11	9	75	0
Jeremiyah Love	5	5	19	1
Marvin Harrison Jr.	5	3	40	0

There have been 344 regular season team games of 80 or more offensive plays since 1999. Only eight of them, this one included, produced no gain of 20 yards or more, and Arizona's 365 yards and 25 first downs are the most in that group. Jacoby Brissett completed 38 of 52 passes for 280 yards, 5.4 yards per attempt, with the longest completion covering 19 yards. San Francisco had six gains of 20 or more on 49 plays, including the 82 yard touchdown.

Why it matters. Eighty plays is a full afternoon of possession, and Arizona converted it into 25 first downs and 30 points, which is why this game stayed close. But the seven teams before them in this table went 2 and 5, because an offense that cannot produce a chunk play has to string together 10 to 14 snaps for every touchdown, and one stall ends the drive. The 49ers needed 49 plays to score 36 because they had six explosive gains. That gap, not the possession count, decided the game.

Kittle's two touchdowns tied Vernon Davis at 55, the most regular season receiving scores by a 49ers tight end since 1999.

Milestone

49ers tight ends by regular season receiving touchdowns, 1999 to 2026

Player	Rec TD	Rec yards	Seasons with SF
George Kittle	55	8,182	2017 to 2026
Vernon Davis	55	5,640	2006 to 2015
Garrett Celek	12	1,104	2012 to 2019
Delanie Walker	8	1,465	2006 to 2012
Vance McDonald	7	866	2013 to 2016

Kittle's regular season games with 2+ receiving touchdowns

Season	Week	Opponent	Rec	Yards	TD
2021	13	SEA	9	181	2
2022	11	ARI	4	84	2
2022	15	SEA	4	93	2
2022	16	WAS	6	120	2
2022	18	ARI	4	29	2
2023	5	DAL	3	67	3
2024	6	SEA	5	58	2
2025	11	ARI	6	67	2
2026	3	ARI	6	82	2

Kittle entered the game with 53 regular season receiving touchdowns as a 49er. A 10 yard score at 8:46 of the fourth quarter and a 20 yard score at 1:36 brought him level with Vernon Davis, who scored 55 for San Francisco between 2006 and 2015 and 63 in his career across three teams. Kittle caught 6 of 7 targets for 82 yards. Of his nine career multi touchdown games, four have come against Arizona.

Why it matters. Davis built his 55 across ten seasons with 13 in both 2009 and 2013, the most by a 49ers tight end in any season since 1999. Kittle has matched that mark with 2,542 more receiving yards, so his touchdowns have come at a lower rate per yard while his yardage total is far larger. The two that tied the record were the two that mattered most in this game: the first restored a nine point lead after Arizona pulled within three, and the second answered a two point margin with 96 seconds left.

Four touchdowns, no picks, 27 throws: Purdy's third such game trails only Brady, Brees and Lamar Jackson since 1999.

Comparison

Most regular season games with 4+ pass TD, 0 INT, 250+ yards and 27 or fewer attempts, 1999 to 2026

Passer	Games	First	Last
Tom Brady	5	2001	2020
Lamar Jackson	4	2019	2024
Drew Brees	4	2004	2014
Brock Purdy	3	2023	2026
Peyton Manning	3	2003	2014
Drew Lock	2	2020	2024

Purdy's regular season games with 4+ passing touchdowns

Season	Week	Opponent	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
2023	5	DAL	17	24	252	4	0
2023	13	PHI	19	27	314	4	0
2023	15	ARI	16	25	242	4	0
2025	16	IND	25	34	295	5	1
2026	3	ARI	15	27	297	4	0

Purdy completed 15 of 27 for 297 yards, 11.0 yards per attempt, with touchdowns to Samuel, Evans and two to Kittle. He was not sacked on 27 dropbacks and added 34 rushing yards, plus a 45 yard scramble for a touchdown that was wiped out by a holding penalty. A game with 4 or more touchdown passes, no interceptions, 250 or more yards and 27 or fewer attempts has happened 56 times in 28 regular seasons. Purdy owns three of them, tied with Peyton Manning and one behind Brees and Jackson.

Why it matters. The cohort here is deliberately narrow: it rewards scoring efficiency per throw, not volume. Brady and Manning reached it in high volume offenses that occasionally ran away early; Purdy reaches it because Shanahan's offense generates open receivers, so 27 attempts carry a full game's worth of touchdown chances. Two of his five 4 touchdown games have come against Arizona, and all three of his games in this cohort came on 24 to 27 attempts. The 5.4 yards Arizona averaged per throw on 52 attempts is the contrast that framed the day.

Arizona erased a 17 point deficit to within 2 points twice, and San Francisco answered both times with a touchdown drive.

Trend

Every scoring play, with the running score (SF listed first)

Qtr	Clock	Team	Play	Score
1	8:40	SF	Purdy 2 yd pass to Evans, Samuel 80 yd lateral TD	7-0
2	15:00	SF	Purdy 23 yd TD pass to Evans	14-0
2	3:08	ARI	Ryland 26 yd FG	14-3
2	0:27	ARI	Ryland 41 yd FG	14-6
2	0:04	SF	Pineiro 57 yd FG	17-6
3	11:10	SF	McCaffrey 1 yd TD run, PAT missed	23-6
3	3:07	ARI	Brissett 5 yd TD pass to Wilson	23-13
4	13:10	ARI	Brissett 1 yd TD pass to Love	23-20
4	8:46	SF	Purdy 10 yd TD pass to Kittle, PAT missed	29-20
4	2:55	ARI	Brissett 1 yd TD run	29-27
4	1:36	SF	Purdy 20 yd TD pass to Kittle	36-27
4	0:39	ARI	Ryland 49 yd FG	36-30

San Francisco's two answer drives after Arizona pulled within one score

Arizona score	Clock at kickoff	SF drive	Ended	Result
23-20	13:06 4Q	8 plays, 64 yards	8:46 4Q	Kittle 10 yd TD
29-27	2:51 4Q	7 plays	1:36 4Q	Kittle 20 yd TD

Teams that trailed by 17+ points in the second half, 1999 to 2026 regular season

Team games	Won	Win rate
2,938	88	3.0%

Arizona trailed 23-6 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter and scored on three of its next four possessions: a 13 play touchdown drive, then, after a punt that Siran Neal muffed and Arizona recovered at the San Francisco 28, a five play touchdown drive, and finally a 14 play, 68 yard drive that took 5:43 and ended with Brissett's 1 yard run at 2:55. Each time the margin reached 3 or 2, the 49ers took the next kickoff and scored a touchdown. The second answer took 75 seconds. The 49ers never trailed and led by as many as 17; two missed extra points are why the final margin was 6 rather than 8.

Why it matters. A 17 point second half deficit is close to a lost cause: teams in that position have won 3 percent of the time since 1999. Arizona did the hard part, scoring 24 points after halftime with a 0.266 EPA per play offense, and still lost because the deficit was never fully erased. The 49ers' two answer drives are the story of the fourth quarter, and both ended with the same receiver. A muffed punt gave Arizona a short field for one score, and the 49ers' two missed extra points kept the final margin inside one possession, so the finish was closer than the offensive gap of 8.9 yards per play to 4.6 suggests.

The 49ers' 0.49 EPA per play is the third best offensive game of the Shanahan era, and three of the top seven came against Arizona.

Comparison

Best San Francisco offensive games by EPA per play under Kyle Shanahan, 2017 to 2026 regular season (min 40 plays)

Rank	Season	Week	Opponent	Plays	EPA/play	Yards/play
1	2023	13	at PHI	56	0.530	8.16
2	2023	4	ARI	51	0.500	7.78
3	2026	3	ARI	49	0.490	8.94
4	2021	8	at CHI	51	0.470	9.25
5	2026	2	MIA	47	0.460	8.17
6	2019	2	at CIN	66	0.452	8.68
7	2023	15	at ARI	51	0.426	8.00
8	2024	14	CHI	60	0.407	7.55

Offensive EPA per play, this game versus each team's baseline

Team	This game	2026 Wk 1	2026 Wk 2	2025 season (REG)
SF	0.490	0.179	0.460	0.088
ARI	0.169			-0.019

San Francisco gained 438 yards on 49 offensive plays, 8.94 per play, and scored on 5 of the 49. Its 0.49 EPA per play ranks third among 152 Shanahan era regular season games, and the two 2026 home games now sit third and fifth on that list after a 0.088 average across the 2025 regular season. Arizona's offense was also well above its own 2025 baseline at 0.169, which is how a team that allowed 8.9 yards per play still scored 30.

Why it matters. Weeks 2 and 3 are the first time in Shanahan's tenure that San Francisco has posted consecutive games above 0.45 EPA per play; the other four games at that level were scattered across 2019, 2021 and 2023. Arizona has now been the opponent for three of the seven best games in ten seasons, which points at a matchup problem rather than a one off. The 2025 baseline of 0.088 was sixth in the league, so the 2026 numbers represent a real jump from an already good starting point, on a three game sample.

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