NFL Week 4 Game Recap: San Francisco 49ers 35, Arizona Cardinals 16

The San Francisco 49ers improved to 4-0 with an NFC West divisional win over the Arizona Cardinals, who once again delivered a very respectable effort despite a final score of 35-16 that looks a bit uglier than reality.

Brock Purdy was nearly flawless and the 49ers were able to pull away late, but this was a 21-16 football game with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter. That said, San Francisco was in the driver’s seat throughout and closed the door shortly thereafter with an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.

Offensive spotlight: Cardinals wide receiver Marquise Brown finished with seven receptions for 96 yards, including a 41-yard snag on a busy afternoon against one of the league’s top defenses. Quarterback Josh Dobbs was once again strong, throwing for 265 yards and two touchdowns while adding 48 rushing yards and taking just one sack. Arizona deserves credit for averaging 5.4 yards per play and sustaining five separate drives for 10-plus plays, even though the points didn’t follow.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was almost perfect in this game, completing 20 of his 21 passes for 283 yards (13.5 yards per attempt) with a touchdown. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk returned from an injury that kept him out of Week 3 and racked up six receptions for 148 yards. Last but certainly not least, running back Christian McCaffrey had three rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown, extending his streak of consecutive games with a score to 13.

Defensive spotlight: Cardinals edge defender Dennis Gardeck continued his strong start to the season, adding another sack to his tally. Otherwise, there really weren’t many defensive highlights in the contest, as San Francisco averaged 7.5 yards per play and scored on five of six offensive possessions that didn’t include kneeldowns.

49ers linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw were all over the field, both recording eight solo tackles. Interior defender Javon Hargrave added a sack, but the Cardinals' offense was able to sustain several drives before the 49ers' defense came up with key stops.

Rookie spotlight: 49ers rookie wide receiver Ronnie Bell had a reception for seven yards on a quick screen with Deebo Samuel motioning pre-snap to the other side of the formation, a nice design from Kyle Shanahan that created easy yards. Rookie kicker Jake Moody made all five extra points.

Cardinals rookie wide receiver Michael Wilson continued an impressive start to his NFL career, hauling in seven receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson was creating separation all afternoon and popping back up after a few big crunches from the 49ers defense. Rookie cornerback Kei’Trel Clark added a tackle for loss, and rookie tackle Paris Johnson held up well in pass protection for much of the afternoon.

Box Score

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Receiving