Grading the 49ers: Brock Purdy’s third quarter was historically good

A record audience watched the 49ers strain their way to a huge 30-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. The television audience peaked at 26.4 million viewers, per NBC Sports, making the it the most-watched Week 8 Sunday Night Football game ever.

Those who watched were treated to a vintage third-quarter 49ers’ rally — one evocative of dominant displays that the team regularly delivered during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Over the quarter, the 49ers outscored Dallas 21-0. They out-gained the Cowboys 167-16. They possessed the ball for nearly 12 minutes while Dallas held it for only about three. QB Brock Purdy, on top of logging a perfect 7-for-7 for 103 yards, also led the 49ers with 37 rushing yards.

According to OptaStats, Purdy became the only quarterback since 2000 to deliver over 100 passing yards, over 30 rushing yards, and a 100 percent completion rate in a quarter. There have been 26,276 quarters of NFL football played since 2000.

The fourth quarter, of course, wasn’t nearly as graceful. But although the 49ers almost blew their large lead, they dug in to preserve a victory with an impressive efficiency profile.

Good news continued after the game. None of the injuries that the 49ers sustained appears to threaten long-term availability.

Running back Jordan Mason aggravated his shoulder sprain and receiver Deebo Samuel has a rib injury and oblique strain. The 49ers will re-evaluate both players after the bye week. Rookie cornerback Renardo Green is day-to-day with a low ankle sprain and linebacker Dee Winters is in the concussion protocol.

Receiver Chris Conley might miss the most time of any 49er who was hurt against Dallas. Conley, who led all receivers with 52 snaps, strained his hamstring and is week-to-week.

Quarterback: Brock Purdy (68 snaps)
Game grade: B+

His accuracy was a touch off in the first half, and that led to some of the 49ers’ missed opportunities. But Purdy came alive after intermission, which happened to be when coach Kyle Shanahan implemented the short-passing adjustments that we’d discussed leading up to the game.

Purdy averaged 10.1 air yards per attempt in the first half, which featured downfield strikes that attained various levels of success. He then averaged only 3.8 air yards per attempt in the second half, per Pro Football Focus. Nearly every one of his throws was successful.

Purdy again ranks in the top five of expected points added (EPA) among NFL quarterbacks. He’s done that over eight games without Christian McCaffrey and in the midst of injury turmoil to the 49ers’ skill-position weapons. The idea that Purdy’s success is a product of his supporting cast has been completely discredited.

Running back/fullback: Isaac Guerendo (43), Jordan Mason (11), Patrick Taylor Jr. (5), Kyle Juszczyk (39)
Game grade: B+

The only mistake from this group came in the 4th quarter, when Guerendo missed in pass protection against Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, leading to a cringe-inducing hit against Purdy. That was a reminder of why Shanahan has typically slow-played rookies into key roles.

But with Mason hurt, the 49ers had little choice — and Guerendo’s burst even seemed to enliven their zone-based rushing attack. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry on a night that saw the 49ers eclipse 200 total rushing yards.

“It was a really good game for the running backs,” Shanahan said.

Among the issues to clean up: Juszczyk committed a holding penalty in the first half. Three of those from various skill position players threw an early wrench in 49ers’ drives.

McCaffrey’s rehab will escalate to simulated practice sessions this week. If those go well, he will return to actual practice ahead of the 49ers’ next game.

Wide receiver: Chris Conley (52), Deebo Samuel (42), Ricky Pearsall (40), Ronnie Bell (15), Jacob Cowing (12)
Game grade: A-

Pearsall looked a whole lot more comfortable given time to actually prepare for his role, unlike the prior week when Brandon Aiyuk’s injury and Samuel’s sickness left the 49ers scrambling at wideout. Most impressively, Purdy trusted Pearsall enough to throw a deep out far before the rookie broke and looked back for the football. There’s real rapport there, and the 49ers expect it to continue growing.

Outside of two drops, Samuel also shined — especially considering that he’d been hospitalized with pneumonia less than a week prior to the game. The 49ers will hope that his rib and oblique injury is healed coming out of the bye. Otherwise, Jauan Jennings — projected to return for the next game — will be a very busy man in Tampa Bay.

Tight end: George Kittle (64), Eric Saubert (14), Jake Tonges (2)
Game grade: A-

Kittle is 31 now, but he’s showing no signs of slowing down. He carves through cuts like a wide receiver. Wideouts, though, don’t weigh 250 pounds. And that makes Kittle a matchup nightmare.

“If you don’t have an itch in the back of your neck that someone’s coming to take your job every single day, then your job’s gonna get taken from you,” he said. “That is an itch that I’ve had.”

Offensive line: Colton McKivitz (68), Dominick Puni (68), Jake Brendel (68), Aaron Banks (68), Trent Williams (68)
Game grade: A

This was the 49ers’ best game in pass protection. Their offensive line allowed only five total pressures. None of those came against Williams or Brendel, who both continue to rise up the pass-blocking charts.

And although rookie Puni did allow a pressure, he remains one of the 10 qualifying guards in the NFL to have not allowed a sack yet this season. Remember that Puni also didn’t give up a single sack over two seasons in college at Kansas, so he has quite the streak going.

The 49ers now rank No. 13 in PFF’s cumulative pass-blocking grade. They’ve improved to an above-average score, which can be positively consequential for Purdy and the rest of the offense.

Defensive line: Nick Bosa (60), Maliek Collins (47), Leonard Floyd (46), Jordan Elliott (33), Sam Okuayinonu (29), Kalia Davis (14), Evan Anderson (14), Robert Beal Jr. (5)
Game grade: A

Here are the NFL leaders in pressures following this weekend’s action:

Hutchinson, who broke his tibia and fibia earlier this month, is done for the season. That’s huge news in the arms race between the 49ers, Lions, and other top NFC contenders.

The 49ers were productive outside of Bosa against Dallas. Here is PFF’s final pressure count:

Three of Okuayinonu’s pressures, including a sack and a key QB hit, came from an interior alignment. The 49ers also positioned former edge rushers Arden Key and Charles Omenihu on the inside. That’s also been their plan for Yetur Gross-Matos this season, but he’s currently on injured reserve with a knee injury. So Okuayinonu is filling in fantastically.

The next question: Will the 49ers add a piece to their D-line before the Nov. 5 trade deadline? New England defensive tackle Davon Godchaux might be a good candidate to spruce up the interior. The Cowboys managed a couple successful runs there, although they finished at only 2.9 yards per carry against the 49ers.

Linebacker: Fred Warner (62), De’Vondre Campbell (62), Dee Winters (11), Tatum Bethune (2)
Game grade: B+

There’s potentially exciting news on the horizon for the 49ers. Dre Greenlaw might be nearing a return from his Achilles tear.

“Once it gets past the bye week, we’ll be looking each week at whether we should bring him back or not,” Shanahan said Monday.

The linebacker spots outside Warner have been weaker portions of this 49ers defense. They weren’t a big issue against Dallas, but the 49ers will need to strengthen this position as much as possible — their system is reliant on speedy linebacker play.

Defensive back: Ji’Ayir Brown (62), Malik Mustapha (62), Deommodore Lenoir (61), Charvarius Ward (58), Renardo Green (45), Isaac Yiadom (9)
Game grade: B-

Lenoir explained that he used the Cowboys’ formation to predict receiver CeeDee Lamb’s route on his third-quarter interception.

A busted zone coverage and then a collision between Brown and Green led to Lamb’s two fourth-quarter touchdowns that made this game close. The 49ers obviously must clean up those issues.

But there’s no denying the burgeoning star power of their secondary: Green, who’s taken the third cornerback job from veteran Isaac Yiadom, was their highest-graded defensive player on the night. He and Mustapha delivered on consecutive plays of a key red-zone stand in the third quarter, and Brown also registered his best game — until that unfortunate collision, of course.

Special teams: The 49ers, who entered ranked No. 31 in this phase of the game, passed their test against the Cowboys’ top-ranked unit with flying colors.

“I was proud of us last night,” Shanahan said. “I thought we were up against a huge challenge. I thought our guys played real hard and did a real good job controlling [KaVontae] Turpin, who is one of the bigger game-changers in this game.

“I think we’ve dealt with a lot of stuff on special teams. A lot of changing on people, a lot of young guys starting out to play who we’ve lost, and having to replace them with new guys, and working in a lot of different people. I expect us to get better with that throughout the year. I know it hasn’t been good enough in this first half — not at all. But I thought last night was a step in the right direction.”

Game grade: A