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After aggravating his toe injury against Jacksonville on Sept. 28, Brock Purdy waited seven long weeks to return to the field.

When he finally took his first snap on Sunday in Arizona, the 49ers scored a touchdown. Yes, it was a 1-yard Christian McCaffrey score set up by Skyy Moore’s 98-yard kickoff return, but it gave the 49ers a chance to step on the gas pedal early and cruise to a 41-22 win over the Cardinals. 

The 49ers’ starting quarterback led five touchdown drives and completed 19-of-26 passes for 200 yards and three touchdown passes in a dominant victory that moved the team to 7-4. Against a depleted Arizona defense, Purdy secured his first win since leading the 49ers to a season-opening victory in Seattle in Week 1.

The 41 points were the most the 49ers have scored this season as they took advantage of a mistake-prone Cardinals team that committed a franchise-record 17 penalties, the most by any team in the NFL this season. Arizona’s miscues were compounded by a 49ers defense that snagged a pair of interceptions from quarterback Jacoby Brissett, including one from star cornerback Deommodore Lenoir that he returned 64 yards to set up a 14-yard third-quarter touchdown drive.

That five-play drive was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to tight end George Kittle, who missed five games after injuring his hamstring shortly after scoring the 49ers’ first touchdown of the season in Week 1 against the Seahawks. Kittle’s two touchdown receptions on Sunday put him in elite company as he joined Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens as the only players with at least 500 career receptions and 50 touchdowns in 49ers uniform.

Despite the positive momentum the offense generated against Arizona, the 49ers lost multiple key players including kicker Eddy Piñeiro, who injured his right hamstring on the extra-point attempt following Kittle’s touchdown. Linebacker Tatum Bethune – Fred Warner’s replacement –  left the game with an ankle injury and defensive end Robert Beal was diagnosed with a concussion. In the third quarter, Bethune’s replacement – Curtis Robinson – received attention from the 49ers’ medical staff on the field before walking off the field under his own power and returning to the game. 

Like Robinson, cornerback Upton Stout was also in and out of the lineup after dealing with a minor injury. Stout turned in one of the most impressive plays of the game when he stripped Cardinals receiver Elijah Higgins at the goal line at the beginning of the fourth quarter to record the 49ers’ third takeaway of the game.

Plays like that proved critical for a defense that bent, but didn’t break as Brissett completed 47-of-57 passes for 452 yards, the most by a Cardinals quarterback since Kurt Warner threw for 468 yards in a 2008 game against the Jets.

Here are our early takeaways from Sunday’s game.

On his sixth play back from a prolonged absence, Purdy canned coach Kyle Shanahan’s play call at the line of scrimmage, shifted the 49ers into a spread formation and then rifled a dime of a deep pass to Kittle.

The electric touchdown served as a dramatic reminder of a truth that’s too often ignored: Ever since entering the league in 2022, Purdy has been the NFL’s most efficient passer. Yes, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes trail Purdy in EPA per play — and Sunday provided an immediate example as to how Purdy has managed to top those charts.

He’s really damn good, and it’s no accident that the 49ers notched a season-high 35 points before three quarters had even passed in this game.

It’s also clear that the 49ers’ offense left some meat on the bone. Perhaps Shanahan can run more frequently on some third downs. This would give the 49ers potentially manageable fourth-down tries instead of putting Purdy into difficult passing situations, a problem which scuttled three promising drives.

But it stands to reason that the 49ers’ offense will only get better as Purdy and Pearsall, who also played Sunday for the first time since Sept. 28, knock off rust. Sunday was a hell of a start — and a reminder that the 49ers have a boatload of offensive firepower to make a run.

Moore’s 98-yard kick return to open the game was just the latest reminder of the 49ers’ remarkable special teams renaissance. They finished No. 32, dead last, in special teams expected points added (EPA) in 2024 but entered this game ranking No. 3 there. Another big kick return from Brian Robinson Jr. later in the first half further boosted the 49ers and introduced a tantalizing thought: What if the 49ers… finish this season with the top special teams unit in the NFL?

Of course, nothing comes that easily for these 49ers — and they were reminded of that when Piñeiro grabbed at his hamstring following a second-half extra point. The team’s special teams turnaround had begun in earnest in Week 2, when Piñeiro replaced Jake Moody.

Ever since Nick Bosa tore his ACL in Week 3, the 49ers have ranked No. 26 in defensive EPA per play. The catastrophic loss of Fred Warner three weeks later further exacerbated the 49ers’ struggles and reinforced the narrow path forward: Elite offensive play and good special teams will have to be the team’s drivers moving forward. The defense should improve with seasoning, and it did have some nice moments on Sunday (see Lenoir’s pick and Stout’s forced fumble at the goal line), but Arizona still managed nearly 7.0 yards per play.

Clearly, the onus remains on Purdy and Co to lead the way.

Arizona’s parade of penalties and generally mediocre play did give the 49ers plenty of margin for error on Sunday. But there’ll likely be more margin for error over the next three games — when the 49ers will be favored over the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans — so a steady build on Sunday’s performance should give Shanahan’s team a real shot at a 10-4 record.

Considering all the blows the 49ers have taken this year, that’s downright remarkable.