49ers vs. Broncos: What we learned from SF's toughest win of 2026 - Niners Wire
It was a struggle for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday and they still managed to escape a rock fight with the Denver Broncos with a 24-14 win.
The 49ers battled through a 3-3 first-half tie and ultimately put up the game's first touchdown late in the third quarter. Then they added two more in the fourth quarter as they finally asserted their will on the contest. We finally got to see how San Francisco would respond in a game where they weren't dominant from the opening kick.
Purdy wasn't great through the 49ers' first three quarters. He was 13-for-23 for 103 yards and one touchdown, but he looked a little skittish in the pocket against a strong Denver pass rush. A ragtag group of receivers likely led to some of Purdy's indecisiveness. However, after a Denver turnover he helped create a red zone touchdown by scrambling and finding Deebo Samuel wide open. Then in the fourth quarter after Denver kicked a field goal to cut the 49ers lead to 10-6, Purdy responded by completing all four of his throws for 50 yards on a nine-play, 74-yard scoring drive to give San Francisco a 17-6 lead. He tacked on 56 more yards and a touchdown on George Kittle's long catch-and-run to put an exclamation mark on the victory.
Samuel looked like his prime self Sunday. He broke tackles and was a force as a runner and receiver. Samuel racked up 44 rushing yards on three carries. He also caught five-of-six targets for 26 yards and a touchdown. While the eight touches for 70 yards and a score is a really nice stat line, it was the explosiveness and tackle breaking that stood out. If the 49ers are getting this version of Samuel he's a difference-maker on offense.
The 49ers are so banged up defensively, but they stood tall through the first three quarters, allowing just three points for the first 45 minutes. Denver ran 46 plays in the first two quarters and allowed 202 yards (4.4 yards per play). It was a really good showing overall even if they did falter and allow a touchdown when they had a chance to essentially close the game out after San Francisco made it 17-6. Alas, if the 49ers get this sort of effort from their defense when its banged up it bodes very well for them down the stretch of the season.
Purdy was nearly sacked a couple of times, but Denver still didn't get him on the ground. San Francisco's offensive line did a nice job and when they struggled it was Purdy working his magic to maneuver through the pocket and escape. The scrambling didn't lead to much early, then a couple of big completions including a touchdown off of Purdy's out-of-structure playmaking helped blow the game open for the 49ers' offense. Purdy still hasn't been sacked through the first four weeks.
The 49ers tried getting Jacob Cowing involved early. It didn't work well. He received one target and looked to have a miscommunication with Purdy. Then he ran once for two yards. Brandin Cooks got one target that fell incomplete. Outside of that with so many offensive playmakers on the sidelines it was up to Mike Evans, Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel. That group of four accounted for 25 of Purdy's 29 targets. Kyle Juszczyk also got two. In an ideal scenario the 49ers would be able to sprinkle in plays for their other weapons, but Sunday they were grinding it out offensively and leaned on their stars to help them do it.
In Week 3 the 49ers let the Arizona Cardinals hang around in part because of a Cardinals punt that bounced off of Neal who had fallen down on the play. In Week 4 it was Neal creating a takeaway when Broncos punt returner Marvin Mims briefly fumbled the ball as Neal held onto his ankle. As soon as the ball came out, Neal reached in and snatched it away from the punt returner. That gave the 49ers the ball at Denver's 28 and they turned it into the game's first touchdown nine plays later.
San Francisco got a gift last week as the only NFC West team to win. They kept their distance from their top two division foes who both pulled out wins Sunday. The Los Angeles Rams (2-2) erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Then the Seattle Seahawks (3-1) hung on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers. San Francisco is still undefeated and a game up on Seattle. They also have two games and the tiebreaker on the Rams as of the end of Week 4. The 49ers Week 5 game in Seattle is massive.
