Purdy shakes off worst game of season as unbeaten 49ers top Broncos 24-14
The short version
- Brock Purdy completed 9 of 10 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns from the 9:40 mark of the fourth quarter.
- A Marvin Mims punt fumble recovered by Siran Neal at the Denver 28 set up San Francisco's first touchdown.
- George Kittle's 56-yard screen-pass touchdown produced the 24-14 final score.
- Purdy finished with a 63.3 percent completion rate, no turnovers and no sacks despite his worst game of the season.
- The 49ers are one of three undefeated NFL teams after Week 4.
Brock Purdy overcame his worst game of the season, throwing two touchdowns down the stretch as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Broncos 24-14 to stay unbeaten.
Brock Purdy worked through the shakiest start of his season and closed out a 24-14 San Francisco 49ers win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Week 4 result kept the 49ers in the small group of three undefeated teams remaining in the NFL.
For roughly the first 36 minutes, the quarterback looked hesitant and uncomfortable against a strong Denver pass rush. A passer who leads the NFL in accuracy connected on just 10 of his first 20 throws for 89 yards, and the San Francisco offense ran six plays for four total yards in the third quarter.
The swing moment came on special teams. Broncos punt returner Marvin Mims fumbled a punt, and 49ers gunner Siran Neal recovered the loose ball at the Denver 28-yard line. Purdy took the field having produced no completion across his two drives of the second half.
On third-and-goal, he could not locate an open receiver, rolled left and seemed prepared to run before pulling up and finding Samuel alone for a one-yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead. Denver answered with a field goal that made it 10-6.
Purdy then delivered the drive San Francisco needed. Beginning at the 14:03 mark of the fourth quarter, he escaped two defenders while rolling left, circled back and hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 16-yard gain to launch a nine-play, 69-yard march. Purdy went 4-for-4 for 50 yards on the series, among them a designed rollout throw to Mike Evans that might have reached the end zone if the receiver were not managing a rib injury. Two plays later San Francisco scored again, ahead 17-6 with 8:55 remaining.
Denver pulled within 17-14, and Purdy answered once more. A screen pass turned into a 56-yard catch-and-run touchdown by George Kittle, producing the 24-14 final. From the 9:40 mark of the fourth quarter onward, Purdy completed 9 of 10 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and the 49ers scored on every possession until a final kneel-down ran out the clock.
The overall numbers reflected both the struggle and the response: a 63.3 percent completion rate, 7.3 yards per attempt, no turnovers and no sacks absorbed. It stood as Purdy's weakest game of the season by a clear margin, yet San Francisco still prevailed by 10 points with a depleted, inexperienced receiving corps against one of the league's top defenses.
The ending also strengthens the most-valuable-player discussion that has Purdy at the front of the line after four weeks. Award voting follows no defined criteria; statistics and team success matter, but narrative carries weight too, and touchdowns on three straight possessions to pull away from a Super Bowl contender are the kind of sequence that resonates.
That conversation remains far from settled. MVP races are typically decided across the final month of a season, and a single late stumble can undo months of positioning, a point Christmas Day 2023 made clear. For now, the 49ers are unbeaten alongside two other clubs, and their quarterback leads the early debate.
