Three Takeaways from 49ers’ Week 18 win over the Arizona Cardinals
Jan 9, 2023, 4:30 PM
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
The San Francisco 49ers finished out the 2022 regular season on a high note, defeating the Arizona Cardinals, 38-13, at home. Now in possession of the two-seed in the NFC, they’ll host the Seattle Seahawks in round 1 of the NFL playoffs.
With the playoffs starting in five days, let’s not beat around the bush and get right into it. Here are the three takeaways from Week 18 that could impact the postseason for the Red & Gold.
San Francisco can go as far as Brock Purdy wants
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy made more history in Week 18, becoming the second rookie gunslinger in NFL history to throw for multiple touchdowns in his first five starts. The other: Miami Dolphins’ legend Dan Marino.
Purdy was exceptional at times Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals, throwing for 178 yards passing and three TDs in a 38-13 rout. Despite the lower numbers passing, Purdy made the right reads and enough plays to keep the offense afloat when it mattered. His best throw of the day came at the end of the first half, tossing a perfectly weighted ball to tight end George Kittle, snagging it in the air while top-tapping for six points.
It helps that he has so many playmakers at his disposal, (Kittle wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, running back Christian McCaffrey to name a few), but the Iowa State alum has made more good plays than bad ones down the stretch.
“I think he’s playing consistent and he’s making some good decisions with the ball,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said Sunday “He has avoided some bad turnovers and has done a good job getting some good players the ball who’ve done a good job making some plays and he’s hung in there on third down, made some key throws. It was nice to get the run game going too, but overall I thought that the guys play real well.”
Since taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 14, Purdy has been lights out for the 49ers. In six games, he’s thrown for 1,308 yards, 13 TDs and 3 INTs. The team’s third-string QB to start the year, Purdy’s story has been the stuff of fairytales and it doesn’t get talked about enough, at least according to his teammates.
“I’m surprised people aren’t talking about it more honestly. It’s something that is incredible for “Mr. Irrelevant” to lead the team that we have into the postseason now on our way to try to earn a Super Bowl and knowing that we have full confidence in achieving that with him, it’s truly, truly impressive,” linebacker Fred Warner said about Purdy.
Brock Purdy NFL ranks since becoming starter in Week 14
Rank
Pass Rating 119.0 1st
Pass TD 11 t-1st
Pass TD/Att 8.9% 1st
Pass Yds/Att 8.85 1st
Wins 5 t-1stuh wow pic.twitter.com/CPIaWGUIa5
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 9, 2023
His play so far this season has been great, yet the real test starts Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks. Yes, he will make a mistake or two along the road, which could cost them this season. But the QB’s confidence makes the team believe they can take-on the world to kick off 2023.
“Yeah, I feel great. I feel like everyone else is feeling great. When you’re on a roll, you’re on a win streak, you feel like, man, the groove and how we’re playing together, it feels really good when we’re on it. I think a lot of us are real with ourselves too though. I feel like we still haven’t played to our full potential yet. And so, we look at it as a challenge, but we’re also excited because it’s like, man, if we do play to our full potential, what else could we do? So, those are the kind of things that we ask ourselves every day and we’re excited about. But I’m excited moving forward for being on a win streak,” Purdy explained after Week 18.
The perfectionist is always looking to get better, another reason the 49ers are confident he can lead the way.
The 49ers’ defense recaptured their form
Coming off the unit’s lone game of allowing 500 yards of offense this season, the 49ers’ defense got their groove back in Week 18, producing four turnovers by Arizona.
Getting “mossed” by Cardinals WR A.J. Green on the second play of the game, the 49ers rebounded with dominant defense. DeMeco Ryans’ unit only allowed 255 total yards Sunday, after giving up 77 of those on the first series.
One of the biggest performers of the game was safety Tashaun Gipson Sr, snagging two INTs off QB David Blough. “Gip” finished Week 18 with two tackles, two picks and two passes defended. Joining the 49ers as a training camp flier back in August, Jimmie Ward’s preseason injury allowed Gipson to slot into the secondary. He hasn’t looked back since.
“I couldn’t be around a better group of men, a better group of coaches. This atmosphere here, the family, the organization and just the locker room. They accepted me from day one. It wasn’t any ill will or anything like that. [S Talanoa] Hufunga, I truly have love for him, he brought me in, helped me understand the defense, and he took me under his wing. As crazy as it sounds, I’m 10 years older than him, but he truly did. And it’s just been a match made in heaven. It’s the most fun year of my career and I can truly say that. I’ve been on some teams where we had a little success, man, but this truly is the most fun year of my career. And, you know, why stop now? We have so much more football left to play. Perfect storybook ending for everybody if we can continue to keep this going.”
The team as a whole was special against the Cardinals, finishing the 2022 regular season No. 1 in yards and points allowed. For some perspective, the 49ers have only been first in points allowed twice in history, 1960 and 1984. However, no team in the NFL has ever been both first in points and yards allowed in a season.
Creating a unit rivaling the 2000 Super Bowl Baltimore Ravens, the Red & Gold have a complete team at all three phases of the game, and the players know it.
“I don’t know that I’ve had this feeling that I have right now about our team & the opportunity that we have to go win this thing.’
Fred Warner is thinking big as 49ers head toward playoffs. 👀 pic.twitter.com/QHqLhEAZqV
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 9, 2023
“I thought their next scoring drive, I thought we had them stopped. It seemed to me like there was a clip on that third-and-14. I thought that’s what I saw. It either wasn’t or they missed it and that allowed them to extend that drive and we kind of broke down on the one drive after that, but besides that one play and that one drive, our defense did what we expected them to do and I think they’re real excited for next week,” Shanahan added.
The Real Football starts now
The San Francisco 49ers close out the regular season on a 10-0 run, their longest winning streak since 1997. San Francisco’s last loss came Week 7 in October against the Kansas City Chiefs. Since then, the Red & Gold have outscored their opponents 305-144.
That’s absurd.
And yet, the 49ers aren’t satisfied. Because regular-season statistics are one thing, winning a Super Bowl is a whole other beast.
“In my opinion the 10-game win streak is awesome. It’s really fun but it means nothing now at this point,” GeorgeKittle said bluntly. “It got us in a position of securing a two seed, so we get to play at home for two weeks. I mean, obviously, we have to win the first one and we’ll figure out who we’re playing, but everything is a little bit more amplified now. Hopefully guys are a hundred percent focused on football and extracurricular activities are kind of just pushed to the side, whether it’s friends, family, whatever it is. How about we just hunker down and focus on the next four or five weeks, whatever it is.”
Thanks to the Detroit Lions heroics over the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers will host the Seattle Seahawks for wild-card weekend. A team they have never beat in the postseason, San Francisco knows they’ll have to be at their best to win out in the tournament.
After all, the illustrious sixth title has eluded the Niners for decades.
The #49ers will host the #Seahawks in the Wild Card round.
The 49ers swept the Seahawks this season by a combined score of 48-20.
Seattle holds a 19-30 record over SF.
The two teams have only met one other time in the playoffs, the 2013 NFC Title Game. pic.twitter.com/WyKHSsPChh
— #Random49ers (@Random49ers) January 9, 2023
“I don’t really look at it as you have to beat someone three times. I just look at it as we have to beat them on Saturday,” Shanahan said Monday. “That’s the game, I don’t think the other games have to do with it. It all comes down to this and that’s how it was last year too. There was no difference to me in that. Teams know each other pretty well. You don’t get to surprise teams that much in situations like this, but that’s how it’s been with us in Seattle for a number of years here and usually every time we play it’s comes down to the wire, usually that last possession and that’s what we’re working and ready to fight for.”
