49ers top Cardinals in Brock Purdy’s return despite Jacoby Brissett’s record day
Brock Purdy passed for 200 yards and three touchdowns in his first game since Sept. 28, Christian McCaffrey scored three touchdowns, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the error-prone Arizona Cardinals 41-22 on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.
Purdy completed 19 of 26 passes without an interception in his return from a turf toe injury suffered in the season opener and aggravated in a 26-21 loss to Jacksonville in Week 4.
McCaffrey scored the 49ers’ first and last touchdowns, on 1- and 4-yard runs, and added a 9-yard scoring reception. He had 81 yards rushing and 121 yards from scrimmage.
More on the 49ers’ win over Arizona
Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed an NFL regular-season record 47 passes in 57 attempts for a career-high 452 yards, with two touchdowns and two picks. His streak of 166 consecutive passes without an interception ended in the final minute of the first half.
Brissett threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Trey McBride and a 17-yarder to Greg Dortch in the fourth quarter after the 49ers built a 35-10 lead.
49ers tight end George Kittle had six receptions for 67 yards and scored on 30- and 4-yard catches.
Even with the win, the 49ers (7-4) remain eighth in the NFC playoff standings after Green Bay and Chicago won earlier Sunday.
The Cardinals committed a franchise-record 17 penalties, breaking a record set in 1936, for 130 yards.
A holding penalty negated a 60-yard scoring run by Bam Knight on fourth-and-inches on the Cardinals’ first possession of the third quarter, when it was 25-10.
The Cardinals blocked a 62-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro on the final play of the first half, but an unnecessary roughness penalty gave Pineiro another chance from 47, which he converted.
Pineiro also made a 48-yard field goal and another 47-yarder to run his season-long streak of consecutive makes to 22. He beat the Cardinals 16-15 on a 35-yard field goal as time expired in Week 3.
Michael Wilson had career highs in receptions (15) and yards (185) for the Cardinals. McBride had 10 for 115. Knight had a 6-yard TD run in the first quarter after the 49ers built a 13-0 lead.
Elijah Higgins fumbled as he was hit just before he crossed the goal line to stop a Cardinals drive in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
Bills Veteran Delivers Harsh Warning to Keon Coleman After Benching
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Keon Coleman #0 of the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman had the support of teammates after his up-and-down rookie season, but now it appears he’s getting a dose of tough love instead.
Coleman was benched for Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he reportedly missed a team meeting on Friday — the third time in a year and a half that he faced discipline for missing team obligations.
After the game, one of the team’s longest-tenured players delivered a harsh warning to Coleman about his future with the team.
Dion Dawkins Warns Receiver
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s 44-32 win, left tackle Dion Dawkins said he already had a talk with Coleman about taking his obligations more seriously.
“I’ve already spoken to him,” Dawkins said. “When I spoke to Keon before, I said, ‘Bro, look, don’t even worry about it. Everybody goes through a different journey. Let’s just say that this is the last time, and let’s just move forward.’ And he said, ‘I’m with you.’ That’s all we need.”
While Dawkins stressed that he was still supportive of Coleman, he issued a warning that the second-year receiver needed to “grow up.”
“Nobody’s perfect, but in this league we need guys to come on. And Keon knows now he’s in the hot seat, and he needs to come on and show up for us,” Dawkins said. “Pats on the back are over with and it’s time for him to grow up and he knows it. As an older player on the team, we’ve got to hold everybody accountable. And we shoot straight. We don’t sugarcoat it.”
Keon Coleman Was Already in the Crosshairs
Coleman already faced pressure coming into this season, with head coach Sean McDermott saying this summer that his rookie season was “rocky.” Coleman showed flashes of strong play but also missed a long stretch due to injury, then struggled to bring the same production once he returned.
“I thought he got off to a start that he built momentum through, and then he got injured, and then from there on, it was rather rocky,” McDermott said.
“We’re looking for him to learn from those moments of adversity, and come back and have a really, really, really strong offseason and get himself going into the start of season two,” the Bills head coach added. “And that takes a certain type of person with a certain drive and determination and fire in their heart, and it’s going to be Keon’s turn to show that he has that this offseason.”
Dawkins had been supportive of Coleman in the summer, talking up the receiver and predicting he was headed for a big season.
But the receiver continued to struggle with his play, leading to questions about his effort. McDermott again criticized Coleman after last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, saying he was not satisfied with his play.
“He knows if I’m not satisfied. It’s fair that you’re asking about,” McDermott said, via SI.com. “I can promise you it gets addressed when it isn’t (satisfactory) or where it needs to be. It’s been addressed … at times it’s been good and other times it can improve.”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
