SANTA CLARA — Remember when the 49ers were 3-4?
A vibe of uncertainty surrounded San Francisco after the Week 7 drubbing by the Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes and company shredded the defense and you had to wonder if the 49ers had the mettle to avoid being a middling NFL team. Well, they haven’t lost since.
With Sunday’s 38-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers (13-4) will roll into the playoffs as the NFL’s hottest team with a 10-game winning streak. They'll also be relatively intact following a season ravaged by high-profile injuries.
"To be able to pull off the win and protect the guys a little bit there at the end, to get out with any serious injuries, we were very relieved," coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Few could have envisioned the wild ride the Niners endured during the regular season. They lost their top two starting quarterbacks – Trey Lance in Week 2 and Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 – and left their playoff hopes in the hands of Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy. All he’s done is lead the 49ers to six straight wins while throwing multiple touchdowns each game.
On Sunday, Purdy recorded the first three-touchdown day of his career, going 15-of-20 for 178 yards. Two of his scores went to George Kittle and the other went to Christian McCaffrey, who has been a godsend for the 49ers since being acquired in Week 7.
Elijah Mitchell also returned after a six-week absence to score his first two touchdowns of the season.
Since McCaffrey got fully integrated into the offense, the 49ers haven’t lost while averaging 30.5 points per game.
"I'd like to say that's because of me," McCaffrey said with a smile. "It's not. This is a team game. We've had games where our defense shuts people out. I'm just proud to be a piece of this team with so many amazing players and great coaches."
They turned the fourth quarter of Sunday’s contest into garbage time. As the Cardinals ticked down the final moments of their abysmal regular season, the 49ers rested their starters. They got more football to play.
The 49ers also appeared to get through the game without any major injuries, Shanahan confirmed after the game. Given their relatively clean bill of health, perhaps the biggest concern that has surfaced the past couple weeks is the pass defense.
A week after giving up 365 yards to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jarrett Stidham in his first career NFL start, Cardinals’ journeyman second-stringer David Blough was able to find room to pass at times. Ultimately, Blough threw two costly interceptions and fumbled once to kill any thoughts of a Cardinals upset, but the secondary has been a bit more leaky the past two weeks than to start the season.
"Feel like we'll be good," defensive back Jimmie Ward said. "We just gotta take it one day at a time, one game at a time."
The Philadelphia Eagles took care of the New York Giants to retain possession of the NFC’s No. 1 seed. San Francisco will be the No. 2 seed and host the seventh-seeded Seattle Seahawks at 1:25 p.m. PT on Saturday.
"I think everybody's hungry," McCaffrey said. "Obviously, we needed to take care of business today. Came out with a great team win. Guys are excited. We're obviously fired up. Real ball plays now."
