Your San Francisco 49ers turned back into an offensive juggernaut and scored five touchdowns in Brock Purdy’s return at quarterback Sunday, but boy do these Niners seem to struggle with extra-point attempts.

San Francisco 49ers fans have seemingly waited all season for the return of long-injured quarterback Brock Purdy, and they got Purdy’s return Sunday in the five-touchdown jamboree that was a 41-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals. That’s the most points the 49ers’ offense has scored all season. Though they should have scored two more points, because they failed on not one, but two extra-point attempts. And there could be serious trouble looming in that kicking game as the 49ers head into the season’s end stretch.

But there was much for 49ers fans to celebrate Sunday, from the very opening kickoff of the game. Skyy Moore returned the opening kickoff 98 yards, almost but not quite scoring a touchdown (Christian McCaffrey would run it in on the very next play.) And so the 49ers were up 7-0 just 16 seconds into the game, and it immediately felt like the party was on.

Oh and above we see a fun factoid about that 98-yard Sky Moore kick return.

Brock Purdy finally got to play on the 49ers’ second drive, and he looked every bit the $265 million man he became in the offseason. That second drive was capped off by the 30-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle seen above, though the extra point attempt was blocked, and they would only go up 13-0.

The Cardinals are currently starting Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, so that right there pretty much tells you how their season is going. (Brissett actually threw a record number of completions Sunday, though it was over the course of an ass-kicking, so no one will remember it). These Cardinals were pesky enough to score a few times over the afternoon, but were clearly so outmatched that one could never take their chances seriously.

And things got wacky in the kicking game right before halftime. The 49ers' off-the-street kicker Eddy Piñeiro had made his first 20 field-goal consecutive attempts for the Niners this season, but he had a 62-yard field goal attempt blocked the Cardinals’ six-foot, eight-inch lineman Calais Campbell. However, Campbell was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and that’s a 15-yard penalty. So Piñeiro got a do-over from 15 yards closer, and he nailed it to make the score 25-10. Piñeiro then engaged in some trash talk with the much larger Campbell, and the two had to be separated.

Eddy Piñeiro has become a fan favorite with his perfect field goal record, but now his status is in doubt. Piñeiro reportedly pulled a hamstring in the second half, and the next couple weeks may be up in the air for him.  

The second half would simply be more haplessness by the Arizona Cardinals (they had a long drive and then fumbled right at the goal line in the early fourth quarter). 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir was certainly thinking pick-six on this very entertaining interception return that effectively rendered this game a blowout.

That led to another George Kittle touchdown, the 50th of his career. After this, both teams would just score a few more meaningless garbage-time touchdowns, and the Cardinals would fail on all of their two-point conversion attempts, for a final score of 41-22.

The win still leaves the 49ers in third place in the NFC West. The Rams nipped the Seahawks Sunday, so they’re in the driver’s seat for now. But it feels like these 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks could all beat each other on any given Sunday, and no team has taken any real control of this division yet.

And check out the 49ers back in the playoff race! Seven teams make the playoffs in the NFC, and the 49ers are a half-game ahead of the Detroit Lions for that seventh spot. And notably, the 49ers are going into a Thanksgiving-month feast of lesser teams on which they should fatten themselves up.  

That starts with next week’s Monday Night Football game (here in Santa Clara) against the now barely .-500 Carolina Panthers. This is followed by a Sunday-after-Thanksgiving visit to the pathetic Cleveland Browns, then the Bye Week, and then a December 14 hosting of the even more pathetic Tennessee Titans. Yes, the 49ers’ schedule gets exceedingly difficult over the last three weeks of the season, but they have an excellent opportunity to inflate their win total against lesser teams over this next month.  

Related: 49ers Manhandle Hapless NY Giants 34-24, Already Match Last Year's Win Total [SFist]

Image: GLENDALE, ARIZONA - NOVEMBER 16: George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the third quarter at State Farm Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)