49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was a winner in a milestone game on Sunday.
Shanahan passed Bill Walsh for the most games as the franchise’s head coach and notched his 95th win in that role against the Broncos. Brock Purdy threw a pair of touchdowns, including a 56-yarder to tight end George Kittle just before the two minute warning in the fourth quarter.
That score pushed the 49ers’ lead to 24-14 and it remained that way until the final buzzer. Broncos kicker Wil Lutz missed a 58-yard field goal with 1:18 left to play and Purdy just took a knee from there.
Purdy’s first touchdown went to Deebo Samuel and all three of the 49ers’ trips to the end zone came in the second half. Both teams were sluggish offensively in the first half and the score was 3-3 until 4:15 was left in the third quarter. That’s when Samuel scored and that touchdown came a few plays after Broncos punt returner Marvin Mims lost a fumble. It was the only turnover for either team and it loomed large when Christian McCaffrey capped a 74-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos answered with Jaylen Waddle’s first touchdown for the team, but Kittle’s score snatched away all but the slimmest hopes of another Bo Nix comeback win. Nix finished the day 25-of-42 for 214 yards and the Broncos offense has been too inconsistent so far this season. That will likely lead to some questions for head coach Sean Payton about whether he’s considering taking back the playcalling responsibilities in the future.
Payton will also face some questions about his team’s health. Cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss were both forced out of the game with injuries and wide receiver Pat Bryant joined them in the locker room after being carted off the field in the third quarter. They’ll hope to have some or all of them back when they face the Chargers in Week 5.
Purdy was 19-of-30 for 218 yards and McCaffrey finished the day with 70 scrimmage yards. Wide receiver Mike Evans had five catches for 76 yards while dealing with a rib injury and the list of injured 49ers grew to include fullback Kyle Juszczyk when he left with a knee injury.
They’ll hope to have him back next Sunday for a trip to Seattle that will determine the early leader in the NFC West race.