PITTSBURGH, PA—Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk were the dynamic duo for the 49ers as San Francisco went into Heinz field and squashed the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-7 on Sunday, September 10.
On their first offensive drive, the Niners quickly marched to Pittsburgh’s 8. On first-and-goal, Purdy dropped back, scanned the field and found wideout Brandon Aiyuk wide open in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. The extra point made it 7-0 Niners in the first quarter.
Purdy finished 19-of-29 for 220 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 111.3.
49ers Quarterback Purdy recovered quite well from his elbow surgery six months ago. Aiyuk and Purdy connected again with 13:30 left in the second quarter as Purdy floated a pass down the right sideline to the front corner of the end zone.
Aiyuk leaped over cornerback Patrick Peterson, pulled it in and got two feet down for the score. The extra point put San Francisco up 17-0.
SF’s defense was physical, fast and intimidating.
Pittsburgh’s offense, which didn’t record a first down until 1:31 left in the half, finally got it together on its final drive of the half. The Steelers’ 95-yard drive was capped off by Kenny Pickett’s three-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth.
Like the 49ers earlier in the half, the Steelers were rewarded after successfully picking up a fourth-down completion from Pickett to running back Anthony McFarland.
Through three quarters, yards per play: 49ers: 6.4 Steelers: 3.2.
Less than a minute into the third quarter, running back Christian McCaffrey took it to the house. On the second offensive snap of the third quarter, McCaffrey darted to the left, broke through the first wave of defenders, spun away from Steelers cornerback Levi Wallace and took off down the left sideline accompanied by a pair of receivers blocking for him.
McCaffrey cut in, then out and dove into the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown to make it 27-7 with 14:02 left in the third quarter. This is McCaffrey’s seventh straight game with a touchdown dating to last season, the longest streak by a Niner since Raheem Mostert had eight straight in 2019-20.
McCaffrey has scored a TD in 10 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the NFL. Running back McCaffrey, who rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown with three catches for 17 yards, Purdy and the Niners never trailed on Sunday.
The 49ers will travel to the City of Angels to face their archrivals, the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, September 17 at 1:05 p.m. from SoFi Stadium.
