49ers hang on to beat Cardinals, but win may prove to be too costly

SANTA CLARA — Deebo Samuel caught the pitch from Mike Evans and was off to the races.Right behind him were the rest of the San Francisco 49ers, who were undeterred by their growing injury report en route to steamrolling their way to a third straight win.Head coach Kyle Shanahan went into his bag and dialed up a classic hook-and-ladder on the 49ers’ third snap Sunday afternoon.The speedy Samuel outran every Cardinals defender 80 yards to the end zone and the Niners outlasted their division foes for a 36-30 victory.That ended up being the biggest play of the day from Brock Purdy, who completed only 14 of his other 26 attempts for 215 yards in his sloppiest passing performance of the season.Purdy was missing three receivers going into the game and lost a fourth when Evans left in the first half with a rib injury, but the 49ers still faced little resistance moving the ball.

They were so efficient that they outgained Arizona 437 to 365 despite running 31 fewer plays (81 to 50).Down six defensive linemen, including Nick Bosa, the 49ers defense had more trouble getting off the field and was clearly running on fumes as the Cardinals made it a game after halftime.Jacoby Brissett ran in from a yard out with 2:51 left in the fourth, closing the 49ers’ lead to 29-27, but Purdy answered with a 45-yard first-down scramble on the following drive and his second touchdown pass to tight end George Kittle to put the game on ice.Here are the takeaways from the 49ers’ third win of the season:No Bosa proved to be no problem for the 49ers’ defense, which only sacked Jacoby Brissett twice but had the Cardinals quarterback under frequent duress.Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris helped accommodate by blitzing at a higher rate than the 49ers’ first two wins, including when they were most in need of getting a stop.Pressure from Dre Greenlaw forced a bad throw that ended Arizona’s 16-play opening drive, and Keion White also got into the backfield on back-to-back third-down stop...