What the 49ers said after blowing out the Cardinals

The 49ers beat the Cardinals on Sunday 44-22, dominating their NFC West opponents in Arizona.

San Francisco led wire-to-wire after Skyy Moore returned the opening kickoff for 98 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown by Christian McCaffrey on the first play from scrimmage.

McCaffrey had three touchdowns on the day (two rushing, one receiving) and 81 yards rushing on 13 carries.

George Kittle added two touchdowns along with his 67 yards on six catches.

Brock Purdy, in his return from a toe injury that has kept him out since the end of September, was 19-of-26 for 200 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Niners had three takeaways, as well: interceptions by Malik Mustapha and Deommodore Lenoir and a fumble forced by Upton Stout.

Here’s what the 49ers said after the win:

Kyle Shanahan

On the turnovers:

Those guys with those three turnovers, and the way special teams played today, that kind of set the tone for the whole day.

On the argument with Renardo Green:

I know they did something to Renardo that pissed him off, which they missed, but they always get the second guy. We were pissed about that

On Kittle catching his 50th career touchdown:

He’s a hall of fame tight end. He keeps padding those stats and still playing at an extremely high level.

On Purdy:

I think it made him feel more normal again. I mean, it’s always tough for football players when you’re out and you can’t play, especially watching the guys just do it week in and week out. So I could feel he was more comfortable throughout the week just getting back into full routine and practice.

On Jacoby Brissett:

He always looks like that on tape. He looked like that all week studying him, and looked like that in person. I mean, a few of those big throws down the field where we were hitting him as he let it go and he hung in there. Real tough player and a guy I got a lot of respect for.

On Purdy:

I don’t want to compare him to everybody else, but you just got to look at his numbers and stuff throughout his playing and everything, and not many people have done it better than him. He’s been as efficient as anyone, he’s made as big plays as anyone and he’s led us to a lot of wins.

On the fanbase traveling:

It’s one of the coolest things about our franchise. Just the fact that we can watch on film other people using silent cadence and we can sit and talk, we probably won’t have to on first and second down because we know our fans will show up. My wife flies out commercial with my son Saturday morning and tells me that when they land the whole plane’s doing Niner chants.

Brock Purdy

On his first touchdown:

We wanted that play on in that look. So, got back in the gun and thought George did a great job of winning his matchup and (I) gave him a chance, and he went under it, got it and it was perfectly executed, just with the o-line and George’s route. So, felt really good from the jump.

On Skyy Moore:

This whole season, the way Skyy hits it, we were just waiting for him to have a big one.

On the first touchdown and his return:

It felt good just to get into a rhythm for sure and hit the guys and have some big games. To hit that one, it was like ‘Yeah, we’re playing.’

On pushing to get back:

I told Kyle, it’s time, I’m ready because I feel great, you know, at practice running around, all the things.

On McCaffrey’s touchdown:

I don’t know any other running backs that can do that, to be honest: Split them out like that and run a 20-yard comeback like a receiver and come down with it. We have a one-of-a-kind.

On the missed time:

It was frustrating. I had to learn how to deal with it mentally, just take it one day at a time, one week at a time and trust that there’s a process to this. The trainers, the strength staff, they do this, this is their profession, so just trusting them, our plan that we put together. And all to when I do come back, mentally, I’m ready to roll. I’m gonna drop back with confidence, rip it with confidence.

On moving forward:

I’m excited, just with the momentum that we have going and guys ready to go in on this challenge of finishing the season strong. But it’s one game at a time. … We all believe in each other. We’ve gotten tight. We’ve lost some guys, which sucks, some big names and everything, but guys just stepped up to the challenge.

Christian McCaffrey

On his touchdown:

It was great. Ran it twice in practice, and the look we had in practice wasn’t man first there at the corner. But you know, Brock made a throw that gave me a chance and allowed me to go up and make a play.

On Purdy’s return:

He was vintage Brock, and that’s a huge compliment. He was poised, made some great plays, made some huge third-down throws, kept us in the game. Was smart the whole game. To miss games like that is really hard and to come back in the middle of the year.

On his receiving:

I always played running back, I never played receiver. But I was fortunate enough to be on teams, even in little league, where they would throw the ball to me. And so it was kind of always a natural thing. And I enjoy doing it — It’s another way to get the ball in the hands.

George Kittle

On Moore’s kickoff return:

I was standing on the sideline next to Colton McKivitz and I was like ‘It’d be so nice if he just hosed this right now.’ And when he started returning, we just looked at each other like ‘That works too.’

On his phone ringing in the press conference:

My wife’s calling me. Yep, that’s my wife. I’m so sorry. Don’t tell her I ignored her call.

On Purdy:

He plays the game with this joy that’s so infectious and it’s jus so much fun to play football with ihim. Especially like, what, five plays into the game, he hits me 30 yards downfield on a perfect pass, like he was definitely feeling it. … I will say the one pass to Christian on third down was like he clicked too many buttons on his controller and just said ‘Screw it.’ What a play by Christian.

On the season:

We’re positioned right where we want to be. Our offense is basically healthy, where we want everybody to be at, and we can just keep rolling.

On Upton Stout’s forced fumble:

He gave up a big play early in the game. I was like ‘Dude, flush it. There’s so many plays. There’s so many opportunities to make today. And you have an opportunity to go out there and make a hell of a play, so just flush it and move on to the next one. And then his time came and he made a hell of a rip.

On Ricky Pearsall’s return from injury:

One of my favorite things about Ricky is just the juice he brings in the huddle. It’s just so much fun to see him out there because he has so much fun playing football and he has so much confidence. I need that, too. I need to feel that confidence from the guys in my huddle.