49ers win 35-13 in home-opening rout of Dolphins

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Touchdown. Touchdown. Halftime.

Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. Holy moly.

So it went for quarterback Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers’ fun-to-watch offense in Sunday’s 35-13 rout over the Miami Dolphins, an ideal start to a three-game homestand at Levi’s Stadium.

Purdy, coming off a three-touchdown showcase in the 49ers’ grand-opening upset of the Los Angeles Rams in Australia, seized on the Dolphins’ defensive holes and turned this into a laugher by the fourth quarter.

Following a Deebo Samuel drop on Purdy’s third pass in as many snaps, the fifth-year quarterback completed 18 consecutive passes for 276 yards, a streak snapped only by an intentional incompletion (er, an intentional-grounding penalty) in the fourth quarter.

“I honestly didn’t know until toward the end, fourth quarter, maybe,” Purdy said. “For me, dude, we had two drives first half, so every play, every drive mattered. It wasn’t like we went out and blew these guys out.”

His 18 straight completions to end a game were the most by a 49ers quarterback since Steve Young completed 20 in a row against Washington in 1996.

“He was real sharp. On point. Got the ball to the right spots,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He was great today. …He had his best training camp in terms of being aggressive but not stupid and making the right, efficient decision. The more he plays, the more experienced he is at recognizing defenses.”

Through five touchdown drives in as many possessions, Purdy completed 16 of 17 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns, plus a touchdown run himself.

Relieved by Mac Jones with seven minutes left, Purdy’s final line was 20-of-22 passing for 287 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, no sacks and a 149.1 passer rating. All three of Purdy’s runs (for 30 yards) came on a second-quarter series he ended with a 2-yard touchdown sprint.

Linebacker Fred Warner followed Purdy at the media podium and immediately campaigned for Purdy as an NFL MVP candidate. “For him to be operating the offense the way he is, it doesn’t matter who the other pieces are, as long as Brock is the point guard, I know we’re good,” Warner said.

The 49ers are among just four NFC teams to start 2-0; the New York Giants are vying to join that club Monday night at the Rams. Next up for Shanahan’s squad are Sunday afternoon dates against the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos before an Oct. 11 visit to the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

“It’s still so early. I don’t think this offense and team looks at it as if we’ve arrived,” Christian McCaffrey said. “When we watch that film, it’s highly critical. Obviously the scoreboard has been great the last two weeks but there’s so much we can get better at.”

Limited to just two possessions (and two touchdown runs) en route to a 14-6 halftime lead, the 49ers surged in the second half, similar to their success in Melbourne against the Rams.

The 49ers needed only 1:52 to open the second half with a touchdown drive, and it started with a 40-yard catch-and-run by George Kittle, who ended it with a 12-yard touchdown reception for a 21-6 cushion.

An ensuing 71-yard touchdown drive made it 28-6 with some 20 minutes remaining in the game. Three consecutive chunk plays illustrated just how dominant Purdy and the 49ers were that series: 21-yard completion to Samuel, a 17-yard blitz-beater to Mike Evans and a 21-yarder to Kyle Juszczyk, who made a 6-yard touchdown grab three snaps later.

A botched punt by the Dolphins’ Bradley Pinion set the stage for another quick-strike touchdown drive and a 35-6 cushion. It was so quick it only consisted of Purdy hitting Evans in stride for a 27-yard completion before McCaffrey scored his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game — and 100th career regular-season touchdown.

McCaffrey had just 23 rushing yards on 10 carries, but he caught all four of his targets for 43 receiving yards. Kittle had a team-high 80 yards on four catches, followed by Evans’ 54 on three receptions.

Evans left with a hip issue in the fourth quarter, and injuries were really the 49ers’ only concern on this day.

A day after rookie De’Zhaun Stribling went on Injured Reserve with an ankle injury, his replacement, Demarcus Robinson, hopped to the sideline and got carted off with a high-ankle sprain, after making a 20-yard catch at the Miami 4-yard line in second quarter. Some defensive reserves got hurt: cornerback Jack Jones (foot), defensive end Romello Height (hand) and defensive tackle James Thompson Jr. (ankle).

The Dolphins didn’t get into the end zone until 2:41 remained, when Malik Willis found Ryan Miller streaking past Upton Stout for a 77-yard touchdown catch and run.

The 49ers’ only two possessions before halftime ended with McCaffrey and Purdy scoring their first rushing touchdowns of the season for a 14-3 lead.

The Dolphins had only three first-half series, but they hogged the ball by virtue of their 5 of 9 third-down conversions and a successful fourth-down sneak. That paid off with 28- and 24-yard field goals by Riley Patterson, the latter of which sent the 49ers into the locker room ahead 14-6.

The 49ers’ defensive pass rush put consistent pressure on Willis. However, Keion White also put his body weight on him to offset a third-down sack with a roughing-the-passer penalty; White atoned for that infraction with a fourth-quarter sack.

Sacked five times in the Dolphins’ season-opening loss at Las Vegas, Willis got sacked four times in his encore, including a shared sack by Nick Bosa and safety Marques Sigle to quickly doom the Dolphins’ first series after halftime.

McCaffrey put the 49ers ahead 7-0 with a 1-yard plunge to finish a 12-play, 59-yard drive, which was kept alive via third-down completions from Purdy to Evans and McCaffrey in Dolphins’ territory. On third-and-5, McCaffrey had a 16-yard catch-and-run to the 1. Eddy Piñeiro, who missed practice last week with an illness, made the point-after kick.

Purdy’s 2-yard touchdown run capped their second possession, which opened on his 10-yard scramble up the middle and also included an 18-yard bootleg into Dolphins’ territory. Purdy found Robinson for a 20-yard completion to the 4-yard line, only for Robinson to hop off with a right-ankle injury and then get carted to the locker room.

The Dolphins required 17 plays to produce their first scoring drive and cut the 49ers’ lead to 7-3 some 10 minutes before halftime. Miami settled for the field goal after goal-to-go sacks from Fred Warner and Height against Willis, who earlier converted a fourth-and-goal sneak to the 49ers’ 29.

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