SANTA CLARA — Coach Kyle Shanahan lost track of how many touchdowns Christian McCaffrey scored Sunday, even though the four came within one of the 49ers’ single-game record.
Inside the victorious locker room, 49ers players had no idea Brock Purdy completed 21-of-22 passes — a franchise record for completion percentage — in their 35-16 home win over the Arizona Cardinals.
All of which is to say: When things are going great, when victory becomes a weekly routine, everyone can unapologetically shrug at such feats and explain that guys — the NFL’s best of the best — simply did their job.
The 49ers are 4-0 for the fifth time in their history, they’ve won 14 straight regular-season games dating back to last season, and they’re taking in stride next Sunday night’s playoff rematch against the Dallas Cowboys to close a three-game homestand.
“It’s just a new week, a new opponent,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said.
McCaffrey nearly matched the franchise’s single-game touchdown record, but a potential fifth score was denied at the 2-yard line on a 2-yard run in the final minutes, and rather than give him the ball again, Shanahan’s call resulted in a Brock Purdy sneak from inside the 1 to cap the scoring spree.
“Honestly I had no idea until I just came in here that he had four touchdowns,” Shanahan said in his press conference. “I never know that type of stuff. I’m actually shocked. Now I kind of feel bad.”
“That would have been nice,” McCaffrey said half-jokingly about a potential fifth touchdown. “No, (Shanahan) obviously has a lot going on in-game. That’s the last of anyone’s worries to do that. As long as we scored, I was happy.”
Purdy said he had no idea, either, that he finished 20-of-21, resulting in a 95.2 completion percentage that surpassed Steve Young’s 1991 franchise mark (90 percent) and ranked fourth in NFL history.
Purdy’s lone incompletion appeared a third-and-long throwaway — off his back foot, toward McCaffrey, from the Cardinals’ 46-yard line. Purdy did not see that as an intentional miss. “I’m still mad about the one (incompletion) to Christian,” Purdy said. “He broke out, was open and I should have hit him. We were in field-goal range.”
Purdy (jersey No. 13) was 13-of-13 up to that point. He remains unbeaten in nine official regular-season starts, and he’s gone 211 consecutive passes without an interception.
Not to be too overlooked was the Niners’ defense keeping its third opponent under 20 points this season.
This win, the 49ers’ 14th in a row in regular-season action, should go down in franchise lore, however, as McCaffrey’s Four-Score Address, which saw him compile106 rushing yards (20 carries, 3 TD) and 71 receiving yards (7 catches).
McCaffrey, a seventh-year veteran out of Stanford, finished one touchdown shy of the 49ers’ single-game touchdown record (Jerry Rice, 1990 vs. the Atlanta Falcons; Ricky Watters, January 1994 playoffs against the New York Gaints).
“He’s a freak. He does everything for us,” Purdy said. “He can run the ball, run routes out of the backfield, line up as a receiver and run routes. We’re thankful for him. He takes hits but keeps going. All you have to do is get him the ball in space and he does the rest.”
McCaffrey did break one record: this was the 13th consecutive game he’s scored, including playoffs, since entering the starting lineup after last October’s trade from the Carolina Panthers. Rice set the previous mark by scoring in all 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season.
“He’s a very good option in every situation,” Shanahan said.
Not only did McCaffrey extend his NFL rushing lead (459 yards), his seven overall touchdowns this season put him in a tie for the league’s most with Raheem Mostert, formerly of the 49ers and now on the Miami Dolphins.
Sunday’s quartet of scores by McCaffrey, in reverse order:
— Touchdown No. 4: A 2-yard, uncontested dash up the middle completed a strangely necessary touchdown drive. The Cardinals had just pulled within 21-16. That drive started with a 34-yard shot from Purdy to Brandon Aiyuk, who totaled six catches for 148 yards after missing last game with a shoulder injury.
How vital was that touchdown drive? “Every drive is equally important,” McCaffrey said. “Obviously some stakes are higher. We treat every play the same. It’s about executing and doing your job.”
— Touchdown No. 3: A 6-yard pass from Purdy led McCaffrey to the goal line for his first touchdown reception of the season. It pushed the seemingly unsurmountable lead to 21-3, on a drive that began with Aiyuk receptions of 11 and 42 yards, the latter of which surprised even Purdy by how Aiyuk adjusted in double coverage.
— Touchdown No. 2: McCaffrey caught a backward pass from Purdy, hurdled a defender at the 15-yard line, then powered through safety Jalen Thompson at the goal line to complete the 18-yard run for a 14-0 lead. Key blocks came from Juszczyk, George Kittle, Jake Brendel and Deebo Samuel. (Kittle also delivered a fourth-down conversion to keep alive that drive as the first quarter ended.)
“It’s a multitude of things,” McCaffrey said of how that play unfolded. “First off, trust. Even though it’s a swing pass and in space, you still have a job to set up blocks. Make one (defender) miss, and in this offense, you can be gone.”
Touchdown No. 1: After the 49ers defense and Dre Greenlaw in particular forced a three-and-out to open the game, a 7-0 lead was in place thanks to McCaffrey’s 1-yard touchdown run. It marked McCaffrey’s 13th consecutive game with a touchdown, matching the scoring streaks of Dallas’ Emmitt Smith (1995) and Houston’s Arian Foster (2011-12).
McCaffrey has a rushing touchdown in each game this season. He is on pace to become more than just the 49ers’ first NFL rushing champion since Joe “The Jet” Perry in 1953 and ’54.
The former Stanford star could become the first running back to win NFL MVP since 2012 (Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings). Quarterbacks have otherwise owned that annual honor the past 25 years except when it was seized by running backs: Terrell Davis (1998), Marshall Faulk (2000), Shaun Alexander (2005), LaDainian Tomlinson (2006) and Peterson (2012). The only 49ers to win NFL MVP honors from The Associated Press: quarterbacks John Brodie (1970), Joe Montana (1989, ’90) and Steve Young (1992).
Among those endorsing a McCaffrey-for-MVP campaign is teammate Nick Bosa, who said: “As a D-lineman, I don’t give too much respect to running backs, because of how well we’ve played the run. But my mind has changed on that a little. There are some guys you have to prepare for and he’s most definitely one of them.”
