That might have been the least stressful game of the season. From Skyy Moore’s 98-yard opening kickoff return onwards, the 49ers never looked back, and the team’s offense took apart the Arizona Cardinals in a dominant 44-22 victory. The reasons why were many and varied, but they started at the league’s most important position.

My Hottest Take: Brock Purdy is Clearly the 49ers' Best Quarterback (It Has Never Been Close)

Fun though it was for people to do their usual thing of minimizing Brock Purdy’s impact and suddenly anoint Mac Jones as the 49ers’ quarterback, Sunday’s game proved that to be–as most things are around Purdy–complete nonsense.

Purdy’s efficient three-touchdown, 200-yard performance was remarkable in its unremarkable-ness, something that will forever seem to plague the former Mr. Irrelevant. He doesn’t complete ridiculous passes or make insane throws down the field (although his bomb to George Kittle for his first touchdown was a beautiful throw, that would’ve held up a Sunday Night Football game involving Cris Collinsworth and Patrick Mahomes for several hours), but he just does everything to a high standard. His mobility, quick processing, good decision-making and ability to throw it slightly deeper than Mac Jones unlock another level to this 49ers offense.

Of course, the return of Ricky Pearsall, and the general feel of having all your top playmakers (Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey) in place helps a lot too.

But that doesn’t hide the reality. I respect the hell out of what Mac Jones has done this season. He’s tough, smart, and he’s probably resurrected his career by virtue of his play. But he’s not the 49ers’ franchise quarterback. Brock Purdy is. Jones made the 49ers offense function, and it led to some stirring victories over the Falcons and Rams to boot, but putting Purdy in ascends the unit to another level. The offense with Purdy’s skills goes from a functional unit to one that can carry the team, and that’s something they’ll desperately need to pad the team out down the stretch.

What You Need To Know: The Younger The Defense, The Better

Part of the reason the team needs the offense to function at such a high level is the inconsistency of its defensive play. The defense had struggled recently in losses to the Rams and the Texans, and even had issues in the win over the Giants, although they made a nice rebound in Sunday’s game.

It almost appears as though the defense improves when more rookies get snaps–Alfred Collins returned to the lineup from injury, while fourth-round pick CJ West finally started taking some snaps away from the likes of Kalia Davis and Jordan Elliott. Dee Winters, Nick Martin, and Upton Stout also saw significant snaps, and continued to progress in their level from the beginning of the season.

That helped facilitate a strong showing against the run, limiting the Cardinals run game and allowing the team to play better coverage on third down.

That even led to a surprising two-turnover performance, as the previously big-play shy secondary finally sparked into life, perhaps most notably on this excellent play by Deommodore Lenoir, which led to a Gale Sayers-like runback.

The script for the 49ers is simple: win on the early downs, and it’ll hide the anaemic pass rush on third down. Their younger players helped them do so on Sunday, and they’ll need to continue to do so if the team is to succeed.

Longer-term, these lumps the rookies and young players are taking probably means that the likelihood of a Super Bowl run in 2025 is small. However this experience should pay off in the long run, and may even fortify the defensive unit into the future. The shining example is defensive tackle Alfred Collins, who has gone from looking like he’d barely strapped on pads before in the summer to one of the team’s top defensive linemen.

Before You Go: The 49ers Must Get Consistent

As 2025 winds down, though, the Niners must solve one issue to reach their full potential this year. In their latest "hinge point" game, the 49ers buffed their record out to 7-4, and have winnable games against the Panthers and the Browns before their much-needed bye week, followed by another winnable game against the Titans post-bye.

The problem? It’s been a while since the 49ers strung together any sort of consistent form. Since the Week 3 win over the Cardinals, the team has alternated wins and losses at a confusing clip. That can’t happen over the next three games. The 49ers need to enter late December at 10-4 to have a hope of the NFC West title, particularly given the Rams and Seahawks. If they can, it seems likely the NFC West will end in a titanic clash between the 49ers and Seahawks in Week 18. Perfectly balanced … as all things should be.

For that to happen, though, they’ll need to start by slowing down a red-hot Panthers offense and picking up the consistency that’s eluded them in recent weeks. With optimism restored after Sunday’s win, I’m quite looking forward to seeing if they can do it.