What we learned as Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey power 49ers' win over Browns

BOX SCOREThe 49ers’ 41-year drought in Cleveland finally is over.San Francisco survived frigid temperatures to emerge with a 26-8 win over the Browns on Sunday at Huntington Bank Field.It is the 49ers’ first victory in Cleveland since Nov. 11, 1984.The win pushes the 49ers to 9-4, giving them more breathing room for the final NFC wild card spot over the 7-5 Detroit Lions and the 6-5-1 Dallas Cowboys.The 8-3-1 Green Bay Packers remain ahead of the 49ers for the NFC’s No. 6 seed.Yards were hard to come by for running back Christian McCaffrey, but he got the 49ers on the board first with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the opening quarter. CMC light work for the lead pic.twitter.com/tMHwGePZ43 — 49ers on NBCS (&commat;NBCS49ers) November 30, 2025 The Browns took a short-lived 8-7 lead in the final minute of the first half when rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders hit tight end Harold Fannin Jr. for a 34-yard touchdown. Cleveland converted the two-point conversion to take the lead.But quarterback Brock Purdy completed three consecutive passes for wide receivers Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and tight end George Kittle to get the 49ers down to the Browns’ 7-yard line. Kicker Matt Gay doinked in a 25-yard field goal as time expired in the half to give San Francisco a 10-8 lead. Matt Gay doinks it in pic.twitter.com/GRtjMHMZHy — 49ers on NBCS (&commat;NBCS49ers) November 30, 2025 Purdy extended the 49ers’ lead late in the third quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run. The fourth-year pro sealed the win with just over 11 minutes remaining in regulation with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jennings. Brock Jauan to extend the lead pic.twitter.com/LtrrXiWk9M — 49ers on NBCS (&commat;NBCS49ers) November 30, 2025 McCaffrey finished the game with 53 rushing yards on 20 carries and 21 receiving yards on four catches. Purdy completed 16 of 29 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown. He wasn’t intercepted by the Browns after throwing three picks in last week’s win.The 49ers will have a happy flight home to the Bay Area and they get to enjoy their bye week before returning to action in Week 15 against the Tennessee Titans at Levi’s Stadium.Here are Matt Maiocco’s three takeaways from the 49ers’ win:More of Moore in return gameThe 49ers knew it was going to be a grind for them to move the ball against a stout Cleveland defense on a blustery day. So it was special teams that provided the first spark, just as it did two weeks earlier against the Arizona Cardinals.Returner Skyy Moore fielded Corey Bojorquez’s first-quarter punt and returned it 66 yards before running out of gas and being dragged down at the Browns’ 16-yard line. SKYY MOORE AGAIN pic.twitter.com/uGenUB6o43 — 49ers on NBCS (&commat;NBCS49ers) November 30, 2025 Moore has been a big contributor to the 49ers as a return specialist this season since his trade from Kansas City during training camp. Moore got the 49ers off to a strong start in the 49ers’ Week 11 game with a 98-yard return on the opening kickoff of the game. Brock put ‘em on skates pic.twitter.com/ZsDzIeSXJM — 49ers on NBCS (&commat;NBCS49ers) November 30, 2025 Purdy settles downPurdy, returning from a game in which he threw three first-half interceptions against the Carolina Panthers on Monday night, looked a lot steadier even in a howling wind on the shores of Lake Erie.Purdy did not do anything spectacular in the first half of this game. But he also did not do anything to put the 49ers in a bind.Purdy was methodical throughout and took what the Browns gave him. He hit McCaffrey for 12 yards on a third-and-8 play to set up the 49ers’ first touchdown of the game.The 49ers fell behind 8-7 with 39 seconds left in the first half, and faced a third-and-10 situation when Purdy had his best stretch up to that point. He completed consecutive pass attempts to Pearsall (13 yards), Jennings (12 yards) and Kittle (33 yards) to set up Gay’s 25-yard field goal. Gay’s attempt ricocheted off the left upright and fluttered through to give the 49ers a 10-8 lead at halftime.Purdy was in complete control in the second half, running for one touchdown and throwing another to Jennings.Mitigating the Garrett factorMuch was made of the Kyle Shanahan-Jim Schwartz matchup. Schwartz, the Browns’ defensive coordinator, entered the game with an 8-1 advantage against Shanahan any time their respective units matched up through the years.But the biggest challenge to Shanahan’s offense was not Schwartz’s scheme. He had to find a way to minimize the impact of star defensive end Myles Garrett, who entered the game with a league-best 18 sacks.Offensive tackles Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz had the main chores of handling the blocking assignments. But it was Shanahan who took on the brunt of the responsibility in putting together a game plan to get the ball out quickly and make it difficult for Garrett to get to the quarterback and take over the game.The 49ers were leading 17-8 before Garrett finally brought down Purdy for his 19th sack of the season.Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast

What we learned as Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey power 49ers’ win over Browns

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