Brock Purdy had a 45-yard touchdown run erased Sunday. He knew exactly who to blame.

George Kittle’s holding penalty wiped out the score, and Purdy responded by finding Kittle for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 1:31 left, the play that iced the 49ers’ 36-30 win over the Arizona Cardinals and moved San Francisco to 3-0.

Asked afterward whether he had to grit his teeth to throw that touchdown to the man who cost him one, Purdy did not need long to answer.

“100 percent, we were just joking, saying he was really selfish to get the flag and then score a touchdown after,” Purdy said. “But it was fun. I’m glad we were able to finish and capitalize there. Just typical George fashion.”

Brock Purdy this season:

789 passing yards
10 total TD, 1 INT
72.3 completion %
1 sick TD run called back by holding

He leads the league in passing touchdowns (9).pic.twitter.com/q2WhnVSALz

— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 27, 2026

Kittle took the ribbing in stride when the same play came up later in the press conference, though he made a point of noting where he thought the blame really belonged.

“It’s frustrating, but hey, refs are entitled to make their own calls, I won’t argue with that,” Kittle said. “But I was so excited when they called that play because the way they’ve been running downhill this whole drive… I’m going to be uncovered here. And I was uncovered. So probably should’ve gone out of bounds. We could have just kneeled it out, but no one told me to, so that’s their fault, not mine.”

The banter came easily because the offense did not need the run. Purdy finished 15-of-27 for 297 yards with four touchdown passes, pushing his combined touchdown total to 10 through three games — tied for the most in franchise history at this point of a season — while leading the league with a 95.5 QB rating. Kittle finished with two touchdowns of his own, less than nine months after tearing his Achilles.

For a quarterback playing this well, one wiped-out touchdown was barely a footnote. It just gave Purdy a fresh punchline.

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