GEORGE KITTLE SCORED a hat-trick of touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers maintained their perfect start to the season with a 42-10 thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The latest instalment of one of the NFL’s fiercest rivalries provided convincing evidence that San Francisco are genuine Super Bowl contenders as Kyle Shanahan’s men ran riot at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara against an outclassed Cowboys line-up.
Niners quarterback Brock Purdy delivered another assured display, pulling the offensive strings with his customary poise to finish with four touchdowns and 252 passing yards from 17 of 24 attempts.
Three of Purdy’s touchdowns came via Kittle, the giant tight end hauling in a 19-yard reception for the game’s opening score on the first drive.
A clever trick play in the second quarter ended with Purdy picking out Kittle in space down the right-hand side, Kittle racing 38 yards to score.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott got the Cowboys on the board with a superb touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin but Christian McCaffrey’s close-range effort left San Francisco 21-7 up at half-time.
With the 49ers defense giving Prescott a torrid time throughout — the Dallas quarterback was intercepted three times and sacked three times — San Francisco continued to dominate.
Kittle grabbed his third touchdown in the third quarter while Kyle Juszczyk and Jordan Mason added fourth-quarter touchdowns for the 49ers.
“When you don’t get tackled, it’s awesome — I’m going to wake up tomorrow feeling great,” Kittle joked after the win.
“Shout-out to Purdy for getting me the ball in space and letting me run with it. That was the most fun I could have possibly had.”
San Francisco’s win left them as one of only two undefeated teams in the league.
Earlier on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles improved to 5-0 with a clinical 23-14 road win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for one touchdown and 303 yards and rushed for another to give Philly a hard-fought win against the 2022 Super Bowl champions.
In other games on Sunday, Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs fought out a 27-20 victory at the Minnesota Vikings while the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins improved to 4-1.
The Chiefs suffered a scare when star tight-end Travis Kelce had to leave the field with a non-contact ankle injury after completing a catch near the end of the first half but later returned to the field.
Mahomes has now defeated all 31 opposition teams in the NFL, making him the first quarterback to achieve that landmark before the age of 30.
The 28-year-old threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns as the Chiefs moved to 4-1 on the season, with their solitary loss so far in week one against Detroit.
That loss looks less of a shock now given the subsequent form of the Lions and their quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns as Detroit crushed the Carolina Panthers 42-24.
In Miami, Tua Tagovailoa threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns as the Dolphins defeated the New York Giants 31-16.
Miami’s offense has been on fire this season. They put themselves in charge with a first-quarter touchdown catch from Jaylen Waddle and extended their advantage early in the second with a brilliant 76-yard rush from De’Von Achane.
Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill with a 69-yard pass at the start of the third and made sure of the win with Raheem Mostert’s two-yard rush.
The Jacksonville Jaguars secured back-to-back wins in London with an impressive 25-20 win over the Buffalo Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Bills came into the game on the back of a three-game winning streak but Jags running back Travis Etienne rushed in two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take Jacksonville to 3-2 on the season.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for 315 yards and a touchdown while his counterpart Josh Allen put up 359 passing yards and threw a second-quarter touchdown pass before a late three-yard rush as the Bills tried in vain to fight back.
