Brock Purdy hits Brandon Aiyuk with pair of first-half 49ers touchdown passes

  • Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterSep 10, 2023, 01:49 PM ET

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    Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner

PITTSBURGH — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy waited six months to the day to return from his offseason elbow surgery. It took all of 5½ minutes for him to throw his first touchdown pass.

After the Niners’ defense got a three-and-out on the opening possession, the Niners quickly marched to Pittsburgh’s 8. On first-and-goal, Purdy dropped back, scanned the field and found wideout Brandon Aiyuk wide open in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. The extra point made it 7-0 Niners with 9:29 left in the first quarter.

A fired-up Purdy bolted toward San Francisco’s sideline, pounding his chest and letting out a guttural scream. He was 3-of-3 for 25 yards and a score on the opening drive.

It was the first time since 2014 that the 49ers scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the first game of the regular season and the 19th career touchdown catch for Aiyuk, tied for most on the team in that span.

Aiyuk and Purdy connected again with 13:30 left in the second quarter as Purdy floated a pass down the right sideline to the front corner of the end zone. Aiyuk leaped over cornerback Patrick Peterson, pulled it in and got two feet down for the score. The extra point put San Francisco up 17-0.

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