The San Francisco 49ers turned a halftime deficit into a 24–14 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, scoring 21 points after the break and improving to 4–0.
Denver led 3–0 at halftime in Santa Clara, but San Francisco changed the game in the third quarter. The 49ers finished the comeback with three second-half touchdowns and a defense that limited Denver’s running game while protecting a two-score advantage late.
The official NFL game center confirmed the 24–14 final. Niners Nation and the San Francisco Chronicle both highlighted the game’s defining offensive play: Brock Purdy’s 56-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle, which restored San Francisco’s two-score lead after Denver had answered.
A fast reversal after halftime
The first half offered little indication that San Francisco would finish with 24 points. Denver’s defense kept the 49ers out of the end zone, and the Broncos carried a field-goal lead into the locker room.
San Francisco’s response was immediate and varied. The 49ers scored on a short pass from Purdy to Deebo Samuel, added a one-yard Christian McCaffrey touchdown run and then struck from distance when Kittle turned the 56-yard completion into the play that gave the home team control again.
That mixture mattered because Denver had been able to compress the field in the first half. Once San Francisco created explosive yardage, the Broncos could no longer rely on a low-scoring contest.
Defense and special teams create room
The 49ers also found points through field position. The Chronicle reported that Siran Neal forced and recovered a fumble on a Denver punt return, giving San Francisco a short field for its first touchdown. A special-teams mistake could have hurt the 49ers later, but Kaelon Black recovered a poor snap on a fourth-down play to prevent the possession from becoming a turnover.
Defensively, San Francisco held Denver to 3.6 yards per rushing attempt, according to Niners Nation. That forced the Broncos to rely more heavily on longer down-and-distance situations and made it harder to sustain the style of game that had produced the 3–0 halftime lead.
Discipline also leaned toward the 49ers. San Francisco was flagged once, while Denver committed seven penalties in the independent recap. In a game decided by 10 points, avoiding lost yardage helped the 49ers preserve their second-half gains.
San Francisco keeps pace at 4–0
The result gives the 49ers a 4–0 record after the first month. More significantly, it adds a comeback win to their résumé: San Francisco did not score a touchdown before halftime, then produced enough offense in two quarters to win comfortably.
Denver’s defense kept the game within reach for long stretches, but injuries in the secondary—including exits by Patrick Surtain II and Riley Moss, according to the Chronicle—complicated the second-half assignment. The Broncos still had opportunities, yet could not match the 49ers’ explosive plays or create a comparable swing on special teams.
AskNovus is following the rest of the Week 4 slate, including the Patriots’ 29–26 win over Buffalo, the Vikings’ 15–10 victory and the Colts’ London win over Washington.
The 49ers’ unbeaten record remains the headline. The route to it on Sunday—special-teams recovery, second-half touchdowns and a defense that controlled the run—made the 24–14 final more complete than the quiet first half suggested.
Sources
- NFL, official Broncos at 49ers game center, October 4, 2026
- Niners Nation, 49ers-Broncos postgame analysis, October 4, 2026
- San Francisco Chronicle, 49ers-Broncos game report, October 4, 2026
Featured image: Denys Nevozhai via Unsplash.