Sports

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy made a successful return to the lineup against the Cardinals on Sunday.

Purdy had been out since aggravating a toe injury in Week 4, but he didn't show many signs of rust while completing 19-of-26 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-22 win. The 49ers took a cautious approach with Purdy's return to minimize further issues with the injury and Purdy said after the game that his toe was not on his mind at all once he took the field.

"No, I didn't even think about it, honestly, in the game or anything," Purdy said, via 49ersWebzone.com. "At practice and everything, that's where I tested it all out. I'm like, at practice, rolling out, 'All right, do I feel it, do I not?' No, I don't, I feel great. And then come [game-time] when I warmed up and everything, I didn't even think about it. It felt great. Throughout the game and stuff, I was able to do everything — scramble, keepers, roll-outs, step up in the pocket. I played quarterback."

The 49ers went 5-3 with Mac Jones filling in for Purdy and that kept them afloat in the playoff race. With a home game against the Panthers and a road date with the Browns on tap before a Week 14 bye, the 49ers can solidify their place in the postseason mix with a healthy Purdy back in charge of the offense.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said last week that he blocks out any criticism that isn't delivered directly to his face, but there was no doubt that he needed to have a good game in Week 11.

The Broncos were hosting the Chiefs with a chance to take a commanding lead in the AFC West and a loss would have opened the door to more questions about Nix's ability to lead the team to the highest levels available to them. Nix made sure those questions would not be asked on Sunday.

Nix led three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, including game-tying and game-winning drives after the Chiefs took a three-point lead with 10 minutes left to play. Nix completed passes for three first downs to set up the game-winning Wil Lutz field goal and went 24-of-37 for 295 passing yards in the 22-19 win.

"He's the leader of this football team and we should all take something from what he did today, because we don't win that game without him," right tackle Mike McGlinchey said, via the team's website.

Nix has engineered five game-winning drives so far this season, which is one behind John Elway for the franchise record for a single season. That success in the biggest moments builds confidence across the roster and the Broncos will keep riding Nix as they try to keep growing their seven-game winning streak in the weeks to come.

The Eagles have only scored 26 points over the last two weeks, but that's been enough to score wins over the Packers and Lions because of how good they've been on defense.

After holding the Packers to seven points in a Week 10 win, they held the Lions to nine points on Sunday night. They stopped five fourth down tries and harassed Lions quarterback Jared Goff into a 14-of-37 night passing the ball. Several of those incompletions were due to batted balls at the line and the Eagles picked up a pair of sacks, including edge rusher Jaelan Phillips' second in two games with the team.

In his postgame media session, Phillips said the defense is "confident, dominant, game-wrecking" before being asked if he thinks the unit ranks among the best in the league.

“I’d say so. I think we have room to grow, but I think what we’ve been putting on the field so far is domination," Phillips said. "Keep improving and keep stacking ‘em, keep that relentless energy."

The trade for Phillips helped the Eagles' defense level up and it will be bad news for the rest of the league if he's right about there being better things ahead for the Eagles defense.