SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers' offense couldn't be off to a much more efficient start to the season.
The 49ers scored touchdowns on their first five possessions for the first time in at least 45 years, and Purdy had a near-perfect performance on Sunday in a 35-13 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Purdy went 20 for 22 for 287 yards with two touchdown passes, one TD run and a 149.1 passer rating. The 49ers (2-0) have opened the season with back-to-back wins by at least 20 points for the first time in franchise history.
“It was real good. He was almost flawless,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday. “His last play was probably his only miss on the intentional grounding. Besides that he was pretty perfect. He had an unbelievable game.”
Purdy completed his first two passes of the game before his third was dropped by Deebo Samuel. What followed was 18 straight completions — with a couple coming on impressive improvisations — as San Francisco opened the game with five straight touchdown drives.
The only other incomplete pass came on his final dropback of the game when he threw the ball away following an unblocked pressure for an intentional grounding penalty.
“He’s special. I think that’d be the word I’d use for it,” running back Christian McCaffrey said. “I think when him and Kyle get on a roll like that, it’s so fun to watch. ... I don’t feel like he threw an incompletion the whole day. I don’t know what the stats are, but it’s unbelievable to watch that and how decisive he is, how good he is at throwing on time, and then also creating when he has to. When he’s at the helm, we feel good.”
Purdy ended two of those drives with TD passes to George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk, and ran in another score on his own as he was in complete control from start to finish against Miami.
“He looked like he was just at practice out there, wheeling and dealing,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “We’re starting to witness Brock’s prime and I think it’s going to be a sight to behold. To me, I’ve always loved Brock, but I think he’s starting to get his respect now.”
Downfield passes. Purdy completed all 10 of his passes thrown at least 10 yards downfield for 211 yards and a TD, according to NextGen Stats. The Niners had open receivers much of the day with a league-high 4.84 yards of separation per target, with nearly one-third of the passes designated as “wide open” with at least 5 yards of separation.
The running game. San Francisco had 22 carries for 67 yards from non-quarterbacks as the offensive line struggled to create running room. McCaffrey had 23 yards on 10 carries and has only 91 yards rushing on the season.
Purdy. This was the second time in Purdy's career that he completed at least 90% of his passes while throwing for at least 250 yards. He also did it against Arizona on Oct. 1, 2023. The only other quarterback to do that twice in a career was Derek Carr.
Defensive tackles. The Niners have struggled to stop the run when the games have been close so far this season as the defensive tackles have gotten moved off the ball. The Dolphins had 20 carries for 84 yards in the first half to help Miami control the ball and keep San Francisco's potent offense off the field.
The Niners lost another receiver with Demarcus Robinson going down with a high ankle sprain. San Francisco already lost Ricky Pearsall to season-ending knee surgery and rookie De'Zhaun Stribling to an ankle injury that is expected to sideline him for two months. ... DT James Thompson Jr. also suffered a high ankle sprain. Both players could go on injured reserve. ... WR Mike Evans (hip) will be managed this week at practice. ... DE Romello Height will have surgery on a broken hand but could play this week.
11 — Through two games, the 49ers have thrown just 11 incomplete passes and had 10 scoring drives. San Francisco is one of 209 teams since 2000 with at least 10 scoring drives in the first two games and only two did it with fewer incompletions: the 2005 Steelers with nine and the 2024 Saints with 10.
The 49ers host Arizona on Sunday in search of their 10th 3-0 start in the Super Bowl era. They made the playoffs the last eight times they did it, including four seasons when they went to the Super Bowl.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) celebrates his touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) passes as Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zeek Biggers (93) applies pressure during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)
CHICAGO (AP) — Twelve states and Hollywood writers challenging Paramount’s buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to settle their lawsuits on Monday, effectively paving the way for the $81 billion mega merger to cross the finish line, with some new commitments from the company.
The blockbuster deal will still vastly reshape Hollywood — bringing together two of the “big five” remaining studios, key TV networks like CBS and CNN and streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+, as well as decades-old libraries with titles ranging from “Harry Potter” to “Top Gun.”
But among terms of Monday’s agreement announced by California Attorney General Rob Bonta — who led the states' case — Skydance-owned Paramount pledged to increase film production in the U.S., commit millions of dollars to a fund to support workers displaced by the merger and create new monitoring of the editorial independence of the company’s news operations.
The settlement still needs a final sign-off by a judge.
Paramount CEO David Ellison welcomed the terms reached with both the states and the Writers Guild of America on Monday, which he said marks “complete clearance” for his company's merger with Warner — reiterating that such a combo will “build a stronger Hollywood.”
Critics, however, decried the settlement terms as too weak and accused the state attorneys general of capitulating to corporate pressure. Many saw the litigation as the last guardrail from keeping a combined Paramount-Warner from becoming a reality.
Talks were contentious for months — and, despite new remedies announced Monday, Bonta and other top state prosecutors who sued said Monday that they still didn't think the companies should merge.
Politics have also surrounded much of Paramount’s quest for Warner. Many eyes are on the billionaire Ellison family's relationship with President Donald Trump and the future of assets like CNN, which the Republican administration barred from the White House over what Trump called unfavorable coverage.
The coalition of states — which, beyond California, also includes entertainment heavyweight New York — sued to block the merger in July, alleging it would “extinguish competition” and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly movie theatergoers and cable customers.
In Monday's agreement, the states said they had secured a handful of “court enforceable” commitments from Paramount — including pledges to increase domestic film production over the next five years by spending at least an additional $1.5 billion, or $300 million per year, and commit another $47.5 million to help fund training and career development for workers displaced by the merger.
Paramount also must make good on its promise to release 30 films each year for the next two years — and 32 films in each of the three years after that. If it fails to do so, the states say it will be required to divest from Miramax Studios and pay $30 million for each missed film toward health care and retirement trust funds associated with the Writers Guild of America and other industry unions.
When it comes to cable, Monday's settlement orders the company to negotiate deals for current Paramount-owned and Warner-owned basic channels separately for the next five years, which the states say will help keep consumer prices down. The company must also form a new “News Editorial Independence Board” monitoring news operations at CBS and CNN.
Bonta said in a news conference in Los Angeles the settlement was about “protecting people’s careers, the lives they’ve built here in California, the livelihoods their families rely on," while maintaining it was not a vote for the merger.
The Writers Guild of America, which filed its own lawsuit in July challenging the merger on the grounds it specifically harms Hollywood writers, separately confirmed that it settled its case, too — concluding that it couldn't continue its legal fight alone.
“We continue to believe the merger will cause damage to writers and the industry at large," the WGA said in a statement. The union maintained that as a nonprofit “with no backing from government enforcers,” the complex litigation would have cost millions of dollars.
Paramount previously agreed to delay its transaction well into next year so the challenges could make their way through court. But it soon called for a settlement — notably as it looked increasingly likely that the price tag for Warner could get a lot more expensive. Paramount had promised to pay shareholders “ticking” fee compensation amounting to $7 million each day the deal was not closed past Sept. 30.
Including billions of dollars in debt, Paramount’s buyout of Warner is currently valued at about $111 billion based on outstanding shares.
Over the weekend, a handful of lawmakers including Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker urged the states to keep up their fight. Other critics decried the deal Monday while warning what further consolidation could mean in an industry controlled by just a few major players.
“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” Alvaro Bedoya, senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project and a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement. “Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”
Bedoya claimed Bonta and California Gov. Gavin Newsom caved to pressure — particularly after Paramount reportedly threatened to leave the state amid the antitrust battle.
Paramount never publicly commented on a potential move from California, and Monday's settlement doesn't specify that its headquarters must stay in the state. But in response to online criticism of the deal, Newsom spokesman Izzy Gardon suggested that the alternative was the company moving to Tennessee. Over the summer, Tennessee officials wrote Ellison a letter encouraging Paramount to relocate there.
Newsom, meanwhile, said the deal was a win for workers and California's creative economy.
“It protects California jobs while putting a safeguard in place to help preserve editorial independence for two of America’s most important news organizations,” Newsom said in a statement.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, whose state was among those filing suit, said his main goal had been to protect the editorial independence of CNN and CBS News and that he wanted to see a full divestiture of the two news organizations. The settlement instead includes an editorial board structure aimed at protecting their independence.
A week ago, Tong said, Paramount refused to agree to any editorial independence for the news outlets.
“We wanted to save ethical and independent journalism and news,” he said in a statement. “We fought aggressively for that remedy. I am deeply disappointed that we could not do more.”
Tong and others stressed that it was an uphill battle after the Trump administration decided against intervening. In June, the U.S. Justice Department released a lengthy statement supporting the merger.
“The complete abdication of the federal government’s enforcement role in this fight left states with one arm tied behind our backs," Tong said.
AP Writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento and Dave Collins in Hartford contributed. Sisak reported from New York.
FILE - California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks during a press conference, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Minh Connors, File)
FILE - A CinemaCon attendee holds a pin expressing opposition to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger during CinemaCon 2026, April 14, 2026, at Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, speaks during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on April 16, 2026, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - The Paramount Pictures water tower is seen in Los Angeles on Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
