SANTA CLARA, California. -No one wanted to say that Brock Purdy had to spend a night like this, but honestly, he probably did. No one in the 49ers organization wanted to see him throw four interceptions against the Ravens. No one in red and gold wanted Purdy to go from being the MVP favorite to being the main reason they got crushed on national television.
No one in a 49ers uniform wanted Purdy to hit this bump in the road at full speed and splash at full speed.
But yeah, everyone knew something like this was bound to happen at some point, and better now than in the playoffs. Unconsciously or not, the 49ers were prepared for it. Purdy’s storybook season had gone on and on, but it couldn’t and wouldn’t go on perfectly forever. No one can avoid a mess. Nobody is above this. The 49ers understood it. And in the minutes and hours after the 49ers’ 33-19 loss at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night, it became abundantly clear that Purdy absolutely understood this, too.
He spoke calmly with his teammates in the locker room. She walked to the bathroom. She dressed. He nodded to the people he knew. He walked to the podium. The same thing he had done after his best games. No sighs, bites or glares. In the same way. Except, of course, that day Purdy had just come off the worst game of his NFL career, by far, and he had to try to explain his performance. And most importantly: What happens now?
“For me, it’s like I have to ask myself, ‘Okay, who are you? What do you represent? Who are you when things are going well? Who are you when things don’t go your way?’” Purdy said when asked what was going through his mind as the interceptions piled up. “It’s easy to be at the top and think you’re the man when things are going well, winning games and all that kind of stuff. And you don’t really see a lot of adversity in some games and all that. And this is the reality of the NFL. …
“I have to look in the mirror, see the plays, improve, make cleaner decisions, help my team score points, score and protect the ball. And when things don’t go the way I want, it’s understanding that I can’t be acting like that. I have to be real with myself and be better. But I want to be the same every day, to be consistent in what I do, in how I do things, whether things are going well or not. I know who I am and I’m not going to doubt that. I have said it before, I will continue to trust in that.”
Is that the correct answer? There’s no guarantee Purdy will make an immediate recovery from this outing, especially after having to exit a game in the fourth quarter on Monday after suffering a shoulder puncture for the second straight week. There’s no guarantee for an NFL quarterback facing defenses full of big, fast guys.
Maybe Purdy’s MVP candidacy is no longer up for grabs, which I guess probably doesn’t bother him much at all. The conversation, frankly, was always exaggerated. You want to win games and championships, and the prizes come from there. It’s not the other way around, and everyone on the 49ers appreciates that Purdy fully embraces that spirit.
Their responses Monday night after the demolition were simply extensions of that mentality.
Brock Purdy’s worst games by QB rating
| Date | Adversary | Week | COMP-ATT | YDS | T.D. | IN T | Classification | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12-25-2023 |
vs. crows |
sixteen |
18-32 |
255 |
0 |
4 |
42.6 |
L, 33-19 |
|
10-15-2023 |
in browns |
6 |
12-27 |
125 |
1 |
1 |
55.3 |
M, 19-17 |
|
10-23-2023 |
in vikings |
7 |
21-30 |
272 |
1 |
2 |
81.5 |
M, 22-17 |
|
11-23-2023 |
on the Seahawks |
12 |
21-30 |
209 |
1 |
1 |
86.7 |
Wednesday, 31-13 |
|
01-22-2023 |
vs. Cowboys |
DIV |
19-29 |
214 |
0 |
0 |
87.4 |
Wednesday, 19-12 |
And you can guess his teammates wanted to hear and see exactly this from Purdy, because it’s the same thing they heard and saw from him before he was anyone, while he was playing brilliantly, and eventually during and after this game on Monday. They didn’t want to see the bad read that led to an interception after a good drive on the 49ers’ first drive. They didn’t want to see the bad decisions and hasty throws that went to three other picks. They didn’t want to lose this game, which means they need to win their final two games of the regular season to secure the top spot in the NFC playoffs.
They didn’t want to see any of this, but 49ers leaders also didn’t want to see Purdy look demoralized by this or seem diminished. He didn’t want that at all. And I don’t know if each of the 49ers leaders spoke with Purdy during or after the attack, but the detail of his answers when I asked them about Purdy indicated that they did.
That they have seen everything they needed to see from their QB. And that tonight was the exception that shows how much they still believe in him.
“I think it’s amazing how he’s played the last two years,” Nick Bosa said of Purdy. “I’m just a young guy, a rookie last year, and it seems like he’s immortal out there. But no one is immortal. He has responded from the best previous performances of him and I think he will do it again.”
Brandon Aiyuk said: “I think he’ll be fine. This is the first time he really understands the other side of the situation. So I’m excited to see how he will bounce back. It will be good”.
How did this happen to someone who had only thrown seven interceptions in the first 14 games of the season? Purdy definitely wasn’t his finest hour. But also, the Ravens are the number one defense in the league and they played like that on Monday. Several of his players also suggested The AthleticTed Nguyen said they knew they would keep the 49ers’ offense unbalanced if they slowed down their running game and also discovered that Purdy wanted to throw to certain spots on certain routes. So they made sure to get to those places.
Thoughts on what they addressed with Purdy, who is a spot-on/anticipation pitcher (Tua can also be included in this category) pic.twitter.com/keJyUSUQen
– Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) December 26, 2023
Is that kryptonite for the 49ers’ offense with Purdy? Maybe if you have the Ravens staff, which almost no one does. And maybe if Purdy is having a particularly terrible day, which is totally out of character for about 90 percent of his NFL career to date. His only other poor performance as a 49ers starter came in an Oct. 15 loss at Cleveland, and that came with the caveat that Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey were injured in that game, and even then Purdy only pitched an interception. .
So Monday’s stats, 18 of 32 for 255 yards, four interceptions and zero touchdowns, for a passer rating of 42.6, were easily Purdy’s worst. The whole game was his worst moment. With much.
“I just think the fact that he’s played this long and never had a game like this is pretty unusual,” Kyle Shanahan said. “That’s the reality of the NFL. I’m not saying it was going to happen; I wish we didn’t have so many selections today. But… I think one of them was one you would really like to get back, the other three were, I think, unlucky.”
On the first, Purdy attempted to hit Samuel crossing the middle of the end zone, but missed safety Kyle Hamilton sliding in from the other side. The 49ers had made strides down the field after limiting the Ravens to a three-and-out to open the game. It was first and 10 at the Ravens’ 15-yard line. It was created to put the 49ers stamp on this game right away.
And then…
“That’s the beginning,” Purdy said. “We were obviously moving forward, we had the momentum. We had some really big plays on that drive. And then I throw the ball like that to kill the momentum we had.”
Purdy said what they had in common is that he was trying to make too many things happen. That he should take the easier shots. That, if necessary, he should feel comfortable with a dropped shot and a punt rather than risk losing the ball.
That’s exactly what happened on his third interception, midway through the second quarter, when he was ejected from the pocket on third-and-5, saw flags flying, and still forced a pass across his body intended for George Kittle that was deflected. Marlon Humphrey deflected it and Hamilton intercepted it again.
“I saw some flags thrown while I was fighting and stuff,” Purdy said. “It’s not exactly about what or who he was, so my mind was, ‘Try to make a play.’ Honestly, I can’t make a bad play worse. I have to know that’s up to us, in terms of the flag, just from some of our O-line body language and things like that. I saw that. So for me to throw over my body in the middle of the field with a guy on George, it’s very dumb of me.”
Yes, Purdy is hard on himself. Yes, he deserved it on Monday. Yes, he still made some plays, but they were all erased by his mistakes. Yes, Purdy will grit his teeth and replay every millisecond of the tape. Yes, he will be better. Yes, he might have some nightmares about this game. And yes, it is the surest sign that this was an aberration, a coincidence, a strangeness of a night that was overdue and already over.
(Photo of Brock Purdy struggling during Monday’s game against the Ravens: Loren Elliott/Getty Images)
