Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers lose to the Baltimore Ravens
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – During his first 23 NFL starts, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has suffered some bumps in the road, most notably the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow that he suffered in last year’s NFC Championship game.
But Purdy has never had the kind of on-field struggles he experienced Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Purdy threw four interceptions, including three in the first half, a career best, and the Niners finished minus-5 en route to a turnover 33-19 defeat That made them 11-4 this season.
“He’s played for so long, he’s never had a game like this,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It’s pretty unusual. This is the reality of the NFL. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I wish he didn’t have so many picks today.”
Purdy completed 18 of 32 for 255 yards with no touchdowns and posted a passer rating of 42.6, the worst start of his career. His night ended early when he left in the fourth quarter after suffering a puncture wound in his left shoulder.
By the time Purdy reached his postgame press conference, he was already thinking about how things might have gone wrong against the Ravens and how he would recover from such a tough game to get to an away date with the Ravens Washington commanders on Sunday.
“It’s the NFL,” Purdy said. “We have some opportunities in front of us and we still have two games left in the regular season before we get into the playoffs. For me it is [I’m] We try to look at the big picture of what we want to do, what our team goals are. But at the same time I have to look in the mirror and ask myself why or how did this happen and why did I make these decisions?
“Our team was ready to play, and when I make decisions like that… it’s not fair to these guys. I have to recognize and understand that, and I have to get better for my team.”
Purdy started off pretty well as his third pass of the night was a strike to tight end George Kittle for a 58-yard gain to the Baltimore 28-yard line. He followed with another completion to Kittle for 13 yards. It was mostly downhill from there.
On first-and-10 at the Baltimore 15-yard line, Purdy forced a pass to the wideout Deebo Samuel that Raven’s safety Kyle Hamilton stepped forward to intercept.
Purdy said he thought Samuel had snapped, but he should have continued his progress and checked the ball instead.
“I thought the first one was the big mistake,” Shanahan said. “And the other three were pretty unlucky for him.”
Each of Purdy’s subsequent interceptions involved a hit or deflection by the Ravens’ defense.
The second pick deflected into the waiting arms of the cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
The third came when Purdy tried to make an impact on a throw to Kittle during a scramble drill after the running back Christian McCaffrey had been marked for a chopping block. Purdy said he was aware of the flags and felt the penalty was in violation, calling the decision to attempt the throw across his body “very stupid” because it made a bad situation worse.
Purdy became the first NFL player to throw three interceptions in the first half of this season and the first 49er to do so since then Nick Mullens in 2018. Purdy’s four-interception effort was the first by a Niners quarterback since then Colin Kaepernick Did it in 2015.
With 8:19 minutes left in the fourth, Purdy took a sack from the Ravens’ pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney. Purdy left last week’s victory just behind him Arizona Cardinals suffered a stab wound to the shoulder and suffered similar pain when Clowney took him to the ground. The signalman jogged off the field and quickly made his way to the blue medical tent Sam Darnold replaced him.
Purdy potentially could have returned to the game, but Shanahan opted to keep him out largely because the Niners’ offensive line was weakened by three players, including the starting left tackle Trent Williams (groin) and left guard Aaron Banks (Toe).
“I know he’s disappointed he didn’t manage to finish it there, but when I got that stinger again I just wanted to keep him out of it,” Shanahan said of Purdy.
Williams was injured while attempting to tackle the linebacker Patrick Queen after Purdy’s fourth interception. Despite his best efforts, Williams did not return. He is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday. Williams declined to speak in detail after the game but told reporters in the locker room: “I’m fine. I’m doing well.”
Purdy’s career-low 42.6 passer rating followed a six-game stretch in which he had a 138.1 rating – the highest in NFL history over a six-game stretch, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Now Purdy has a short week to prepare for the commanders.
One positive the Niners were quick to point out after Monday’s loss is that they are still in control of their NFC playoff positioning. Wins against Washington and the guests Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 7 or a win and some help would give the 49ers the NFC’s No. 1 seed, home-field advantage and a bye in the first weekend of the postseason.
But first, San Francisco will take a look at how Purdy bounces back after the worst performance of his two seasons.
“I have to ask myself, ‘Okay, who are you?'” Purdy said. “‘What do you stand for? Who are you when things are going well? Who are you when things don’t go your way?’ When things are going well, when you’re winning games and so on, it’s easy to get fired up and think you’re the man. And in some games and stuff, you don’t really see a lot of adversity, and that’s the reality of the NFL.
“Obviously I have to look in the mirror, look at the plays to get better, make some clearer decisions, help my team score and score points and protect the ball. And when things don’t go the way I want them to, I understand. “I can’t act. I have to be honest with myself and get better, but I want to be the same guy every day. I want to be consistent in what I do and how I do things; Whether things are going well or not No, I know who I am and I will not deviate from that.
