SANTA CLARA, Calif. – No one was saying Brock Purdy expected a night like this, but honestly, it probably was. No one in the 49ers organization wanted to watch him throw four interceptions against the Ravens. No one in the red and gold wanted Purdy to go from being the MVP front-runner to being the main reason they were destroyed on national television.
No one in a 49ers uniform wanted Purdy to hit that bump in the road at full speed and momentum.
But yeah, everyone knew something like this was going to happen at some point, and even better now than in the playoffs. Subconsciously or not, the 49ers were prepared. Purdy's storybook season had dragged on and on, but it couldn't and wouldn't go on forever. Nobody can ignore a clunker. Nobody is above it. The 49ers got it. And in the minutes and hours following the 49ers' 33-19 loss at Levi's Stadium on Monday night, it was clear that Purdy fully understood this, too.
He was chatting quietly with his teammates in the locker room. He went to the shower room. He dressed. He nodded to people he knew. He went to the podium. Still, as he had done after his best games. No sigh, no bite or no scowl. Just the same. Except, of course, that Purdy had just come off the worst game of his NFL career by far that day and 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 stand for?' 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 wiretaps piled up. “When things are going well, when you're winning games and so on, it's easy to get hyped up and think you're the man. And in some games you don't really see a lot of adversity and stuff like that. And that’s the reality of the NFL. …
“I have to look in the mirror, watch the games, get better, make clearer decisions, help my team score and score points and protect the ball.” And if things don't go the way I want them to , is the understanding that I cannot act. I have to be honest with myself and be better. But I want to be the same every day, be consistent in what I do, how I do things, whether things go well or not. I know who I am and I won't doubt that. I’ve said this before, I’ll continue to hang my hat on it.”
Is that the correct answer? There's no guarantee that Purdy will bounce back immediately after this game, especially after he had to leave a game in the fourth quarter on Monday after suffering from a shoulder injury for the second straight week. There's no guarantee of anything for an NFL quarterback going up against defenses filled with fast, big guys.
Maybe Purdy's MVP candidacy is a hit now, which I think probably doesn't bother him at all. To be honest, the conversation was always exaggerated. You want to win games and championships, and that's where awards come from. It's not the other way around, and everyone at the 49ers appreciates that Purdy fully embraces that ethos.
His answers Monday night after the demolition were just an extension of that line of thinking.
Brock Purdy's worst games by QB rating
| Date | Opponent | Week | COMP-ATT | YDS | TD | INT | Evaluation | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12/25/2023 | vs Ravens | 16 | 18-32 | 255 | 0 | 4 | 42.6 | L, 33-19 |
October 15, 2023 | at Brown's | 6 | 12-27 | 125 | 1 | 1 | 55.3 | L, 19-17 |
October 23, 2023 | at Vikings | 7 | 21-30 | 272 | 1 | 2 | 81.5 | L, 22-17 |
November 23, 2023 | at Seahawks | 12 | 21-30 | 209 | 1 | 1 | 86.7 | W, 31-13 |
January 22, 2023 | against cowboys | DIV | 19-29 | 214 | 0 | 0 | 87.4 | W, 19-12 |
And you can bet that's exactly what his teammates wanted to hear and see from Purdy, because it's the same thing they heard and saw from him before he was anyone, while he was playing brilliantly, and finally during and after that game Monday. They didn't want to see the bad results that resulted in an interception after a good drive on the 49ers' opening series. They didn't want to see the poor decisions and hasty throws suggested at three other picks. They didn't want to lose this game, which means they have to win their final two games of the regular season to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
They didn't want to see any of it, but 49ers leaders also didn't want Purdy to appear demoralized or weakened by it. I didn't want that at all. And I don't know if every single 49ers leader contacted Purdy during or after the attack, but the details of their answers when I asked them about Purdy somehow suggested that they did.
That they saw everything they needed to see from their quarterback. And that this night was the exception that proves how much they still believe in him.
“I think it's unbelievable the way he's played the last two years,” Nick Bosa said of Purdy. “I'm just a young guy, rookie last year, and it seems like he's immortal out there. But no one is immortal. He responded to not having his best performances before and I think he will do that again.”
Brandon Aiyuk said: “I think he’ll be good. This is the first time he's really experienced the other side of this. That's why I'm excited to see how he gets back on his feet. He’ll be good.”
How could this happen to someone who had only thrown seven interceptions through the first 14 games of the season? Purdy was definitely not at his best. But the Ravens are also the No. 1 defense in the league and played like that on Monday. Several of their players also suggested to The Athletic's Ted Nguyen that they knew they would unbalance the 49ers' offense if they slowed down their running game, and also found that Purdy throws in certain routes to certain spots wanted. So they made sure to reach these places.
Is this the kryptonite for the 49ers' offense against Purdy? Maybe if you have the Ravens' personnel, which almost no one has. And maybe if Purdy is having a particularly terrible day, which is completely out of character for about 90 percent of his NFL career so far. His only other poor performance as the 49ers' starter was the October 15 loss at Cleveland, and that was with the caveat that Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams, and Christian McCaffrey were all injured in that game, and even then, Purdy only threw one interception.
Monday's stats, 18 for 32 for 255 yards, four interceptions and zero touchdowns, a passer rating of 42.6, were Purdy's worst by far. The whole game was his worst. By far.
“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 would inevitably happen – I wish we didn't have so many tips today. But… I think he would really like to have one of them back, I think the other three were unlucky.”
On the first attempt, Purdy tried to hit Samuel as he came through the middle in the end zone, but didn't see safety Kyle Hamilton sliding in from the other side. The 49ers had moved all the way down after beating the Ravens with a three-and-out early in the game. It was first-and-10 at the Ravens' 15-yard line. It was created to immediately put the 49ers stamp on this game.
And then …
“This is starting,” Purdy said. “Obviously we were on the right track, we had the momentum. We had some really big performances on this trip. And then I throw the ball like that to end the momentum that we had.”
Purdy said the commonality was that he tried to let too much happen. That he should make the easier throws. That he should feel comfortable with a throw-away and a punt if necessary instead of risking a turnover.
That's exactly what happened on his third interception midway through the second quarter, when he was flushed out of the pocket on third-and-5, saw flags flying, and still forced a pass over his body intended for George Kittle that was tipped away by Marlon Humphrey and picked up again from Hamilton.
“I saw a few flags being thrown while we were climbing,” Purdy said. “Not sure what or who it was about, so I thought, 'Try making a play.' Honestly, I can't make a bad game worse. I need to know that that's on us in terms of the flag, just through our O-line's body language and things like that. I have seen that. So it’s very stupid of me to throw a guy at George in the middle of the field.”
Yes, Purdy is hard on himself. Yes, it was deserved on Monday. Yes, he still made some plays, but they were all undone by his mistakes. Yes, Purdy will grit his teeth and go through every millisecond of the tape. Yes, he will get better. Yes, he might have nightmares about this game. And yes, it is the surest sign that this was an aberration or a coincidence of a curiosity of a night that was overdue and now over.
(Photo of Brock Purdy battling during Monday's game against the Ravens: Loren Elliott / Getty Images)