Brock Purdy Falters Late Again in the 49ers 31-17 Loss to the Bengals
The shine is starting to wear off for the San Francisco 49ers, and for Brock Purdy.
Everything was going smoothly for nearly three quarters of the game for Purdy. He was throwing the ball with great anticipation, precision, and was showing off his legs effectively. He looked like he was going to be the hero for the 49ers against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Unfortunately, he became the villain for the 49ers in the end. Purdy would throw back-to-back interceptions at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter. Those picks were the nail in the coffin for the 49ers as the Bengals would take advantage by scoring a touchdown on his last pick. Much like last week against the Minnesota Vikings, Purdy falters late again in the 49ers 31-17 loss to the Bengals.
Life was sweet for the 49ers just a few weeks ago. They were undefeated and riding high going into Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. Little did they know that game would kickstart a three game losing streak. It's officially time to panic with the 49ers as they head into their Bye week. Purdy is no longer looking like an adequate quarterback with his mistakes overshadowing the good he does, and the defense is no longer a fierce unit. Let's start with the defense since they were the ones having a horrible performance first today.
The defense of the 49ers picked up where they left off against the Vikings last week. Pressure was lacking, receivers were finding space at ease, and stopping the run was inconsistent. That was the theme of the first half from the defense and it didn't improve dramatically in the second half either. Joe Burrow finished the game with an amazing performance as he completed 28-of-32 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. At one point, Burrow did not throw an incompletion for 21 straight pass attempts. Ja'Marr Chase would also decimate the defense with 10 catches for 100 yards and a score. You can feel the seat of defensive coordinator Steve Wilks getting warm.
However, the defensive woes go beyond Wilks. He isn't the lone person at fault. The players are failing to execute countless times throughout the game in the form of missed tackles, penalties, and failing to finish the play. Look no further than the opening defensive series when Isaiah Oliver had an interception in his hands, but dropped it. Shortly after that, Arik Armstead had Joe Burrow in his grasp and couldn't finish the sack. Those two failures allowed the Bengals to sustain their drive and finish with a touchdown. It was the story of the game for the 49ers defense. They finally were able to get sacks (3) today, but concern should be high going forward with the defense.
And speaking of concern, Purdy is no longer looking the optimizing figure that I had described him as well. Rather, he looks like a quarterback with limitations who crumbles late in a game when the 49ers do not have a lead. The same thing happened last week against the Vikings. It is becoming a pattern with him now where trusting him in the final quarter of a game in a deficit is skittish at best. Perhaps, it is something that defenses are doing to force him into those errors, but the two interceptions he had today were so egregious. It wasn't anything special that the Bengals did today, and neither did the Vikings last week. Purdy would finish the game with 22-of-31 completed passes for 365 yards, one touchdown, 57 rushing yards, and two picks.
The 49ers have always had the anchor of their team reside with the defense. It looks like they no longer can rely on that, so they need the offense to be the strength. And now, it looks like that can't even come to fruition with Purdy faceplant late in games now. You could possibly chalk this up to a simple bad stretch and that he'll pick it up coming out of the Bye week. But it feels impossible to not feel some moderate level of concern.
The 49ers should feel lucky that the Bye week is not their opponent, because they would probably lose that game too with the way they are looking right now.
