Kyle Shanahan Says Sam Darnold did a "Real Good Job" vs. the Ravens

Everyone agrees Brock Purdy was terrible against the Ravens on Christmas. He threw no touchdown passes, four interceptions and posted a quarterback rating of 42.6 before leaving the game with a stinger.

Then Sam Darnold entered the game with 7:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. and he went 8 of 14 for 81 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His passer rating was 67.9 -- not good, but certainly not as bad as Purdy's.

After the game, Shanahan was surprisingly upbeat about Darnold's performance.

“I thought he came in and did a good job," Shanahan said. "Real good job. Led us to a touchdown. Wish we would've scored again there at the end. He was in a tough situation there with some of the two-minute stuff. Some of the guys were just in-and-out with some of the receivers, the O-Line, just some of the injuries and substitutions we had. But he had good command and I didn't see what happened at the end. I was looking down the field. I don't know what happened on the sack, so I'll review that. But I was happy with Sam."

Remember, the Shanahan didn't go to his hurry-up offense with Purdy when the 49ers were trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter, a decision that showed a lack of confidence in Purdy. Then when Darnold came in, suddenly Shanahan went no huddle, which was strange. Then Darnold led a touchdown drive, and nearly led a second one -- it was 3rd and goal at the 1-yard line after Brandon Aiyuk drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone. The 49ers had two chances to hand the ball off to Christian McCaffrey and score.

Instead, Shanahan called a pass for Darnold from the one-yard line, and Darnold got sacked, and then threw a pick on the next play, because that's who he is. But if he had not gotten sacked and had thrown a touchdown pass instead, the 49ers would have been down by only 7 with the opportunity to try an onside kick and lead one final comeback attempt. And Darnold would have had two touchdown passes and no picks against the same defense that exposed Purdy.

Was Shanahan inviting a potential quarterback controversy when he called that pass on 3rd and goal from the 1?

I guess we'll never know.