49ers Handed First Loss of the Season After the Browns Stonewall Them

What a battle.

The San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns put on a defensive clinic. It had a bit of an old school feel to it with both offenses finding little success generating yards. Not to mention the ugly and rainy weather.

Unfortunately for the 49ers, the Browns proved to be the stronger side today. San Francisco was handed their first loss of the season to a score of 19-17 after the Browns stonewalled them. Credit to the Browns for pulling a massive upset. They had no business winning this game, but proved how legitimate their elite defense is.

It took until the final moments of the game for this one to be decided. The 49ers were hoping that rookie kicker Jake Moody would seal the victory on a 41 yard field goal attempt. But the pressure was tremendous on Moody as he missed wide right of the goalposts. It was his second miss of the game with his first coming in the first quarter on a 54 yard attempt. He just didn't have it today, and now the 49ers look foolish for spending a third round pick on him. Moody's miss will be talked about, but that wasn't solely why the 49ers suffered their first defeat.

The tone of the game looked like it was set for the 49ers offensively on their opening drive when they completely steam rolled the Browns' defense. Every play was a run, and anytime an offense does that they are saying "we are tougher than you" and it looked like it on that drive. Well, that wasn't the case at all for the rest of the game. The Browns' elite defense was as advertised. San Francisco struggled immensely moving the football.

No player struggled more in this game than Brock Purdy who went 12-of-27 for 125 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He had by far the worst game of his career against the Browns. Part of that is due to some pressure being in his face for the majority of the game, but even when he was clean he was throwing poorly. Purdy played a role in the offense playing ugly. Losing Deebo Samuel (shoulder) certainly hurts, then eventually Christian McCaffrey (oblique) in the fourth quarter. However, those players have nothing to do with Purdy throwing so inaccurately. He certainly looked like a "system quarterback" today.

Points were a premium in this game as expected. Both defenses are easily the best in the league. It was a matter of which defense was going to have more bend or break versus the opposing offense. For the 49ers' defense, they played relatively well. They got decent pressure and forced a couple of turnovers. They did their part the whole game and actually would have had a much better game had it not been for the referees.

San Francisco's defense didn't play a clean game at all, but several calls by the referees this game cost them. The worst call of the game is when the referees didn't rule a fumble on P.J. Walker in the second quarter when he was being sacked. That fumble would've put the 49ers close to the goal line with the opportunity for at least a field goal. According to the referees, Walker's arm was making an underhand throw, so they ruled it as such and issued an intentional grounding penalty instead. This was a game changing sequence that was by far the most egregious of the contest.

The sky is not falling in San Francisco. Yes, they were upset and should've performed better, but they are still 5-1 looking incredible. Credit to the Browns' defense is massively deserved. They are truly an amazing side that gave the 49ers a challenge that they could not meet. Now the 49ers must learn from this and rebound for next week when they face the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.