If you're wondering if Head Coach Kyle Shanahan has lost any confidence in quarterback Brock Purdy—don't. Even though the young signal-caller is coming off his worst game as a pro, Shanahan hasn't altered his belief in Purdy. Coming into Monday night, Purdy was the odds-on favorite to win the award for NFL MVP. Though it's unlikely to happen now, his coach still believes in him.
The San Francisco 49ers are on the East Coast, preparing to face the Washington Commanders. The 49ers, of course, are coming off a miserable showing on Monday night, when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, breaking their six-game win streak.
On Friday, Shanahan spoke with Greg Papa on this week's episode of "49ers Game Plan" on NBC Sports Bay Area to discuss the Christmas night loss, among other things. Papa asked Shanahan how Purdy, who threw four interceptions in the game, would be able to bounce back and put that game behind him.
"I don't think it'll be tough for him to bounce back," Shanahan said. "I know there's a couple of plays he missed in the game but anytime you lose a big game and you have four turnovers it goes with the territory of playing quarterback in this league. You want to get to the tape and just kind of keep it real with them. You go through each clip and you watch it.
"And the first throw was the most disappointing. It was just there was some space there and he was probably feeling good after those first few plays. We all were. We were moving down pretty easily. And he tried to force one in there just a little bit late. Made a bad decision and shouldn't have done it. And then really from there on out, I thought he was pretty unfortunate. We got him some bad situations."
The 49ers were, indeed, moving the ball well on their first offensive drive. Purdy looked good, everything was working smoothly, and it looked as though the 49ers would take a 7-0 lead in this matchup featuring the top two teams in the league. But Purdy's first interception would end the scoring threat.
Purdy made a bad decision, throwing the ball a little late to Deebo Samuel. Troy Aikman pointed out on the broadcast that Samuel was Purdy's third read in the progression. Had Samuel been first or second in the progression, it's likely a touchdown. But because he was the third read, it allowed Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton to break in front of Samuel and grab the interception.
Purdy's second interception was a tipped pass that was grabbed by a Ravens defender. The third interception was another ball that the Ravens defense got a hand on, but it was a ball that Purdy probably shouldn't have thrown, especially when you consider that a flag was thrown on the 49ers on that play, meaning it wouldn't have counted if the offense gained any yardage. The fourth interception was more of a lack of protection than anything.
Shanahan added, "He had three tipped balls...and then he's got four picks and we're down 30 to 12 or whatever it was before the game's even really—I mean, it's halfway into it. So he got some experience playing when things aren't going right. But when you watch the film there's no meltdown or anything."
Since Purdy became the starting quarterback for the 49ers, things have mostly gone his way. He has dealt with some adversity, but not like most young QBs. Purdy makes everything look so easy, so having him work through some difficulties can be a positive thing.
In 2023, the 49ers offense is the most dangerous and most efficient it's been since Steve Young was wearing red and gold. And Purdy is one of the main reasons why. So don't expect Shanahan to waver on his QB anytime soon.
"He had one really bad mistake," Shanahan continued. "You do that versus a good team. Then you have some unfortunate things happen, which give credit to them. But that's the tough thing to battle back from. And he's played very consistent, very good football for us. And I know the turnovers and the stats were bad, which always fall on the quarterback. But I got no problem with the guy that was leading us that day."
Expect to see Purdy and the rest of the offense bounce back in Washington. The Commanders have the 32nd-ranked pass defense, 18th-ranked run defense, and 31st-ranked defense overall. It will be very difficult for them to stop Shanahan's offense on Sunday.
- Marc Adams
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Written by:Speaker. Writer. Covering the San Francisco 49ers. Host of the 49ers Camelot show.
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