49ers Notebook: Brock Purdy’s dance party; Clelin Ferrell keeps stepping up; Skyy Moore delivers again; Dodging the weather

The 49ers cruised into their bye week in style on Sunday with a 26-8 victory over the Cleveland Browns, a win they were clearly happy to get.

The game was a potentially dicey one for the 49ers, considering the fact that it was a long road trip on a short week against a stingy defense in cold, windy conditions. But the 49ers shined in all three phases while capitalizing on a number of Browns errors, allowing them to roll to their ninth win of the season.

Among the big plays that helped the 49ers were a 66-yard punt return from Skyy Moore, a muffed punt from the Browns that gave the 49ers territory inside the 20, a fumble recovery that stopped a potential Browns scoring drive, and three stops on fourth downs. The 49ers cashed in on those opportunities while executing how they needed to in each phase.

"This is actually how we kind of expected today to go," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the win. "We're really hoping we could get some turnovers, not turn it over on offense. We were hoping for some big plays from special teams, which we got the huge one with Skyy on the return, got a huge one on the turnover. I looked at it as almost our D got three turnovers, I think we got them off on three fourth downs. And when you play that way, eventually you're going to get the points, and we did. So I was really proud of the guys for not turning it over and getting in those situations."

Four of the 49ers' five scoring drives started in Browns territory, with two of them starting inside the 20. Needless to say, the offense was appreciative that their job was made a little easier on Sunday.

"We knew it was going to be a grimy game, and so for the defense and the special teams to step up and put us in really good positions was awesome," running back Christian McCaffrey said.

We'll dive deeper into two of the game's key performances (Moore and defensive end Clelin Ferrell) in this edition of 49ers Notebook, plus we'll look at the before, during and after of Brock Purdy's highlight play and more. Without further ado...

Moore happy returns

Skyy Moore has become a significant threat as a return man for the 49ers, and perhaps more of an asset than the team thought they would get when they added him in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs late in the preseason.

After an inconsistent start to his career that included some problems with dropped passes on offense, the Chiefs decided in August to give up on Moore, whom they spent a second-round pick on in the 2022 NFL Draft. The 49ers added Moore for a late-round pick swap, and while he hasn't factored in much on offense, he's become a valuable weapon on special teams.

Moore seemingly came close to breaking big returns on more than one occasion earlier in the season, then three games back, he broke through with a 98-yard opening kickoff return to start the 49ers off at the 1-yard line in a win over the Arizona Cardinals. Moore then delivered a 66-yard punt return against the Browns, which set up the first touchdown of the game for the 49ers.

"I think Skyy has been awesome," Shanahan said. "We keep saying you can feel him for a while now, getting better and better. Every time he gets the ball, we feel like he's got a chance to go. And our goal this week was to score on special teams, which he got real close again. But as long as you end up scoring on offense at a big one, then it doesn't matter. So I told him thanks for allowing the offense to get those points. That was huge in this game."

Moore hasn't reached the end zone yet on any of his returns, but he's come close enough to make a big difference for the offense, as Shanahan said. His teammates have certainly appreciated his contributions.

"He's the man, dude," Purdy said of Moore on Sunday. "Two weeks ago against the Cardinals for his kick return and then today to be able to have that punt return like that, create some momentum, allow us to score pretty quick, he's the man."

Moore is in the final year of his rookie contract, so it remains to be seen if he is in his final few games with the 49ers or if he and the team decide to give it another go. He at least seems to be fitting in well so far and has done enough to warrant the 49ers considering him for a long-term role.

"I think this whole entire year, just anytime he gets the ball, I love the way he hits it," McCaffrey said of Moore on Sunday. "You know, he's built for this team. He plays with zero hesitation, and it's good to see him start to break some of these long ones because for the whole first half of the year, we were always like, 'Man, he's hitting it the right way.' Every time the ball's in his hands, he plays with no hesitation. He's fast, he's physical, he runs really hard. And we knew it was just a matter of time before some of these big ones were going to start to hit, and he's been doing a hell of a job putting us in a great position."

Cle steps up in CLE

One might not have expected the 49ers to outsack the Browns on Sunday, given the strength of their pass rush led by the torrid pace of defensive end Myles Garrett.

Garrett notched his 19th sack on Sunday, keeping him on track to shatter the NFL's all-time single-season sack record of 22.5 (held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt). But Garrett's sack was the only one tallied by the Browns, while the 49ers came up with a total of three.

Two of those sacks came from defensive end Clelin Ferrell, who also racked up a team-leading nine tackles and two quarterback hits. Ferrell is now tied for the team lead in sacks with four, which is impressive considering he just joined the 49ers in late October and was a healthy scratch for one of his five games with the team.

The one-time first-round pick of the Raiders is in his second stint with the 49ers after spending a season with them in 2023. Ferrell was a solid performer then and is proving to be a bargain addition now after the 49ers brought him in to help their injury-depleted defensive line.

"He's done a hell of a job," Shanahan said. "I mean, we loved having Cle here a couple years ago when we had him. Since his first day here, he's been the same guy. He's given us a lot of juice when we've been down."

Ferrell, who started the season with the Los Angeles Chargers before being released, said on Sunday he returned to the 49ers in order to be on a winner. He's gotten what he wanted so far and is happy to be back in the Bay.

"I think for me it's just not taking it for granted," Ferrell said. "When I came back, this team was right in the thick of it. And at the end of the day, one of the reasons—the biggest reason why I came back here was because I wanted to win. So I'm just thankful for my teammates, coaches, everybody in the building just helped me get prepared and be ready for the moment. So, (Sunday's game) was good. I'm excited."

Ferrell has left an impression on second-year safety Malik Mustapha, who wasn't with the 49ers during Ferrell's initial stint.

"Cle's a dawg," Mustapha said Sunday. "You could see it with his preparation whenever he steps into the building. I knew it as soon as I met him. He's just someone who really takes his craft serious, takes his recovery serious. He does everything right. He's the standard of a 49ers football player."

Ferrell was asked Sunday if he feels he's peaking. He didn't seem to know the answer to that question, but he's at least delivered a boost in one of the areas the 49ers need it the most. The 49ers would certainly love it if his performance so far was a sign of things to come as they make a run towards the playoffs.

"Peaking? We shall see, right?" Ferrell said. "I think I'm just trying to stick to my process. At the end of the day, if you focus on results, you'll always let yourself down. Just focus on the process, and I think the process really paid off today. So, I'm going to try to tune it up some more next week, and I'll look up at the end of the year and give you a better response on if I'm peaking or not."

Threat (mostly avoided)

Speaking of Garrett, the 49ers seemed satisfied with their performance against him on Sunday, which comes as no surprise considering the fact that he's now totaled 16 sacks in his past six games.

Garrett had three sacks in the Browns' win last week against the Raiders, four sacks the week before against the Ravens, and five sacks against the Patriots two weeks before that. The 49ers left Cleveland with their heads high after limiting Garrett to just one.

"Obviously, we gave him a cheap one there, but I think as an offense, an O-Line, I think we did a fantastic job up front protecting Brock," right tackle Colton McKivitz said. "Limiting him to one, you want it to be zero, but the guy's a great player. He's having a record year. I hope he gets it, but I'm glad it wasn't us today."

Garrett gave some postgame props to Purdy as well as the 49ers offense in general.

"There seemed like a lot of ops with how close it was, but he likes getting out on time, or he sees me," Garrett said. "Credit to him, he also avoided the rush pretty well, too. So him getting the ball out on time, them having a solid unit as well, chipping, those kind of things, they were doing what they do best."

Fancy feet

Brock Purdy's highlight moment on Sunday came as a result of a fancy touchdown run, followed by his decision to share some dance moves with the world.

The run and ensuing dance came on a 3rd-and-Goal play late in the third quarter. The 49ers had gotten the ball at the Browns' 32 following a fumble on a fourth-down conversion attempt and were at the 2-yard line after two short runs by McCaffrey. Instead of continuing to try to pound into the end zone with McCaffrey, the 49ers used a read on third down, which saw Purdy keep the ball and dash over the goal line before showing a bit more in celebration than he normally does.

"It was really just read the guy on the end of the line of scrimmage, and if he crashes, pull it," Purdy said. "We had practiced it this week for sure. So anyways, it happened, and once I got in the end zone, I was there by myself for a little bit, and I was like, 'All right, I'm going to Dougie.'"

Purdy's touchdown dance was a much more popular topic of postgame conversation than his touchdown run. His teammates seemed universally impressed.

"He just is really good at it, and I was more just surprised," tight end George Kittle said. "I mean, uh, God forbid a white guy has a little bit of motion."

Also giving the thumbs-up was Shanahan, who said Purdy planned ahead of time that he would dance if he scored a touchdown.

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty good," Shanahan said. "He told us he was going to do that if he scored, told the team. We had pressure on him to do it, so he couldn't let them down. So it was nice."

The run and dance was a positive sign for anyone still concerned about the toe injury that kept Purdy sidelined for several weeks earlier in the season. And maybe it won't be the last time he gives the world a dance in celebration.

"I've always been able to Dougie, but I haven't really just done it publicly," Purdy said. "My wife, she could tell you, actually, I annoy her in the kitchen and all that kind of thing. So, that's really where I got my practice. But yeah, I told the team, 'If we're scoring, we're going to have some fun, and I'm going to hit the Dougie.' Got an op to do it, so I did it."

False alarm, kind of

The weather can be harsh in Cleveland this time of year, but it can also be hard to predict. Sometimes the forecasts prove to be correct, but other times the wintry elements they predict never arrive.

Sunday proved the forecasts to be partially true, but also not quite as bad as originally feared. The 49ers knew it would be cold and windy on the lakefront, which it was. But there was also concern of precipitation arriving at some point, which never happened.

As such, the conditions weren't as bad as they were when the 49ers traveled to Buffalo last season and had to play in a snowstorm.

"I'm from Arizona, played (college ball) in Florida," wide receiver Ricky Pearsall said Sunday. "So it was pretty chilly for me. But as far as playing, I actually like playing in cold weather like this. You can run forever. So it wasn't bad at all. I'm kind of used to that from last year. The Buffalo game, that one was pretty gnarly. A game like this, it wasn't bad."

The 49ers got a dose of snow when they arrived in Cleveland, but fortunately, it stayed away during the game.

"Yesterday we got here, and there was snow all over two days ago, and then yesterday was snowing late at night," Purdy said. "So, I woke up this morning, and I was like, 'All right, it is what it is. We just got to go find a way to win.' It doesn't matter how or what. Protect the ball, play within our offense, and let our defense and special teams do their thing, and also be smart. So, it didn't matter what it was going to look like. We've just got to find a way, and for me as a quarterback, protect the ball and get it done. So, that was the mindset."

There will be no more winter game weather in the regular season for the 49ers, who have three of their final four games at home, with the lone road game being indoors in Indianapolis. And if their playoff road breaks the right way, Sunday's game in Cleveland would be their last cold-weather game before next season.