49ers QB Brock Purdy looks inward after one of his worst NFL starts: ‘I gotta play better’

After a relatively strong start to the 2024 season that saw him sitting atop the Pro Football Focus quarterback rankings through his first six games, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy took a step backward on Sunday with one of his worst statistical passing performances as an NFL quarterback in a 28-18 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Purdy finished 17-of-31 against the Chiefs with 212 yards zero touchdowns and three interceptions. His 36.7 passer rating was the lowest in any of his NFL starts. Purdy did make some big plays with his legs on Sunday, including two rushing touchdowns. But his interceptions, which led to 14 Chiefs points, overshadowed the positive plays he made during the game.

As he often does after such situations, Purdy put the blame on himself.

"I gotta play better for sure, just with my throws, some decisions, and that's pretty simple," Purdy told reporters after the game.

The 49ers were able to overcome Purdy's first interception, which came early in the game to safety Justin Reid, by coming away with an interception of their own on the following drive. But Purdy's second interception, which came on a third quarter pass intended for Ronnie Bell that sailed high into the hands of cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace, stopped what could have been a go-ahead scoring drive with the 49ers down 14-12.

There was some question as to whether or not Bell made a route-running mistake on the play, but both Purdy and head coach Kyle Shanahan said afterward that the interception was entirely the quarterback's fault.

"The second interception was on me, again," Purdy said. "Ronnie did his job. I thought he just got hemmed up. I didn't know where he was gonna come out on his route, so I just tried putting it on him and then he ended up breaking out pretty, pretty good. And so Ronnie did his job. It was on me."

Purdy's third interception, which he threw while under pressure on a 3rd-and-Goal in the fourth quarter to safety Jaden Hicks, also stopped a potential scoring opportunity. It was one of a number of missed chances on the day for the 49ers, who finished just 2-of-11 on third downs.

"I think we've got to convert on third downs and find a way, especially when our defense is doing a great job getting stops and getting us the ball back," Purdy said. "So it's on us to move the chains and we just failed. Obviously, Kansas City is a great defense and everything, but we're a great offense in our eyes and we know that we can play at a really high level and so that's on us to get the ball rolling.

"I was just trying to get into a groove and, you know, get a couple first downs, get some completions as a quarterback, seeing those kinds of things are huge. I think their defense did a good job, but like I said, at the same time, I think there's some moments and times where I have to make the throws. I have to get the first downs moving and rolling, but got to watch the film, see what happened and we'll go from there."

Purdy wasn't helped by the fact he was without his top three receivers for most of the game, as Jauan Jennings didn't suit up due to a hip injury, Deebo Samuel wound up sitting out due to an illness, and Brandon Aiyuk left the game with what is feared to be a season-ending knee injury. Nevertheless, the game could have looked much different had Purdy and the offense delivered on the opportunities they had.

"He had a couple some good plays today, but just overall, him along with all of us on offense, we didn't do well," Shanahan said. "When you do miss your best players or some of them and they go out with injuries, it makes it harder on everyone. And you hope that you can overcome that with some stuff, with some of other guys like Brock, who is very capable of doing that, but just wasn't his best day."

Purdy has been able to bounce back from subpar performances in the past and will get the opportunity to do so again next Sunday in a home matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. Tight end George Kittle has confidence Purdy will be able to do exactly that in what will be an important game for the 3-4 49ers before heading into a bye.

"This is his third year," Kittle said. "He's had a couple games that he didn't think he played very well in. I have no concern for Brock. I think he's going to come back and sling the hell out of the football next week."

Still, there will be plenty for Purdy to analyze and criticize about his performance in the days ahead. He'll likely have Jennings and Samuel back to help him against the Cowboys, but either way he'll have to be much sharper next week in order to keep the 49ers from digging themselves into a deeper hole in the standings.

"I obviously gotta watch the film and stuff, but my instant reaction is, gotta play better," Purdy said.