Brock Purdy threw two critical interceptions for the second game running as the San Francisco 49ers slumped to their third successive defeat, but it's clear he still retains the faith of his head coach and his teammates.

Purdy threw picks on back-to-back attempts in the Niners' latest loss, a home 31-17 reverse at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, has pair of interceptions essentially resulting in a 14-point swing in favor of Cincinnati.

His first was a bizarre decision in the red zone, with Purdy attempting to flip the ball to Elijah Mitchell on a play that would have been called back for an ineligible man downfield, only to see it picked off by Germaine Pratt. After the 49er defense held, Purdy was then intercepted by Logan Wilson on his next throw, with the Bengals immediately capitalizing to take a 24-10 lead.

Purdy, who later fumbled while in desperation mode, has now committed six second-half turnovers across the last three games.

He finished 22 of 31 for 365 yards and a touchdown as well as his two picks. Purdy also added 57 yards on the ground as he showed off his scrambling ability, the Niners finishing with 460 yards of offense and averaging 8.2 yards per play but scoring only 17 points for the third successive game.

Despite the turnovers, head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed clear support for a quarterback who continues to make a lot of high-level throws and ensure the offense moves the ball well.

"He made some bad picks there at the end," Shanahan said of Purdy. "I thought he was one of the reasons we were in the game today. Some of those throws he made out there were unbelievable. 

"The mistake in the red zone, missing the handoff was the biggest part. And then once you do that, you can't throw it or you're going to get the penalty, but worse that he got the pick. He was aggressive, thought the MIKE was going to pass on that second pick and the MIKE fell off right with Jauan. So just got to see it."

"Brock is made of the right stuff … He's the reason why we have a chance to win games." — Fred Warner on Brock Purdy pic.twitter.com/2nkuOVomyy

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 30, 2023

Tight end George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner each echoed their head coach's sentiments.

"Brock is the reason we win football games," said Kittle He is our quarterback and he is a very skilled football player."

Warner was asked directly he still had confidence in Purdy, and offered a curt but detailed response.

"You want me to say no? I mean, come on now. The quarterback is always going to receive the brunt of the criticism. But Brock is the least of my worries. Brock is made of the right stuff. Can he protect the ball better? Sure. But he’s the reason why we have a chance to win games in every single game we’re in. The common denominator right now is that I haven’t been able to say in the last three losses that the defense had our best outing and we just happened to lose. We’re not playing good football on our side. That’s the reason why we haven’t won the last three games. That’s got to get figured out and it will get figured out."

"The bye will be great for us," Warner added. "People want to say, ‘Oh man, it sucks. We can’t just get the taste out of our mouth after a quick turnaround.’ We had that opportunity this week and we didn’t get it right. I’m going to look at it as it’s a good reset to go into the bye, figure this thing out and get back to playing 49er defense, because right now, we’re not."

Given all the scrutiny he is under in his first season as the starting quarterback, arguably nobody needs that reset more than Purdy. If the same mistakes are still being made after the bye, it will become a lot harder for the 49ers to offer such a full-throated defense of their quarterback.

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