49ers punished for another incomplete effort with third straight defeat
The San Francisco 49ers will head into the bye week with an extremely sour taste in their mouths after slumping to a third straight defeat with a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. As was the case during their Monday Night Football upset at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, the 49ers trailed the entire […]
The San Francisco 49ers will head into the bye week with an extremely sour taste in their mouths after slumping to a third straight defeat with a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
As was the case during their Monday Night Football upset at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, the 49ers trailed the entire way. And, just as in that primetime defeat, turnovers doomed their hopes of completing a comeback.
San Francisco came into a high-pressure matchup with questions about its defense and its young quarterback Brock Purdy, who threw a pair of interceptions in crunch time against Minnesota in a game that saw him suffer a concussion. Both picks took place after the hit on which he appeared to sustain a head injury.
Both concerns will persist throughout the week off.
The defense, despite only giving up 19 and 22 points in the successive defeats to the Cleveland Browns and the Vikings, was subjected to the most concerted criticism, and its overall response can be deemed subpar.
Cincinnati had its way with the San Francisco defense in the first half, averaging 6.9 yards per play and only missing out on scoring three touchdowns because of an Irv Smith Jr. fumble in the red zone.
It looked as if the defense had found its groove as they held the Niners to three points over the course of five series spanning from the third minute of the second quarter to third minute of the fourth.
Yet when the 49ers needed a stop down seven with just over eight minutes remaining following a Christian McCaffrey touchdown, Steve Wilks' unit folded, allowing a 10-play, 78-yard drive that was capped by a five-yard touchdown run from Joe Mixon.
However, most would argue the defense should never have been put in such a position, with their best second-half efforts undermined by yet more turnovers from Purdy.
The first saw Purdy flip a pass into the hands of Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt, who made an excellent play on the ball, as he attempted to find running back Elijah Mitchell in the red zone for what likely would have been a walk-in game-tying touchdown.
Arguably as egregious was his very next throw. After the defense had prevented the Bengals from cashing in on the turnover and stopped them on the San Francisco 45-yard line to force a punt, Purdy attempted to force the ball over the middle to Brandon Aiyuk, but only succeeded in finding linebacker Logan Wilson. One play later, Ja'Marr Chase was doing a backflip in the endzone after putting Cincinnati two touchdowns to the good.
Purdy, who later fumbled in desperation mode, has now committed six second-half turnovers.
The shine is very much off a young quarterback who could do no wrong for the first 12 games in which he started and finished. Still, the reality is he is playing, for the most part, very accomplished football, with the 100 yard receiving days for George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk a reflection of that.
But 'for the most part' is not good enough. The NFL will punish incomplete football and, between Purdy and the defense, that is what the 49ers are playing right now.
Injuries to Trent Williams and Deebo Samuel are certainly a contributing factor but, for a team that could scarcely have looked more complete during their Week 5 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys, it is a hugely alarming slide. The 49ers need to ask themselves tough questions during the bye week, and they can forget about competing for the Super Bowl if they do not find the right answers.
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