Brock Purdy proved Steve Spagnuolo wrong in the worst possible way in 49ers' latest loss to the Chiefs
Across his decorated coaching career, Bill Belichick had a habit of praising a particular opposing player effusively in his pre-game press conferences, only to then find a way for his New England Patriots team to render that player a non-factor. Leading up to the rematch of Super Bowl 58, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve […]
Across his decorated coaching career, Bill Belichick had a habit of praising a particular opposing player effusively in his pre-game press conferences, only to then find a way for his New England Patriots team to render that player a non-factor.
Leading up to the rematch of Super Bowl 58, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo labeled San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy as a signal-caller with no weaknesses.
Spagnuolo's admiration for Purdy is not new. He was very complimentary of Purdy after the Chiefs' overtime with over the 49ers in February's Super Bowl.
But, after the Chiefs continued their hoodoo over the 49ers with a 28-18 win at Levi's Stadium, it's clear Spagnuolo had a very good plan, one that exposed a key weakness for Purdy that was already apparent earlier in the year.
For all his clear strengths that have seen him ascend from last pick in the draft to the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks, Purdy has regularly struggled with his decision-making when under pressure and against defenses that excel at changing the picture after the snap.
Spagnuolo's defense has long since thrived at doing the latter and he and the Chiefs had little problem putting Purdy under duress as they took advantage of an offensive line that, despite some improvements on the interior, remains shaky.
The result was Purdy producing his worst career passer rating, 36.7, as he tossed three interceptions in a game the 49ers absolutely could have won with better offensive execution. Two of those three picks were egregious bad decisions that saw Purdy force the ball into coverage.
Purdy's first pick was on his first throw of the day as he attempted to force the ball to George Kittle, with safety Justin Reid reading him the entire way to make the play. That miscue came after the 49ers had stuffed the Chiefs on a fake punt, wasting superb field position for San Francisco.
His second saw the 49ers miss out on the chance to take a third-quarter lead with a field goal, but was seemingly the product of a miscommunication with receiver Ronnie Bell, in the game after Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and Deebo Samuel (illness) left the contest, the former with an injury that appeared serious on replay.
Purdy took the blame for that pick.
"The second interception was on me, again. Ronnie did his job," said Purdy. "I thought he just got hemmed up, I didn't know where he was gonna come out on his route, I just tried putting it on him and he ended up breaking out pretty good. Ronnie did his job, it was on me."
But it was the third that summed up an extremely difficult day for Purdy, one on which the 49ers did not have a non-penalty first down until 6:18 remaining in the second quarter.
Purdy came under pressure as George Karlaftis beat right tackle Colton McKivitz with a spin move and was hit as he threw, forcing the ball to Chris Conley into double coverage on third down when a field goal would have pulled the 49ers back within six points.
In a game in which the 49ers' defense held Patrick Mahomes to the worst passer rating, 44.4, of his career, Spagnuolo's success in making Purdy uncomfortable brought out the worst in him, and it ultimately helped cost the 49ers a very winnable game.
Purdy also made mistakes that were not a result of Spagnuolo's coaching. A 41-yard bomb down the left sideline to George Kittle at the end of the second quarter likely would have been a touchdown if he had succeeded in leading the 49ers' All-Pro tight end. Six plays later, the 49ers were left to settle for a short field goal, with Aiyuk suffering what San Francisco fears is a season-ending ACL injury in that time.
Aiyuk's injury is obviously not the fault of Purdy, but a 49ers' quarterback who is consistently hard on himself will rightly be frustrated at his inability to put better placement on that ball, and he committed the same error on the explosive play that preceded his final interception.
Purdy connected with rookie Jacob Cowing on a double move for 41 yards that was thrown well behind the fourth-round pick. Had Purdy hit him in stride, it would have been a walk-in touchdown. Instead, Cowing had to adjust, and Purdy's inaccuracy was magnified by his dreadful decision three plays later.
In a game the 49ers desperately wanted to exorcise some of their Super Bowl demons, Purdy failed to deliver because of two key weaknesses. Only one was influenced by Spagnuolo but, in the latest painful chapter of this one-sided rivalry, Purdy proved one of his biggest fans wrong.
