Brock Purdy explains strange interception in 49ers' loss to Bengals
For the second straight game, Brock Purdy threw a pair of second-half interceptions as the San Francisco 49ers slipped to a third successive defeat. His picks came on back-to-back throws, amounting to a 14-point swing as Purdy was intercepted in the red zone before then tossing another that was followed up by a Joe Burrow […]
For the second straight game, Brock Purdy threw a pair of second-half interceptions as the San Francisco 49ers slipped to a third successive defeat.
His picks came on back-to-back throws, amounting to a 14-point swing as Purdy was intercepted in the red zone before then tossing another that was followed up by a Joe Burrow touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase to put the Bengals up 24-10.
If the first of those interceptions looked a little strange, that was because a pass was emphatically not the intention of the play.
Purdy saw a throw to Elijah Mitchell picked off by Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt. Had the pass been completed, a potential touchdown would have been chalked off by a flag for an ineligible man downfield.
That flag was thrown because most of the offense blocking downfield, expecting a hand-off that never came.
Purdy conceded afterwards that the play was meant to be a run, the Niners' quarterback simply neglecting to hand the ball off.
"Man I should have handed it off. Simple as that. It was an option play with George [Kittle] coming backside to toss it to him. Once I pulled it to go toss it to him it wasn't there, so I tried making something up and just scrambling to the right. At that point, I've got to know that the linemen are downfield and I've just got to try to get what I can get, but to throw the ball in itself would be a penalty and I've got to be better. I saw Elijah in the corner of the endzone, tried to make something there but regardless it would have been a penalty so, that's on me."
After the game, both Kyle Shanahan and Purdy's 49er teammates that spoke to the media all made a point to emphasize that the quarterback is the reason San Francisco is in position to win games consistently.
But Purdy has now thrown five interceptions across the 49ers' three-game skid and, the more mental errors such as the bizarre interception that cost the Niners points continue to creep into his game, the more questions will persist about a quarterback who was flawless for much of the first five weeks.
Those first five games now feel like a long time ago, and Purdy will now have to wait two weeks to banish the painful recent memories he has accumulated as the 49ers stew over a surprising and damaging slump during their Week 9 bye.
49ers punished for another incomplete effort with third straight defeat
It’s a hugely alarming slump.
