SANTA CLARA – Brock Purdy immediately regretted how he ended the longest run of his profession and the 49ers’ longest of 404 carries this season.
Flaunting the soccer in Titans linebacker Cody Barton’s face didn’t match Purdy’s Midwestern-nice mould. Or did it? People, his aggressive drive is already in playoff mode for the 49ers (10-4).
“Absolutely just diabolical behavior by our QB1, but I love it,” tight finish George Kittle stated after Sunday’s 34-27 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Purdy’s three landing passes, his season-best 76.7% completion proportion, plus an over-the-middle missile to Ricky Pearsall, had been all encouraging strides. Nothing was extra entertaining than Purdy’s 26-yard run down the left sideline, which sparked a 95-yard landing drive within the third quarter.
Turf toe? Have a look at him tiptoe down the left sideline, as soon as he faked a handoff to Christian McCaffrey, then pump-faked a linebacker within the open area, then baited Barton.
“Honestly, I thought it was dumb, the whole ball fake at the end,” Purdy stated. “…I respect him and he’s a great player. So for me to do that, I was like, ‘Bro, I’m sorry that was stupid in the moment.’ I don’t know why I did that, but I did.”
“I’m looking downfield and trying to see where the ball should go,” Shanahan stated. “And then I look back and he is running down the sidelines. … That was a huge explosive to get us going.”
Purdy ran seven occasions, together with conversions on third-and-3 and fourth-and-1. “Honestly, I love seeing Brock run,” huge receiver Jauan Jennings stated. “He gets kind of low and weaves.”
Listed below are 10 issues that caught my eye because the 49ers beat the Titans:
1. PEARSALL’S PERFORMANCE
Ricky Pearsall limped off within the last minutes, after aggravating a months-long damage to his proper knee’s posterior cruciate ligament. It was a becoming bookend to a recreation that opened with him injuring his ankle catching a Purdy go.
Pearsall completed with 96 yards on six catches. He nonetheless has no touchdowns this season, and had he been at full well being, he may need taken an ideal crossing path to the top zone on Purdy’s 38-yard, high-velocity throw to the 15-yard line.
“Ricky was upset he didn’t score. I told him he had the excuse of the hurt ankle and knee though, but he’ll get his speed back when he is feeling healthy,” Shanahan stated.
2. JENNINGS’ RIBS
Jennings’ two landing catches on the aim line raised his career-high whole to seven scores this season. Tempering that was ache from a fourth-quarter hit to the ribs – within the “same spot” as a Week 4 crunch.
Jennings informed of us a day earlier how wholesome these ribs lastly felt. He’ll now soldier on, and Purdy will hold throwing him contested balls.
“I’ve learned over the years that I can give him a shot,” Purdy stated. “So, he’s done a great job with that in one-on-one situations and he’s always aggressive and comes down with it. So, something that over the years having experience with that has been good.”
3. AIYUK, CASE CLOSED?
Belaboring the huge receiver unit even additional, Brandon Aiyuk’s banishment Saturday to the “reserve/left squad” checklist got here as a result of …
“We haven’t seen him in forever, so I mean that’s just the decision they make,” Shanahan stated. “It’s been pretty simple for me. I haven’t seen him in a month, and same with our team, so it hasn’t been an issue with our team at all.”
It hasn’t been a problem? The 49ers would have benefitted from a wholesome Aiyuk the subsequent month or two. Possibly he’s not wholesome. Nobody, from staff executives to fellow gamers, appear to know.
It’s odd, and it has been so since his 2024 contract hold-in.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that it’s gotten to this point, but when this year’s over, we’ll see where we’re at,” Shanahan stated.
4. NEXT MAN UP: PHILIP!
Calm down, this isn’t extra concerning the 49ers’ reserves. That is about their subsequent opposing quarterback, Philip Rivers, who got here out of retirement and practically delivered the Indianapolis Colts to a last-minute upset in Seattle. Rivers, on three days of follow, threw for 120 yards and a landing earlier than a final-seconds interception.
“Those QBs scare me more than the mobile ones, because they’re smart,” defensive lineman Keion White stated about going through Rivers subsequent Monday evening.
Tennessee’s nimble Cam Ward was not sacked Sunday, the primary recreation that has occurred his rookie season. Nor did he have a go intercepted. What an indictment on the 49ers’ feeble go protection that Rivers might prey on in his Indianapolis return.
5. D-LINE STARTER HURT
The 49ers misplaced one other beginning defensive lineman to damage, solely this got here in weird trend. Defensive sort out Jordan Elliott “felt something in his knee” stretching within the locker room two hours earlier than kickoff, Shanahan stated.
That meant Kevin Givens would swimsuit up after being informed the evening earlier than he wouldn’t play; undrafted rookie Sebastian Valdez was elevated Saturday from the follow squad however, as occurred earlier this season, he was deactivated and nonetheless has not debuted.
Alfred Collins made his beginning debut in Elliott’s place however didn’t file a sort out or stat because the Titans ran for 136 yards on 20 carries; the 49ers ran 138 yards on 38 carries.
6. McCAFFREY SCORES, BUT …
Restricted by sickness Thursday and hit with a good again Saturday, McCaffrey rallied up and scored his ninth speeding landing in as many video games. However he failed to succeed in 10 yards on any run and thus averaged simply 3.3 yards per carry (73 yards, 22 carries).
It was the eleventh time in 14 video games this season he’s averaged lower than 4 yards per carry. He had 12 such outings in his earlier 36 video games with the 49ers, together with playoffs.
As for his 1K/1K race, he’s 78 speeding yards away from 1,000, and Sunday’s lone catch for 14 yards leaves him 180 receiving yards shy of 1,000.
His 345 touches are the fourth-most in a 49ers season, surpassing his 339 in 2023 and shifting him inside 41 touches of Roger Craig’s 1984 franchise-record mark.
7. PERFECTO PIÑEIRO
Eddy Piñeiro made all three of his field-goal makes an attempt and is 25-for-25 since succeeding Jake Moody in Week 2. That perfection nearly ended when he missed a 51-yard try within the fourth quarter, however that was nullified by Jeffrey Simmons’ pointless roughness penalty for impacting lengthy snapper Jon Weeks.
Piñeiro would make a 37-yarder three snaps later, and Shanahan dispatched him for 40-yarder with 70 seconds remaining, to the fortune of those that guess on the 49ers to cowl the 12 ½-point unfold.
8. NO PUNTS
The 49ers didn’t require a punt from Thomas Morstead, who posed for a locker room image with Purdy as they every hand-signaled “zero,” just like Morstead’s no-punt preseason go to to Las Vegas. He’s Piñeiro’s holder, so he didn’t get the time off, thoughts you. Morestead’s 38 punts this season are tied for the Twenty seventh-most, and so they’ve produced a 36.5-yard web common that ranks twenty ninth.
9. THIRD-DOWN OFFENSE
The 49ers’ offense transformed on its preliminary seven third-down performs: Purdy 3-yard run, Robinson 6-yard catch, Jennings 4-yard landing, Robinson 30-yard catch, Pearsall 14-yard catch, Purdy 5-yard run, Pearsall 10-yard catch.
The one recreation they’ve began higher since 1978 was after they transformed eight third-down performs in 1984 towards Tampa Bay.
This season, the 49ers are changing on 49.2% of third-down conditions (90-of-183). Solely the Packers are higher, at 50.3% (88-of-175).
On a associated word, the 49ers scored on their first 5 drives (4 touchdowns, area aim) for the primary time since 2021 at Jacksonville.
10. SURPRISE SCORER
When the Titans ran onto the sphere earlier than kickoff, Simmons stored chugging on his personal to the midfield emblem, the place he wiped his ft; the 49ers had been nonetheless of their locker room, though Weeks was there to witness it.
Extra outlandish sights from Simmons: He jawed at 49ers left sort out Trent Williams like few have; he strip-sacked on Purdy within the fourth quarter; and, two snaps later, Simmons reported eligible on offense to catch a 1-yard landing go from Cam Ward.
“I’ve never seen that. We were in man coverage so I wasn’t looking at Jeffrey Simmons,” cornerback Deommodore Lenori stated. “But I was thinking run because they put him in the backfield, only to run the ball. So, when they came out with the pass, it shocked me, honestly.”
