49ers quarterback Brock Purdy opened Monday night’s game by capping a 15-play drive with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jauan Jennings, but the rest of the half did not go nearly as well for him.
Purdy threw interceptions on the next three 49ers possessions and two of them set the Panthers up in 49ers territory. The 49ers defense stepped up to limit the Panthers to three points off of the turnovers and the Niners won the game 20-9, but that kind of carelessness with the ball is usually a recipe for disaster.
After the game, Purdy said he was fine with “the decisions of going to those spots” on the interceptions but that he “needed to just drive the ball a little bit more” on the throws. Purdy was then asked if the toe injury that caused him to miss eight games factored into not driving the ball the way he wanted to on Monday.
“No, toe is fine,” Purdy said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “Feels good out there. It’s really just seeing the play develop, anticipating and letting it rip at the end of the day. So, it had nothing to do with my toe.”
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Purdy was “a hair late” throwing the ball on the interceptions. The 49ers will need to get their timing right in the coming days because Myles Garrett and a Browns defense coming off a 10-sack game will be waiting to try to force them into more mistakes in Cleveland.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young followed up one of the best games of his career with a dud against the 49ers on Monday night.
Young threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 11 overtime win against the Falcons, but he was 18-of-29 for 169 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in Carolina’s 20-9 loss in Santa Clara.
Young’s first interception came four plays after Jaycee Horn picked off Brock Purdy to set the Panthers up in the red zone. They had a first down on the 1-yard line, but Young tried to force a pass to tight end Mitchell Evans instead of throwing it away. Safety Ji’Ayir Brown picked the ball off and Brown intercepted Young again with less than five minutes left in the game.
“I’ve got to do a better job executing,” Young said after the game, via the team’s website. “Obviously, I’ve got to take care of the ball. I’ve got to do a better job of making plays go today. I take all ownership in that, and we have a locker room of guys that do that. So, you know, we’ve just got to be better. Again, there’s not some magical fix. It’s us buckling down and playing good football. Didn’t get that done on offense today. Again it sucks, but it’s a quick week. We’ve got to be able to flush it quick, and on to the next one.”
Purdy threw three interceptions in the first half on Monday, which provided Young and the Panthers with a golden opportunity to steal a road win that would have sent them into Thanksgiving in first place in the NFC South. Young’s underwhelming effort helped them miss that opportunity and they’ll have a tough task against the Rams in Week 13.
In only his third NFL season, running back Christian McCaffrey became the third player in NFL history to run for 1,000 yards and gain 1,000 yards receiving. He may now become the second to do it twice.
Through 12 games, McCaffrey has 796 rushing yards and 785 receiving yards. With five games to play, that projects to 1,127 rushing yards and 1,112 receiving yards.
Former Rams running back Marshall Faulk did it in 1999, and former 49ers running back Roger Craig did it in 1985. McCaffrey’s 1,000/1,000 season games with the Panthers, in 2019.
And, yes, this would be the first time it happens in a 17-game regular season. That’s true of every single-season record. If the league expands the season (and it will again), it becomes easier to break existing mark based on what happens during a given season.
Regardless, McCaffrey is currently on pace to get there in 16 games. So relax, guy. Appreciate the greatness of McCaffrey, who’s still getting it done at a high level at 29.
San Francisco receiver Jauan Jennings and Carolina safety Tre’Von Moehig could both be disciplined for their actions at the end of Monday night’s game, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan says Jennings handled himself appropriately.
In the fourth quarter, Moehig punched Jennings in the groin. Jennings waited until after the game to respond, with a slap to the facemask. Shanahan backed his player afterward.
“The guy took a cheap shot and hit him in the balls. I was real proud of Jauan for not losing his mind out there and getting to the sideline,” Shanahan said.
Both players will at least be fined, and could be suspended, for their actions. Shanahan will not be happy if Jennings is suspended, given what he was reacting to.
Things got a little spicy and the end of a largely blah game, and it raises the prospect of discipline for those involved.
After the clock ran out on the 49ers’ 20-9 win over the Panthers, San Francisco receiver Jauan Jennings went after Panthers safety Tre’von Moehig, giving him an open right hand to the facemask and anther shove before they were separated.
ESPN then showed what caused it. Moments earlier, Moehrig had punched Jennings in the crotch at the end of a play.
Both will surely be fined. The question is whether, under the precedent set by the Week 5 one-game suspension of Lions safety Brian Branch for hitting Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after the game had ended, Jennings will be suspended.
The league has been very aggressive this year regarding sportsmanship issues. So it makes sense to monitor this one throughout the day on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the 49ers face the Browns in Cleveland. The Panthers host the Rams.
