SANTA CLARA – A swift three-game losing streak escorts the 49ers into their bye week, with plenty of issues to resolve after Sunday’s 31-17 home defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was their first loss at Levi’s Stadium in 12 games, dating back to Oct. 23, 2022, and the 49ers (5-3) now sit second in the NFC West behind Seattle (5-2).
“We’re in a little bit of a slump, but there’s so much football left, and we have the right guys,” said running back Christian McCaffrey, who scored both 49ers touchdowns and matched an NFL record by scoring in 17 straight games.
Three turnovers by Brock Purdy played an obvious factor, especially interceptions on back-to-back throws that put a comeback in serious doubt, even with 13 minutes remaining. Cleared a day earlier from NFL concussion protocol, Purdy said he felt 100 percent, and that he simply shouldn’t have forced things that led to late-game turnovers.
“Obviously I want to be better for this team, this organization, (and) just take care of the ball in crucial parts of the game,” Purdy said. “It’s the NFL. You’re not going to blow teams out every week. You have to take care of the ball and play good team football.”
The 49ers’ defense was far too generous, too. That went from yielding 19 consecutive completions to Joe Burrow before halftime, to multiple missed tackles, to allowing a fourth and final Bengals touchdown with 2:54 remaining.
“We’ve gotten away with a number of stuff on our win streak. And we haven’t these last three weeks,” said coach Kyle Shanahan, noting that the three-game slide should not send the 49ers scurrying into the trade market before Tuesday’s deadline.
With turnovers and penalties clogging their wheel, the 49ers’ offense is not the same high-scoring machine that shredded the Dallas Cowboys 42-10 in the previous home game a month ago. This marked their third straight game scoring 17 points.
“I can’t give you an answer why we’re losing, besides turnovers, we’re not running the ball enough, and the situations we’re putting ourselves in,” tight end George Kittle said.
After falling at Cleveland (19-17) and Minnesota (22-17), the 49ers looked to celebrate on alumni weekend in front of Joe Montana and over 100 other ex-players. Coincidentally, the 49ers’ last home loss came on last year’s alumni weekend, which the Kansas City Chiefs spoiled.
Those alumni can attest none of the 49ers’ five Super Bowl-winning seasons included a three-game losing streak.
“We haven’t shown we can play from behind and come back and win. That’s something we have to address and get better at,” linebacker Fred Warner said.
While these 49ers obviously missed left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) and wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder) for a second straight game, the 49ers’ offense has been plagued by not just a growing trend of Purdy turnovers, but ill-timed penalties and an unthreatening rushing attack, all due respect to Purdy’s career-high scrambling (57 yards) and Christian McCaffrey’s nose for the end zone (two touchdowns).
McCaffrey, in fact, tied Lenny Moore’s NFL record (1963-64 Baltimore Colts) by scoring in a 17th straight game. McCaffrey’s first touchdown Sunday came on a 2-yard run to tie the score at 7 with 3:19 left in the first quarter. His second touchdown reignited the comeback, as he caught a 4-yard pass from Purdy to complete a 75-yard drive with 8:12 still on the clock.
Burrow and the Bengals (4-3) answered with their own touchdown drive. Joe Mixon (Liberty High-Brentwood) dashed 5 yards for their final score with 2:54 to go, after bouncing around right defensive end Nick Bosa, who played seemingly every snap up to that point.
The 49ers even outgained the Bengals 460-400. But the 49ers also made more errors in all three phases along the way.
The game’s biggest turning point came late in the third quarter. Disaster struck on first-and-goal from the 8, when Purdy missed a handoff to Elijah Mitchell, after Christian McCaffrey went in motion as a would-be lead blocker. As they veered right, so did Purdy, who tried to shot-put the ball to Mitchell, only the ball didn’t clear 6-foot-3 Germaine Pratt, who made the interception four seconds before the end of the third quarter.
“We just missed the handoff and made a mistake after,” Shanahan said.
Purdy’s explanation: “Man, I should have handed it off, simple as that.”
He then noted how he could have opted to get the ball to George Kittle, only that option disappeared, so he scrambled right and threw the ball, despite linemen being downfield.
When the 49ers got the ball again, Purdy delivered another interception, this time to linebacker Logan Wilson, who surprisingly drifted away from covering Jauan Jennings to the nearby Brandon Aiyuk, Purdy’s intended target. The Bengals quickly converted that into Burrow’s third scoring strike of the game, as he found Ja’Marr Chase (17 yards) and beat Isaiah Oliver. It was similar to Burrow’s first touchdown pass of the game: a 7-yard throw over Oliver and to Tyler Boyd.
Burrow finished 28-of-32 for 283 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Chase had 10 catches for 100 yards and a score.
Purdy, who fumbled late in the fourth quarter, completed 22-of-31 for a career-high 365 yards. Kittle had 149 yards (nine catches) and Aiyuk produced 109 yards (five catches).
It’s a bad sign when Purdy is the 49ers’ leading rusher — that was the case with his 57 yards on six scrambles. McCaffrey had 64 rushing yards (12 carries) and 64 receiving yards (six receptions).
A bad sign for the 49ers’ defense came, similar to a week ago, when it allowed a third-and-long conversion en route to the Bengals’ first touchdown, with Burrow dodging potential a sack by Armstead, Bosa and Javon Hargrave before completing a third-and-10 pass.
Armstead did sack Burrow twice, and Bosa split a sack with Clelin Ferrell, who also forced a fumble at the 4-yard line to keep the 49ers down just 14-10 at halftime.
The 49ers’ defensive struggles were at every level. They were unable to pressure Burrow with a four-man rush and seemingly avoided blitzes, which wasn’t surprising after Monday night’s all-out blitz call by defensive coordinator Steve Wilks that resulted in a 60-yard touchdown before halftime against the Vikings. Linebackers Fred Warner and especially Dre Greenlaw missed tackles, and safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Tashaun Gipson weren’t positive factors.
NOTES
No injuries were reported by the 49ers. … Mitch Wishnowsky bailed out the 49ers’ poor offensive start with 60- and 62-yard punts. … The 49ers allowed a 41-yard kick return to Trayveon Williams with the score tied at 7-7 to set up the Bengals’ next touchdown drive; Ray-Ray McCloud’s ensuing kick return for the 49ers reached only the 14-yard line. … The 49ers went 3-and-out on their opening possession for the first time this season, with Kyle Juszczyk stuffed on a third-and-1, fullback dive for a 1-yard loss. … Joe Montana sounding the ceremonial “foghorn” before kickoff to cap alumni weekend, which attracted over 100 players; former owner Eddie DeBartolo attended Saturday night’s alumni dinner at Levi’s Stadium but was not seen at the game.
Source: www.mercurynews.com