WCF Film Room: Breaking down Brock Purdy’s 3 interceptions in week 7 vs Kansas City

It was an uncharacteristically bad day for Brock Purdy.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The 49ers offense fell flat yet again in what was a must win game for the team as a whole. Must-win because this 49ers season feels different than the recent years of slow starts. In 2021, they started 3-5 before finishing 10-7 and making the NFC Championship game. In 2022, they started 3-4 before rattling off 10 straight wins to close out the season and another NFC Championship game berth.

Last year was self-explanatory. Brock Purdy came into his own, took the opportunity to lead the team as the new franchise quarterback in his first year, and together with a top 10 defense and an all-star cast, led them to another 12 win season and a Super Bowl appearance. You know the history. Enough about that. Expectations were, and are, rightly, high for the team. How would they handle the offseason and all the distraction that comes with losing a championship?

It turns out, the vibes were off all offseason, and it carried over into the start of the season, where the 49ers yet again find themselves with their backs against the wall and another three win start as they approach the middle of the season. The only difference this time is it doesn’t feel like this is what was supposed to happen because the core of the team was kept in place. The only player missing is Christian McCaffrey.

Brock Purdy and the 49ers have not been able to absorb his absence. And against the Chiefs, everything feels like it came to a screeching halt with the loss, not only of the game, but of another critical piece: Brandon Aiyuk. Deebo also didn’t play due to an illness.

And in this game, head coach Kyle Shanahan still found ways to get his quarterback some easy throws and answers against a very good defense but the chips didn’t fall that way in realtime on the field. And suddenly the narrative is Shanahan didn’t do enough and is failing Purdy by not giving him answers to the problems the Chiefs threw at them. And this just couldn’t be further from the truth.

Brock finished the game with three interceptions, and they were all interceptions that I’d put full responsibility on the quarterback for. They were just bad throws and bad reads. And throughout the game, Purdy uncharacteristically missed reads and throws he normally makes.

First interception

The first interception came on play action and it was a ball that cannot go where it did. Safety Justin Reid drove on the deep over route by Kittle and intercepted it because Brock was late seeing him come open.

It almost needs to just be thrown in the dirt at the feet of Kyle Juszczyk. George Karlaftis sat home backside and chased the quarterback as soon as he noticed the play action keeper. This is a common tactic all teams running under center naked boot keeper play action are seeing with the backside defenders. This is nothing new for Brock. 

To the bottom of the screen, where I think Brock ultimately wants to go, is the double move stutter and go. But he didn’t have time for it. As soon as he comes around and sees Karlaftis, he needs to locate Kittle on the crosser. The throw is difficult and Reid is already breaking on the ball as Purdy throws it. The design is kind of wonky but more awareness to know when that window is closing as he sees it is needed because he does not have the arm to hit that tight of a throw.

Second interception

This play had many automatically screaming for Ronnie Bell’s head on a platter because they were sure he ran the wrong route. They’re trying to convert to first down on 3rd-and-6 here while the score is still 14-12. The 49ers had mounted a drive and were in prime position to move into scoring position as they were just on the other side of the 50 yard line in Chiefs territory and were on the edge of at least field goal position.

On 3rd and 6, Bell is running an out route that takes him just past the sticks for a first down if Purdy can get it to him. Bell was in prime position to convert and broke free with about 4 yards of separation as he worked back to where he thought the ball would be. But Purdy just air mailed it to the sideline.

Fans were sure this was Ronnie Bell’s error and that he didn’t take his route deep enough. And usually when a ball is overthrown that much, it’s a miscommunication or receiver error. But Shanahan confirmed that Purdy “just missed the throw” in his post-game press conference. Purdy also confirmed that he missed it.

One could reasonably assume that they’re protecting Bell after the outcry after the Rams game, but why? There really isn’t a route on that play design that would require that kind of throw to the sideline. Why would Purdy float that pass from a clean pocket if he thought Bell was going to take it deeper. It was just a miss and bad throw on his part. That’s it.

Third interception

On this third interception, Purdy more than likely should have just taken a sack and lived to fight another down when Chris Conley could not get open on his return route. There were still just under 10 minutes remaining in the game and some kind of points here would’ve been better than the outcome of this play.

On the interception itself, the defense is playing drop-8 coverage inside the 10 yard line with the 49ers at the five yard line. Conley is running a stick route in the end zone but can’t get off contact.

That’s where Brock wants to go. It’s ultimately just bad awareness to see that route not develop when he wants to throw, double clutch, and then throw. The hesitation to throw causes him to get hit by Karlaftis when he does throw. Karlaftis beat McKivitz with an inside spin move and the defense is guarding the goal line from any short throws. There really isn’t an escape route either.

Just eat the sack and kick the field goal. At that point, it would have been 21-15 and there isn’t a guarantee that the Chiefs score on the next drive, which they ended up doing anyways. Or maybe Shanahan, knowing the severity of the situation, goes for it on 4th and 10 from the 10 yard line if Purdy takes the sack. Any of these situations or possibilities is better than what happened.

In part 2, we’ll dive into the missed throws and reads.