Tag: Brock Purdy

Chiefs vs. 49ers: Justin Reid intercepts Brock Purdy on opening drive

Check out this video of #Chiefs DB Justin Reid intercepting one of #49ers QB Brock Purdy’s passes in Week 7.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ defense wasted no time making an early impact in their Super Bowl LVIII rematch against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.

After a failed fake punt attempt on the Chiefs’ first drive gave San Francisco favorable field position, Kansas City’s defense was quick to respond with a big play.

When 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy rolled out of the pocket against the Chiefs’ defensive line, veteran safety Justin Reid knew exactly where the ball was headed, and was able to jump into the throwing lane to intercept a pass.

Take a look at Reid’s impressive interception in this video, which was posted by the Chiefs’ official Twitter account:

 

Kansas City was unable to score on the ensuing drive, and the Chiefs would enter the second quarter down by three points.

Look for Reid and Kansas City’s other veteran defenders to stay active against San Francisco as the Chiefs look to keep their undefeated record intact heading into Week 8.

How will Christian McCaffrey return impact 49ers offense?

Christian McCaffrey’s return won’t make the 49ers’ offense look like it did last year, but it should help in a couple of key areas.

The San Francisco 49ers have somehow managed to churn out a productive, efficient offense even without running back Christian McCaffrey.

Just because they’ve been able to churn out yards and points doesn’t mean life hasn’t been more difficult for the 49ers without the reigning Offensive Player of the Year. His return, which could be coming sooner rather than later, should make a couple of things much easier for the 49ers.

The first area McCaffrey should help is in the red zone. Last season the 49ers were the No. 1 red zone team in the NFL, scoring touchdowns on 67.2 percent of their red zone trips. This season without McCaffrey that number has plummeted to 44.4 percent.

His nose for the end zone as a runner alone will help, but his dual-threat skill set will open a ton of things up down near the end zone.

McCaffrey is a threat as a receiver, which defenses have to respect when he’s out in a route. He can be moved around to help manipulate defenders and open up space for tight end George Kittle and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.

Neither Samuel nor Kittle are great at creating separation, which becomes a significant problem in the confined spaces of the red zone. Having McCaffrey to occupy defenders could make life easier for the 49ers’ other pass catchers.

That’s the same way he can help elsewhere on the field where defenses have started clogging the middle of the field and taking away some of the space the 49ers offense has thrived in.

Quarterback Brock Purdy is still working the middle of the field, but the result of those throws isn’t quite the same as it was over the last few seasons. 49ers pass catchers are making receptions in the middle of the field and not creating yards after the catch.

Last season Samuel racked up 8.7 yards-after-catch per reception. Kittle was at 7.3, while McCaffrey and RB Jordan Mason were both at 7.0 YAC/reception.

This year Samuel is down to 7.6 in that category. Mason is at 5.6 and Kittle’s number has fallen all the way to 3.5.

Aiyuk’s is largely unchanged.

Getting McCaffrey back where defenders have to vacate the middle of the field to account for him as a receiver should generate more space and more YAC opportunities for 49ers receivers.

We’ll also likely see Purdy’s completion rate tick up toward the 69.4 percent mark he landed on last season. This year as his downfield throws have skyrocketed, his completion rate has started falling. Part of the push downfield is likely due to how teams are defending the 49ers, but it stands to reason Purdy will take easier throws to McCaffrey instead of scrambling and creating out of structure the way he has so often this season.

It’s unlikely the 49ers’ offense will be an exact replica of last year when McCaffrey returns, but he should make some of the difficult things like red zone TDs and short-area throws much easier when he’s finally back on the field.

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Chiefs DB Justin Reid discusses the challenge of stopping George Kittle: ‘A fun guy to go against’

Kansas City #Chiefs defensive back Justin Reid discusses the challenge of stopping George Kittle: ‘A fun guy to go against’ | @EdEastonJr

Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid has never been shy about covering the best offensive players in the league. He prides himself on these matchups as he approaches this Sunday’s game against George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers.

Reid shared his thoughts on facing Kittle again during Thursday’s press conference.

“Oh, Huge challenge. All around tight end. I mean, him (George Kittle) and (Travis) Kelce are like the two best in the business, but he does it all.” said Reid. “He runs vertical routes, runs pivot routes, Big Red Zone target. Very comfortable guy for Brock Purdy to throw to great hands and a willing blocker. Sure, everyone’s seen the tapes of him blocking guys. Loves to get down and dirty, but just a fun guy to go against and for me, those are the type of challenges that you want as a guy that covers tight ends, is to go against guys like that and see where you step up.”

Kittle has a reputation for trash-talking during games, and Reid embraces the back-and-forth moments as both sides play mind games to gain a competitive advantage.

“Yeah, I mean, it makes it a little more fun,” said Reid. “the more years you get into it. But it’s always very friendly at the end of it.”

The Chiefs’ secondary got the best of Kittle during the Super Bowl, so there will be extra motivation to head into Sunday’s showdown.

Chiefs coach ‘can’t find weakness’ in 49ers QB Brock Purdy

The Chiefs have a terrific defense, but their defensive coordinator doesn’t know how to stop the 49ers’ QB.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo hasn’t changed his opinion of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

Spagnuolo had a ton of praise for Purdy after Super Bowl LVIII, going as far as to seek out the QB’s phone number to reach out individually. Purdy’s performance in 2024 has only solidified Spagnuolo’s thoughts on the 49ers’ signal caller.

The Chiefs’ defensive coordinator spoke with reporters Thursday and said he can’t find a weakness in Purdy’s game.

“I can’t find a weakness in this quarterback,” Spagnuolo said via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “Every time I put the film on, I’m more and more impressed.”

Perhaps Spagnuolo is simply trying not to enflame an already big Super Bowl rematch. However, given his praise for Purdy immediately after the game and Purdy’s strong start to the 2024 campaign, it’s tough to imagine he’s being entirely untruthful.

On the other hand, if there was something Spagnuolo thought he could exploit with the 49ers’ QB, he wouldn’t divulge that in a press conference.

So far this season there’s not a glaring weakness in the way Purdy has succeeded. Teams have tried heavily blitzing him. Teams have tried not blitzing him. They’ve taken away the middle of the field. They’ve forced him to scramble. There’s nothing in particular that jumps out as the secret to beating the 49ers’ QB.

If there is a secret to doing so and Spagnuolo has it, the 49ers would love to have it come out in Week 7 instead of later in the regular season or in the playoffs.

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Kyle Shanahan explains why 49ers have gone away from successful offensive play type

Kyle Shanahan’s explanation for the 49ers’ dip in play action rate lines up with the numbers. A deep-ish dive:

There was a curious trend for the San Francisco 49ers’ offense through the first five weeks of the 2024 season.

After leaning heavily on play-action through Brock Purdy’s first season-plus, they started going away from it this year. It would’ve made sense had Purdy’s numbers out of play action started dipping, but he was still seeing a massive uptick in productivity on those plays.

In 2022 the 49ers ran play action 26.6 percent of the time with Purdy under center. That number dipped a little to 23.0 percent last year in his first full season as a starter.

Going into Week 6 of this season, the play action rate had plummeted to 17.6 percent.

It was a head-scratching choice that head coach Kyle Shanahan explained in a press conference Wednesday.

“No, we just try to run what we think looks good on tape and it kind of just depends on how people are playing us and sometimes we think it looks really good, sometimes we think it’s not so good,” Shanahan said. “So it’s not like we don’t just do things every week because we do it. I think it’s just been just a matter of how the schedule’s played out.”

We dug into some of the 49ers’ play action numbers and it was pretty easy to spot what got the team’s play action rate down. It turns out blitzing San Francisco heavily this season will typically get them out of their play action game.

Here’s a handy graph we made using data from Pro Football Focus:

The 49ers’ play-action rate against the Vikings was just 6.7 percent thanks to Minnesota blitzing Purdy on 51.1 percent of his dropbacks.

Against the Patriots’ 40.0 percent blitz rate, San Francisco ran play action just 13.3 percent of the time.

Conversely, the 49ers’ season-high 29.0 percent play action rate against the Seahawks came with Seattle blitzing on a season-low 19.4 percent of the 49ers’ dropbacks.

The only real outlier from this trend is Week 5 where the Cardinals brought a blitz on 46.3 percent of Purdy’s dropbacks and the 49ers still passed with play action 24.4 percent of the time. Interestingly, that Week 5 performance was also Purdy’s worst of the year. He completed just 54.3 percent of his throws and tossed two interceptions with only one touchdown for a season-low 62.1 quarterback rating.

This all tracks with what Shanahan told reporters in response to questions about the team’s drop in play action rate. Defenses that blitz more are generally going to keep the 49ers from running longer-developing plays that require a fake handoff.

Eliminating the Patriots and Vikings games puts the 49ers’ play action rate at 24.4 percent – right between what it was in Purdy’s first two years.

Play action hasn’t been abandoned by the 49ers. Defenses are just playing them a little differently in 2024. That’ll always be an important element to the 49ers’ passing game, particularly given how effective their run game is. However, how Purdy adjusts against the blitz and how the offense adapts to punish teams for bringing extra pass rushers will ultimately determine their success on that side of the ball this season.

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Geno Smith still leads the NFL in passing yards

Geno Smith still leads the NFL in passing yards

We are through six weeks on the 2024 NFL season, and no one has thrown for more yards than Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.

On the year, Smith has thrown for 1,778 yards. While his touchdown/interception ratio (6 touchdowns, six picks) may not be great on the stat sheet, defenses are having little effect on slowing Smith down through the air.

The current top five passing leads in the league are as follows:

  1. Geno Smith – 1,778
  2. Brock Purdy – 1,629
  3. Dak Prescott – 1,602
  4. Kirk Cousins – 1,598
  5. Joe Burrow – 1,578

Smith had a tough night against the San Francisco 49ers last week, no one will argue against it. His two interceptions were brutal, and the second one stopped any comeback attempt dead in its tracks. While an argument could certainly be made DK Metcalf did him no favors with his route, as a quarterback, you sign the check with every pass you throw.

However, Smith still had 312 yards on Thursday night. Smith has eclipsed the 300+ passing yard mark in three of his six games this year. In two of them where he did not, he still threw for 289 and 284 yards.

Smith will look to keep up his overall strong paly next Sunday on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. It will be his, and the Seahawks’, first time playing the Falcons since they lost 27-23 in 2022 at Lumen Field. Despite the loss, Smith passed for 325 yards and two touchdowns against Atlanta.

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1 offensive trend 49ers must carry over from Week 6

The 49ers got back to what works on offense against Seattle, a trend that should help them entering a brutal part of their schedule.

There’s a clear trend the San Francisco 49ers needed to continue following this season, and they did it in the team’s Week 6 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Quarterback Brock Purdy is excellent in play action, but his play action rate dipped from 2022 to 2023, and then from 2023 to 2024. Entering Thursday’s game he was running play action just 17.6 percent of the time per Pro Football Focus.

Thursday the 49ers utilized play action on season-high 29 percent of Purdy’s dropbacks. It probably isn’t a coincidence that the uptick in play action usage came in the same game San Francisco posted a season-high 36 points and 483 total yards.

Purdy wasn’t as successful as usual out of play action Thursday, but his season numbers in that concept still outshine his numbers in non-play action.

In play action Purdy is completing 72.2 percent of his throws this season, averages 12.6 yards per attempt and has two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Without play action, Purdy is at 63.8 percent completions, 7.9 yards per attempt, seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

By getting their play-action game going against Seattle, they also got their rushing attack going with a season-high 228 rushing yards on 33 carries.

It’s clear the maximized version of the 49ers’ offense involves a heavy dose of play action that gets linebackers moving and playing slower than they might normally play. It worked Thursday night against the Seahawks, and it’s something they need to continue doing heading into a Week 7 showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Brock Purdy hits Deebo Samuel with 76-yard touchdown pass

The 49ers were out fast in an NFC West clash against the Seahawks

The San Francisco 49ers are looking for their first win away from home and in the NFC West.

They were off to a great start in Seattle on Thursday, jumping on the Seahawks for a 10-0 advantage early in the second quarter.

After a field goal, San Francisco saw Deebo Samuel catch a pass from Brock Purdy and the wideout did the rest.

Seventy-six yards and a PAT later, the 49ers led, 10-0.

Week 6 preview and prediction: Seahawks vs 49ers

Week 6 preview and prediction: Seahawks vs 49ers

The Seattle Seahawks are in the first losing streak of the Mike Macdonald era. They will look to get off the schneid on Thursday night against the 2-3 San Francisco 49ers – a team they have lost to for five-straight games.

Despite the recent success San Francisco has had against Seattle, judging by fans online it does not seem as if anyone is too confident in their team… on either side. Currently, the Seahawks remain in first place in the NFC West, but they mainly have the Arizona Cardinals to thank for this. Arizona upset the heavily injured 49ers 24-23 on Sunday, keeping Seattle on top of the division despite their own brutal loss.

San Francisco has become a walking wounded squad. Star defensive lineman Javon Hargrave has been lost for the year, and the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in Christian McCaffrey is still on injured reserve. The Niners have struggled in the red zone this season without McCaffrey, but they are still able to run the ball well behind the legs of Jordan Mason.

Unfortunately, Seattle’s weaknesses along their own defensive front in regards to stopping the run. The Giants gashed them for 175 yards as a team on Sunday, and rookie Byron Murphy II will be missing his third-straight game.

However, the Niners have equal vulnerability on the ground. They key for Seattle is if they will be able to get their own rushing attack going. On Sunday, the Seahawks ran 58 plays and only seven were called runs. This is unacceptable with a healthy Kenneth Walker III in the mix, especially when the game against the Giants was either tied or within a score for three full quarters.

Being able to establish the run will be crucial for a Seahawks offensive line struggling mightily to protect Geno Smith. Having the men up front move forward more than backwards, taking pressure off themselves and their quarterback. The Niners may not have Hargrave, but Nick Bosa is more than terrifying enough.

Seattle’s defense may not be as injured as they were against the Lions, but they will be without cornerback Riq Woolen. They will have Boye Mafe back to help bring pressure to Brock Purdy, but San Francisco has too many weapons for a shorthanded secondary.

The 49ers are desperate. They are a veteran team with a well-established system and culture. Seattle could make this more competitive than they have in the last five meetings, but San Francisco is still a touch matchup.

Prediction: 49ers over Seahawks 28-21

1 big change 49ers can make to help QB Brock Purdy

Here’s one way the 49ers can help their offense.

It’s hard to watch the San Francisco 49ers offense this season and not notice a very different version of that unit than we’ve seen in recent years.

Quarterback Brock Purdy has started relying heavily on downfield throws, and not so much on yards after catch. While Purdy is playing well, the 49ers’ offense has stagnated at times during the season.

One way they might be able to help is by getting back to an old staple: play-action passing.

The 49ers through Purdy’s first season-plus relied a ton on play action. In 2022 when he took over as a rookie, 26.6 percent of his dropbacks were play action according to Pro Football Focus. That trend continued in 2023 with 23.0 percent of his dropbacks featuring play action.

In 2024 that percentage has plummeted to 17.6 percent in a baffling shift from head coach Kyle Shanahan.

To make matters worse, Purdy has better numbers in play action this year than he has at any point in his career. This season he’s completing 78.6 percent of his play action throws and averaging a whopping 12.4 yards per attempt.

In 2022 his completion rate was at 67.7 percent with 10.1 yards per attempt. In 2023 the YPA stayed stagnant while his completion rate leapt to 77.3 percent.

This season in particular the move away from play action throws becomes even more head-scratching considering his numbers outside of it. Without play action this season, Purdy’s completion rate is at 62.8 percent, while his yards-per-attempt sits at 8.0. All four of his INTs have come without play action. His completion rate jumps 15.8 points and his YPA shoots up by 4.4 yards with the fake involved.

Perhaps moving away from play action has been personnel-related. Maybe it has to do with how the 49ers are being defended. It’s clear they have to find ways to sprinkle in more play action dropbacks though because moving away from it hasn’t been helpful. The sooner they start doing it at a higher rate, the sooner they put themselves in a position to maximize their offense and their quarterback.

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