SANTA CLARA — The 49ers simply were not ready for prime time Monday night.
Quarterback Brock Purdy, who entered the week as the top NFL MVP candidate, had the worst game of his football life.
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And the Baltimore Ravens took full advantage of all the 49ers’ shortcomings in rolling to a 33-19 blowout victory at Levi’s Stadium on Christmas night.
It was just the third time in NFL history that teams with the best records in each conference matched up in December or later since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The Ravens, now 12-3, showed why they entered as the top team in the AFC.
The 49ers? Not so much.
This game did not live up to the anticipation, as San Francisco simply was overmatched in every which way.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers fall to 11-4 on the season but still hold the tiebreaker edges for the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC. But now they might have no margin for error, with games at Washington and home against the Los Angeles Rams to close out the 2023 NFL regular season.
Here is how things fell apart for the 49ers in Week 16:
Purdy picked off four times
Purdy expertly avoided crucial mistakes in his first 23 regular-season starts with the 49ers.
On Monday, he made enough mistakes to last a long, long time.
And it’s safe to assume his case for MVP has lost serious momentum and might have been delivered a fatal blow.
Purdy completed 18 of 32 passes for 255 yards and no touchdowns with four interceptions. He left the game in the fourth quarter with a stinger, so Sam Darnold entered and played the rest of the way.
Purdy had thrown more than one interception in just two of his NFL games before taking the field against the Ravens. In the first quarter-and-a-half, Purdy threw a career-worst three picks. Then, he threw another early in the third quarter as Baltimore took a commanding lead.
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton picked off a Purdy pass in the end zone in the first quarter. The turnover cost the 49ers a chance for a touchdown, but they ended up getting points out of the deal.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, under pressure from Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, retreated more than 20 yards backward before tripping over umpire Alex Moore in the end zone with Chase Young in pursuit. Jackson tried to throw the ball away, but his pass did not make it back to the line of scrimmage, so it was ruled a safety, and the 49ers led 2-0.
Purdy’s next interception came when Brandon Stephens deflected his pass on a corner blitz, and Marlon Humphrey caught the ball. Baltimore cashed in on Gus Edwards’ 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down.
Then, Purdy made an ill-advised decision to throw late across the field to George Kittle. Humphrey broke up the pass, and Hamilton made the interception. Kicker Justin Tucker later made a 41-yard field goal to give the Ravens a 13-5 lead midway through the second quarter.
49ers’ defense struggles against Jackson
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson put forth a convincing case for his second league MVP award, as the 49ers’ defense had no answers for him.
In the second and third quarters, the Ravens scored on seven consecutive possessions (three touchdowns and four field goals). The 49ers hadn’t allowed scores on seven drives in a row since the 2005 NFL season.
Entering the game, things didn’t seem to be broken in the 49ers’ defensive backfield. Yet they opted to make some changes anyway.
The 49ers elevated cornerback Jason Verrett from the practice squad to suit up for his first game since Week 1 of the 2021 season. Verrett had season-ending injuries the past two seasons, and signed with the 49ers’ practice squad just two weeks ago.
The 49ers stayed with their standard nickel defense in the first half, with Deommodore Lenoir sliding inside to nickel back and Ambry Thomas joining Charvarius Ward on the outside.
But the 49ers began the second half with Verrett playing nickel back, with Lenoir and Ward remaining at cornerback on all downs. The 49ers stayed with that alignment for a couple of series before going back to their first-half lineup.
Verrett wasn’t on the field for many snaps, but he was beaten for a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Nelson Agholor that gave the Ravens a 23-12 lead with 12:07 remaining in the third quarter.
Would 49ers want a rematch?
This game was billed as a potential Super Bowl preview. It didn’t look that way, of course, but could a rematch take place Feb. 11 in Las Vegas?
That’s a long way down the road, and the 49ers didn’t look Super Bowl-ready Monday night.
The Ravens were stronger, faster and more aggressive. They completely overwhelmed the 49ers for most of the game.
It could be that the Ravens are just a bad matchup for the 49ers. Or could the experience of facing Baltimore’s unique defensive disguises be valuable experience for San Francisco down the road if the teams were to meet again?
Purdy must be able to figure out all the things about the Ravens’ defense that gave him problems. He never appeared comfortable against the league’s top unit.
Meanwhile, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey continued his consistent play and likely will be the key to the team’s playoff fate.
The team records continue to pile up for McCaffrey, who eclipsed 100 yards from scrimmage in the first half. He went over 100 yards rushing and receiving for the eighth consecutive game to break a tie for the franchise record. Roger Craig set the mark of seven in a row in 1988.
McCaffrey entered the game with 499 career receptions, and quickly became the fastest running back to surpass 500 catches, doing it in his 90th regular-season game. Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk did it in 112 games.
McCaffrey now has 21 touchdowns (14 rushing, 7 receiving), two away from Jerry Rice’s single-season franchise record of 23. Rice did it in 1987, a season that was strike-shortened to just 12 games.
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