A red-zone interception thrown by Brock Purdy proved to be the turning point of the 49ers' 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
Late in the third quarter, the 49ers trailed Cincinnati 17-10 while facing a first-and-goal from the Bengals' 8-yard line.
Purdy rolled to his right after appearing to fake a handoff to running back Elijah Mitchell before throwing a ball that was tipped and subsequently picked off by Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt.
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Following the game, Purdy acknowledged that any attempt to throw the ball on that play was an error on his part, as the call was an option that would have ineligible linemen downfield on any passing attempt that was made.
"I should have handed it off," Purdy said. "Simple as that. It was an option play with George [Kittle] coming backside to toss it to him. Once I pulled it to go toss it to him, it wasn't there. So, I tried making something up and just scrambling to the right. At that point, I have to know that the linemen are downfield, and I just have to try to get what I can get, but to throw the ball in itself would be a penalty, and I have to be better.
"So, I saw Elijah [Mitchell] in the corner of the end zone tried making something happen there, but regardless it would've been a , penalty. So, that's on me."
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Kyle Shanahan addressed the play as well, reiterating that the biggest mistake was throwing the ball on a play that would have drawn a penalty for any passing attempt due to the run blocking leading offensive linemen into an ineligible position upfield.
"Just supposed to be a handoff to him, and we missed the handoff, and he tried to scramble out of there, and by that time, you don't want to throw it down the field because people are run blocking," Shanahan said. "So we just missed the handoff and made a mistake after it."
San Francisco would never get into a better position to tie the game than they were before that play, ultimately falling by double-digit points in a regular season game for the first time in over a year.
After not throwing an interception through the first five games of the season, Purdy has thrown five during the 49ers' three-game losing streak, with multiple interceptions in back-to-back games.
The 49ers head into their bye week with a chance to get back into the win column when they head to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in Week 10.