Not much has gone right for the 49ers during the 2024 NFL season, and that domino effect resulted in San Francisco being eliminated from playoff contention before the team even played a snap against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
After their 29-17 loss at Hard Rock Stadium, which dropped the 49ers to 6-9 on the year, quarterback Brock Purdy and defensive end Nick Bosa told reporters what they've learned about their team during a rare down year.
"It's sort of tough," Purdy said. "We'll really see after the season, just the theme of every game and all that kind of stuff, where we need to be better and stuff. But just off the top of my head, it's just been not clean football across the board. I just feel like we're hurting ourselves offensively, and then when the defense gets a stop, we've got to go and capitalize. Last year we did that really well -- last couple years, and we played team football for four quarters and I just felt like we were pretty dominant [last year].
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"So this year, it's just been hit or miss, and the momentum as a whole team and a unit has just been OK. And that's a lot on me for our offense. I got to get our guys going and and be on top of things, and so definitely learning that. But more than anything, it's like we have a really good team and we have good players and a lot of the core guys from obviously what we've done the last couple years, and so that's what hurts is you have those kind of guys and culture here, and we just haven't been able to get it done in some games."
It has been an up-and-down season for Purdy and the 49ers' offense -- but mostly down. After bursting onto the scene in 2022, and then shattering records and earning NFL MVP votes in his first full season as San Francisco's starting quarterback in 2023, things haven't come as easily for the 24-year-old in 2024.
Brock Purdy has started 40 games for the #49ers in regular season and playoffs (excluding the 2022 NFC title game when he hurt his elbow). Here's breakdown of 1st 20 vs 2nd 20:
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 23, 2024
Passer rating: 116.6 to 93.6
Yds/att: 9.6 to 8.1
TD-INT: 39-9 to 26-15
Record: 17-3 to 10-10
In Sunday's loss to the Dolphins, which was one of his better performances this year, Purdy completed 65 percent (26-for-40) of his pass attempts for 313 yards and a touchdown with one interception and a 95.1 passer rating. On the season, Purdy has compiled a 94.4 passer rating, which ranks No. 15 in the NFL.
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But amid injuries to star offensive weapons including Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey, the offense has struggled to reach the same numbers as 2023, averaging over 30 yards less per game this season (365.1) than last year (396.2). Combine that with San Francisco's defensive issues in 2024, and it has been a recipe for a postseason-less campaign.
This season's difficulties have taught Bosa to cherish when the team is fully healthy and doing well, as in years past.
"I've learned that this league is very tough, and we've been on the highest of highs for a long time and sometimes things don't go your way," Bosa told reporters. "And a lot of it is because of what we've done, obviously, but we just have to appreciate playing this game. I mean, I don't think I've played a game where we don't really have a chance in the playoffs, so it was it was different feel [today], but it's always a blessing to be on the field and be a part of the Niners."
The 49ers still have their pride to play for entering the final two games of the 2024 season. And heading into the 2025 campaign, there certainly are a lot of lessons from this season they can utilize.