SANTA CLARA — Heading into Week 12 with a .500 record, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is trying to keep everything in perspective, including his quarterback.
Brock Purdy had an incredibly productive 2023 NFL season, helping San Francisco reach Super Bowl LVIII while leading the league in multiple quarterback metrics.
While the current season doesn't quite reflect Purdy continuing to progress in his third NFL season, Shanahan believes that if just a few more things went right for the 49ers, everyone would be singing a much different tune.
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“I think Brock’s doing a lot of good things,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “But we’re all going to be judged on winning games, and that’s why our team’s got to find a better way to win it there in the fourth so we can get our record right.”
If Purdy had close to the same statistics and the 49ers had not pilfered away three fourth-quarter leads, Shanahan believes the quarterback's storyline would be much different -- but there are a few notable measurables.
Purdy’s 159 total yards passing in San Francisco's 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks is his lowest total of the season and the second lowest of his career. Purdy only threw for fewer yards when he completed 12 of his 27 attempts for 125 yards in Week 6 of the 2023 season in a 19-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
“I think it’s such a fine line,“ Shanahan said. “We’re a 5-5 team, which isn’t where we want to be ... You ask a question about Brock, but I think if we were 8-2 with a top offense in the league and stuff, I think we’d be feeling a lot better.
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“And so, I try to keep perspective of that, especially with our guys. And to me that’s come all the way down to how we finish games.”
The coach explained that four of the 49ers' 10 games have been decided in the final two possessions. Of those games, the 49ers have won only one in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If they had been able to close out those remaining three games, the 49ers would be sitting at 8-2, and no one would be questioning the progress of the 49ers signal-caller.
“Our team hasn’t been quite as good through this,” Shanahan said. “But a couple plays here and there, and I think we’re looking at it totally differently and that’s why we’ve put ourselves in the hole, and that’s why we’ve made it a lot harder for ourselves here at this back half.”
“In contrast, you look at a team like Green Bay, they’ve had seven games come down to the last possession and they’ve won six of them, with the only one they lost being the opening game versus Philly. And that’s why they have such a good record.”
Shanahan continues to be confident in Purdy, who has changed his game by adding a running element to his on-field play. The quarterback has been able to keep drives alive with his legs, but Shanahan would like to see him distribute the ball around the field more.
“Yeah, it’s hard to make a lot of progress after the way he played last year,” Shanahan said. "And it was hard to make a lot of progress after the way he played seven games in his first year. So I think Brock’s playing at the exact same level. I think there’s different circumstances around him.
"I still think it’s going to come down to the same stuff. I bet these next seven games come down to the fourth quarter, and we either get it done or we don’t. We’ve got to find a way to get it done.”