SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers came storming out of the gates in the second half Sunday, but a devastating interception at a crucial juncture swiftly wiped out the momentum San Francisco finally managed to accrue.
While wide receiver Ronnie Bell initially received the lion's share of the blame for the costly turnover on social media, coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed Purdy sailed the critical pass attempt on third-and-6 from the Chiefs' 34-yard line.
"He [Purdy] just missed the throw," Shanahan said after the 49ers' 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi's Stadium.
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Shanahan assesses Purdy's performance and explains what happened on the QB's second interception pic.twitter.com/wco1rGAW8j
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 21, 2024
Purdy echoed Shanahan's sentiment, taking full responsibility for the key miscommunication that halted San Francisco's second-half comeback effort while proving to be the defining play in Sunday's loss.
"I think I've just got to play better for sure just with my throws and some decisions. That's pretty simple," Purdy said. "I've obviously got to watch the film again and stuff, but my instant reaction is I've got to play better. The second interception was on me again. Ronnie did his job. I thought he just got hemmed up. I didn't know where he was going to come out on his route, so I just tried putting it on him, and then he ended up breaking out pretty good. So, Ronnie did his job. It was on me."
After going down 14-3, the 49ers scored on consecutive drives and appeared well on their way to making it a third before the deflating interception.
San Francisco 49ers
Another INT!
— NFL (@NFL) October 20, 2024
The @Chiefs rookie Chris Roland-Wallace takes the ball back.
📺: #KCvsSF on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/Lo7KvCfOwA
The Chiefs' offense immediately answered with a 13-play, 79-yard touchdown drive to make it a two-score game, handing the 49ers a gut punch mere moments after it seemed they were on the brink of grabbing control of Sunday's clash against the NFL's lone unbeaten team.
Making matters worse, that wasn't Purdy's only brutal interception of the day, with the 24-year-old quarterback also throwing a fourth-quarter red-zone interception that effectively served as the knockout blow in Sunday's loss.
Jaden Hicks' first INT is a big one for the @Chiefs!
— NFL (@NFL) October 20, 2024
📺: #KCvsSF on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/V2XOeW1F5P
Purdy and the 49ers' offense already were without Christian McCaffrey, Jauan Jennings, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk at this point, but San Francisco still had numerous chances to pull out a victory on Sunday.
There is plenty of blame to go around in this one -- the 49ers struggled in all three phases on Sunday. But one has to wonder what this game looks like if San Francisco kept that drive alive, put on points and took the lead, rather than handing the ball back to Kansas City before quickly going down by multiple scores.
If you ask Purdy, this costly mistake falls square on his shoulders. While that's a reasonable assesment, San Francisco also failed as a unit in the bigger picture, once again falling short against a team the 49ers haven't recorded a victory against since Levi's Stadium's inaugural season in 2014.
"We didn't do anything really good on offense," Shanahan said. "I know he'd love to have all three of those picks back. Brock's been playing unbelievable this year, done some good things on offense this year, but today wasn't that day."