SANTA CLARA – Safety Ji’Ayir Brown read Bryce Young’s young eyes and intercepted two passes in Monday night’s 49ers victory. Then Brown read the room, that being Levi’s Stadium’s auditorium during his post-win press conference.
Standing at the podium after that 20-9 defense-led victory over Carolina, Brown didn’t strut, even though he just played the best game of his three-year Niners career in coach Kyle Shanahan’s eyes.
Brown’s two interceptions helped bail out Brock Purdy, who got intercepted on three consecutive drives before halftime. Yet rather than bask in any heroic glory, Brown used the spotlight to preach team unity. So did others.
“There ain’t no bailouts,” Brown said. “We see turnovers happen. It’s all part of the game. If it was perfect, people wouldn’t watch it as much. Just having the offense’s back (this game) like they had ours the previous weeks, it’s complementary football.”
The 49ers (8-4) won their previous game by outscoring Arizona 40-22 while the Cardinals’ Jacoby Brissett set an NFL record with 47 completions. This game was won by the 49ers defense denying the Panthers more than three points on those three takeaways before halftime.
“The vibe around the locker room is everybody showing love and they got our backs and you go through tough things,” Purdy said. “We’re all in this together. So, love our locker room, love our team, and we’re good.”
Here are 10 things that caught my eye:
Purdy did not require a major pep talk amid his interception spree, nor did he get one, and Christian McCaffrey said anything of the sort would be disrespectful to a professional after obvious gaffes.
“If I have a drop and somebody says ‘Catch the ball,’ it makes you want to knock them out,” said McCaffrey. “There’s really nothing to say. You just keep on playing. It’s a long game. You don’t say anything to him.”
Added center Jake Brendel: “The guy’s been level-headed his entire career. He’s not young now, but I played with him when he was young and he was super stoic when he was a rookie. I’m not expecting him to freak out and go in the tank. And he knows we’ll have his back.”
Purdy said there wasn’t a specific pick-me-up offered by teammates other than George Kittle advising to keep ripping passes, and Purdy indeed found Kittle for a game-long, 25-yard reception after the three picks.
No, Shanahan said, he did not consider pulling Purdy after the three interceptions and sending in Mac Jones, who went 5-3 in the starting role while Purdy was out with a toe injury (an appendage Purdy insisted is fine and not impacting his ability to drive the ball.)
This quote from Purdy, about his confidence, is a credo for any quarterback, and worth pointing out in light of the Panthers’ Bryce Young cracking Monday night and Shedeur Sanders’ first home start upcoming in Cleveland on Sunday: “You feel a little bit of pressure and stuff, but this is why we’re put in this position. I can handle this,” Purdy said. “As a quarterback, you can’t lose confidence in yourself. You can’t shrivel back and then all of a sudden take a bunch of checkdowns and stuff. You still have to read the play out and stay aggressive and be better. You’ve got to learn from your mistakes too.”
On the horizon in the 49ers’ final two home games are No. 1 overall picks the past two drafts: Cam Ward (Titans, Dec. 14) and Caleb Williams (Bears, Dec. 28).
Ji’Ayir Brown entered with four interceptions, including one off Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. His only one last season came Oct. 27 against Dallas. How did he pull of Monday’s daily double?
“Seeing Bryce looking down the middle of the field, it looked like he’d scramble at first, then stopped, so I read his eyes and jumped it,” Brown said. “The second one, same thing, just reading his eyes. It was tight coverage by Renardo Green, I jumped in front of that and made a play for the team.”
Brown had 10 interceptions in 35 games at Penn State, enticing the 49ers to grab him with their top 2023 draft pick, albeit in the third round.
“Big ups to Tig’. Very proud of him,” Jauan Jennings said of his locker-mate. “We want more for him, because that’s what it’s about, a guy making a name for himself.”
Defensive end Sam Okuayinonu delivered an inspiring message Saturday night to teammates, perhaps culling from his prime-time performance last season in which he had a sack and three quarterback hits in defeating Dallas.
“Sam O. spoke about opportunity and a lot of guys felt that story,” Brown said. “Tonight was a night to have an opportunity to show the world what the 49ers’ defense is, you know, being down some of our best players. The guys did a great job doing that tonight.”
McCaffrey might do something no one has ever done: lead the NFL in both carries and receptions. His 217 carries are 12 more than the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor (one less game), and his 81 receptions are one more than the NFC West’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks), Puka Nacua (Rams) and Trey McBride (Cardinals). McCaffrey’s 12-yard touchdown run marked his 12th touchdown this season, tying for the league’s third most.
An obvious storyline was McCaffrey behind extra motivated to face a Panthers team that traded him three years ago, but, if you know him like we think you do since his Stanford days, he’s All-Pro Intense no matter the opponent. “That’s a completely new team than when I was there, so it’s really just business once the ball is snapped,” McCaffrey said.
When the NFL issues discipline for late-game transgressions, Jauan Jennings’ fine ought not to be greater than that doled out to the Panthers’ Tre’Von Moehrig, who seemingly could even draw a suspension for punching his left hand into Jennings’ groin area after a McCaffrey run with 2 ½ minutes remaining. That explained why Jennings went after Moehrig after the game and was pulled away by Panthers linebacker Krys Barnes.
Shanahan called it “a cheap shot” and was proud of Jennings’ initial restraint. As for the postgame scene, “I was just responding, to me, some childish behavior,” Jennings said. “That was just out of nowhere. It’s probably the history of me playing ball. I play hard. I’m physically stronger than a lot of DBs.” Moehrig told reporters Jennings had been “talking crazy” after plays and pushed him in the back.
Neither Moehrig nor Jennings drew a penalty during the game. The 49ers got penalized twice: unnecessary roughness on Jordan Elliott on a point-after kick (that the Panthers made, then took away the point to try in vain for a 2-point conversion), and a delay-of-game call on a three-and-out series in the fourth quarter. The 49ers were penalized only once their previous game.
Of the Panthers’ four penalties, two were for holding Bryce Huff and another was for intentional grounding, reflecting well on a 49ers pass rush that officially had just one sack (by Clelin Ferrell).
Curtis Robinson said he needs to tackle better after notching just three in his first career start at middle linebacker, in place of the injured Fred Warner and Tatum Bethune. A year ago, however, Robinson was coming off reconstructive knee surgery after an ACL tear just days before he would have replaced Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles in the lineup.
Robinson said of Monday’s starting debut: “It meant the world to me. It’s been really difficult. I mentioned this to the defense last night. It’s been really difficult this whole week for me not to really reflect on the whole journey and just keep it about the team, keep it about the defense. It was a huge moment for me. And so to be able to come out the other side with a huge win on Monday night and finally be able to reflect on, you know, how long it’s been and what I had to go through to get here. I’m grateful more than I could ever explain.”
Still, neighMcCaffrey nor any 49ers’ rusher has busted a run longer than 20 yards. “There’s a lot of things schematically we tried tonight that we were one block off or two steps from springing a pretty big play,” center Jake Brendel said. “We just have to get in the film, get that stuff corrected.”
Brendel complimented the Panthers’ “stout” defensive front before noting that the 49ers felt they “left a lot of yards out there.” Kittle, on ESPN’s postgame show, echoed that frustration and said the 49ers should be scoring 30 points routinely.
Purdy was not sacked Monday. The 49ers have allowed just one sack the past three games and 19 all season (eighth fewest in the NFL). They’ll get Tuesday off before their next challenge: win in Cleveland for the first time since 1984, after losing their past four visits.
Sunday they’ll oppose the Browns’ Myles Garrett, who has 18 sacks on his own (27 quarterback hits). Cleveland has collected 42 sacks in all, seven shy of the Broncos’ NFL lead. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins has 6 ½ sacks, after totaling five last year for the 49ers before his March release.
“We have to heal up and make sure everyone is ready to go,” Brendel said. “Yeah it’s a short week but nothing we haven’t done before. We just have to get in here and install the game plan and make sure everyone is recovered physically.”
The only injury reported postgame: Okuayinonu’s ankle, from which he briefly returned.
The NFC playoff picture: The 49ers remain in the seventh and final spot. However, their 8-2 record in conference games is unmatched. The No. 1 Rams are 9-2 with a 4-2 NFC mark, which could come into play regarding tiebreakers.