SANTA CLARA – Of all the 49ers experiencing a twisted tale of two seasons, Brock Purdy is under the brightest spotlight, and it’s one that’s illuminated something within him.
“I need to get better and get back to playing with a chip on my shoulder, like it was my first two years, of every game, every down, trying to prove myself that I’m the guy for this team,” Purdy said Thursday.
His next chance comes Sunday when the 49ers (6-8) visit the Miami Dolphins (6-8) at Hard Rock Stadium, where arguably the worst fourth-quarter collapse in Niners history occurred in their last visit, in the 2019 season’s Super Bowl loss to Kansas City.
Purdy was still an Iowa State underdog back then. Last year, in his first full season as the 49ers’ quarterback, he wasn’t able to prevent another fourth-quarter lead from slipping away to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, which ended in an overtime loss.
Purdy’s fourth-quarter stats, from then and now, shine a guiding light on the different fortunes.
In 2023, when Purdy set the franchise record with 4,280 passing yards, he dominated best in the fourth quarter: 61-of-91, 938 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
This season, with a diminished supporting cast and a 6-8 record, his fourth-quarter numbers are similar in one regard (63-of-90) but also in stark contrast (751 yards, three touchdowns, four interceptions).
Purdy attributes that to “a mindset more than anything” when situations have turned bleak. There’s been a lot of bleak, and as much as Purdy believes he’s taken strides as an outspoken leader, he’s questioning his own mentality.
“Finishing” was to be the 49ers’ 2024 mantra. Instead, they blew fourth-quarter leads and lost to the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals in the season’s first month, and all four of the 49ers’ NFC West defeats this season saw them unable to hold a fourth-quarter lead. In last Thursday’s 12-6 loss to the Rams, Purdy got intercepted at the Rams’ goal line with 5:14 remaining, spoiling a drive that already had them in position for a tying field goal.
What’s happened to last season’s NFL MVP finalist and the Pro Bowl-honored quarterback?
“There’ve been moments I was more concerned and consumed with trying to be perfect,” Purdy said, “rather than, ‘Hey man, let’s go compete,’ and show my guys and my teammates I love this game, I’m passionate about it, and I can lead them in any situation.”
Until proven otherwise, the 49ers are serial squanderers of fourth-quarter leads. That’s not simply because of Purdy, who insists his throwing shoulder is healed after it forced him to miss a Nov. 24 blowout loss in Green Bay.
The entire 49ers’ operation has been off this season. “I could sit here and go through a bunch of things from all three phases of our team,” linebacker Fred Warner said, “but like you mentioned, we just haven’t been able to play complementary. When offense needs us to step up, and vice versa, it just hasn’t worked out that way.”
No team in the NFL has been outscored worse in the fourth quarter than the 49ers, at a 125-75 mark. The next-closest disparity belongs to the Titans (minus-47 points) and the Falcons (minus-43). On the flip side are the Eagles (plus-69), the Broncos (plus-62) and the Bills (plus-47).
As Kyle Shanahan has pointed out, last season’s Super Bowl run did not involve close finishes, not with the 49ers winning by double digits in all but one of their 12 regular-season wins. This season, 5-of-6 wins have been by double digits, and 5-of-8 losses have been within one score.
A glaring stat that’s grown worse under Shanahan through his eight seasons: they’re 0-40 when trailing by at least eight points in the fourth quarter.
Still, Purdy powered the 49ers through the fourth quarter of last season’s playoff wins over Green Bay and Detroit. He was 7-of-8 for 49 yards on a go-ahead touchdown drive against the Packers, then he was 5-of-5 for 48 yards (with a 21-yard, third-down scramble) to ice their NFC-clinching comeback over Detroit.
In regular-season action, Purdy has two career fourth-quarter comebacks. Tom Brady (46) and Peyton Manning (41) are atop the NFL record book; Dan Marino, for whom Purdy wears No. 13, registered 33 fourth-quarter comebacks, and Joe Montana’s 26 are the 17th-most in NFL history.
RUNNING BACK ROLODEX
The 49ers are on the verge of starting a fourth different running back, that being Patrick Taylor Jr. Isaac Guerendo’s hamstring and foot injuries have kept him from practicing after the first two starts of his career.
Jordan Mason started the 49ers’ first six games and Christian McCaffrey the next four, then they went on injured reserve with ankle and knee ailments, respectively. Elijah Mitchell, their 2021 rushing leader, was ruled out after the preseason because of a hamstring injury.
The 2020 and ’21 seasons saw the 49ers also require four different starters at running back
Taylor has never started in 44 career games, including 34 the previous three seasons in Green Bay. He has 14 carries for 50 yards, and his lone touchdown came in the 49ers’ Dec. 8 rout of Chicago. The 49ers’ other running back options are Deebo Samuel, Kyle Juszczyk, Israel Abanikanda (a Nov. 29 waiver claim), and Ke’Shawn Vaughn on the practice squad.
DOLPHINS SIMILARITIES
Mike McDaniel is three years into his Dolphins’ coaching tenure after leaving Shanahan’s roost, and their offenses still have similarities, beyond this season’s underachieving overtones.
Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said those similarities include “the ability to move things around, get to two backs, be so multiple, have a lot of speed, and Tua (Tagovailoa) is very good in his timing. … We just have to execute right. Every week is that. When we do execute well, we play better. We’ve got to hit guys. Hopefully they don’t run as fast. We’ll see.”
