Instant analysis of 49ers’ 20-9 win despite Panthers’ three interceptions of Purdy

SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy threw an opening-drive touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings, duping all into thinking this “Monday Night Football” affair would be a Brock-Is-Back showcase and a 49ers blowout.

Then Purdy got intercepted on the 49ers’ next drive. And the next. And the next.

The 49ers overcame that Thanksgiving Week generosity and toppled the Carolina Panthers 20-9, thanks largely to defensive heroics that included two interceptions by safety Ji’Ayir Brown.

Then again, the win wasn’t secured until Purdy converted a fourth-and-1 sneak at midfield so the 49ers could kill the final two minutes.

The playoff-stalking 49ers (8-4) have won two consecutive games for the first time since their 3-0 start to this topsy-turvy, injury-laden season. Next comes their penultimate road game, a Sunday visit to Cleveland against the Browns (3-8) and rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who’ll make his first home start after winning Sunday 24-10 in Las Vegas against the Raiders.

Not only did the Panthers (6-6) fail to capitalize more on their interception hat trick, they lost four players to injury by the fourth quarter, including star cornerback Jaycee Horn to a concussion after his second interception.

When Brown notched his second interception 6 1/2 minutes remained, and it produced celebratory cheers from throughout the 49ers’ embattled defense, including luxury-suite claps from injured stars Fred Warner and Nick Bosa.

“It felt like his best game as a Niner,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of Brown. “Those two picks were huge and made a number of big tackles, too.”

Even with Purdy getting intercepted on three consecutive drives, the 49ers owned a 10-3 halftime lead thanks to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit. Brown made his first interception in the end zone and later combined with fellow safety Malik Mustapha on a third-and-goal stop, which forced the Panthers to settle for a 25-yard field goal.

Shanahan tempered any disgust over Purdy’s first-half picks by hailing his decision-making: “Brock was fine. Just made three throws he’d like to take back. … I’m more hesitant if they’re bad decisions. They’re all good decisions and he just missed the throws.”

While Shanahan’s critique focused on Purdy’s timing, there was no mention of his quarterback’s right big toe, which kept him out six straight games before last Sunday’s triumphant, turnover-free return at Arizona. Purdy finished 23-of-32 for 193 yards with the one touchdown pass and three interceptions.

“There’s no narrative to a late throw. You’re just late,” Shanahan added. “He was a little behind on all three, and all three of those corners made him pay.”

Purdy aside, the 49ers’ offense still revolves around Christian McCaffrey. In his first game against the Panthers since they traded him here three years, he scored on a 12-yard run as the 49ers’ lead swelled to 17-3 in the third quarter. It was his seventh touchdown run in the past seven games, and he produced over 100 scrimmage yards for the 10th game this season.

McCaffrey finished with 89 rushing yards (24 carries) and 53 receiving yards (seven catches). George Kittle had a team-high 78 receiving yards.

The 49ers’ defense played so stoutly that the Panthers totaled just 230 yards, including 169 passing yards from Bryce Young. They had their fewest first-half yards (72) and first downs (three) all season, even without Young getting sacked.

The Panthers eventually found the end zone, however, as Renardo Green surrendered a 29-yard touchdown catch to rookie star Tetairoa McMillan in the third quarter’s final minute. That shaved the 49ers’ lead to 17-9; the Panthers made the point-after kick, but a roughing penalty was called, so they went for a 2-point conversion and failed.

The 49ers recaptured a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter, when they got a second field goal from Matt Gay, who was filling in for the injured Eddy Piñeiro.

Once it was all over, 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings mixed it up with Tre’Von Moehrig before teammates separated them; the former Raider Moehrig previously appeared to hit Jennings in the groin on a block late in the game.

For Purdy, this wasn’t the first “Monday Night Football” game in which he had three passes intercepted by halftime. That happened before in a 2023 Christmas loss to Baltimore, which intercepted him four times.

The only other game Purdy had three passes intercepted was last season’s October loss to Kansas City, in which Brandon Aiyuk sustained a knee injury that has led to the wide receiver’s darkening future with the 49ers, as reflected by last week’s revelation of the 49ers voiding $27 million in 2026 guarantees.

Monday’s game opened with a 15-play, 72-yard drive that culminated in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Jennings, who broke three tackles at the 5-yard line. Gay made the point-after kick for a 7-0 lead that held through Purdy’s first two interceptions.

Now, to recap Purdy’s picks:

Interception No. 1: One snap into the 49ers’ second series, Purdy’s floater from the goal line got intercepted by Horn at the 30-yard line as he cut in front of Jennings. (This turnover would be offset once Brown made his first interception, in the end zone on a well-read play.)

Interception No. 2: This carelessly happened at the goal line to waste a 12-play drive. Purdy scrambled up the pocket, and rather than run into the red zone or pass to an open Kittle a few yards in front of him, the pass went deeper over the middle toward Ricky Pearsall at the goal line, only for Mike Jackson to cut in front and intercept it.

Interception No. 3: Purdy attempted another over-the-middle target for Pearsall, which Horn undercut to snare at the Panthers’ 45-yard line and return to the 49ers’ 22. That turnover led to the Panthers’ first points, Matt Fitzgerald’s 25-yard field goal following a third-and-goal tackle by Brown and Mustapha for a 3-yard loss.

Purdy, with his interception hat trick, had completed 10 of his other 12 passes to that point. He had no turnovers the previous game, when he returned from a six-game hiatus and passed for 200 yards with three touchdowns in a 41-22 rout at Arizona.

By the way, before the third interception, that drive nearly opened with a different turnover, but Colton McKivitz rescued and recovered McCaffrey’s second fumble of the season.

Purdy didn’t shy away from ripping it. A 25-yard completion to Kittle set up a 47-yard field goal from Gay for a 10-3 lead, but Purdy had two other passes sail near enemy hands, on targets to Kittle and Jennings.

Prior to the game, McCaffrey was greeted in warmups with a hug and encouraging words from 49ers legend Roger Craig, the NFL’s first player to produce 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a season (1985). McCaffrey pulled off that feat with the 2019 Panthers, and he is on pace to do so again this season as the 49ers’ offensive catalyst.

Craig, as ESPN’s broadcast showed, was emotional after that meeting, and he told this newspaper organization of McCaffrey: “He’s the man.” Craig is a three-time Super Bowl champion and dual-threat pioneer who is among nine semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Seniors category.