49ers’ Brock Purdy is Placing Too Much Pressure on Himself

Six points is all the San Francisco 49ers mustered in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys.

The offense wasn’t clicking as they should against an average Dallas defense. Brock Purdy is at the forefront of that issue. He was struggling mightily in the first half with several inaccurate throws and misreads. It wasn’t looking good at all for the 49ers with Purdy playing subpar.

Thankfully, he bounced back in the second half and looked like the good quarterback he is used to being. Purdy led the 49ers to three straight scoring drives coming out of halftime. He was clicking the entire game and wasn’t pressing like he was in the first half.

“Definitely had some missed opportunities,” said Purdy. “Obviously for big plays, but just completions in general in that first half, especially on third downs. And so for me, I was just being real with myself and knew that I had to be better, especially for our team. Defense was doing a great job in that first half and for us I feel like we just stalled on third downs and a lot of that was on me.

“Went in at halftime, just talked about our plan for the second half and from my mindset, it was like ‘I’ve got to get back to basics and just keep things simple in my mind and still playing with conviction but being aggressive and just trusting in my guys.’ And so, that was the mindset. I thought we went out and for the most part executed a lot better.”

This is an incredible answer from Purdy. Seeing how much he holds himself accountable for his lowly performance is amazing. But what really makes this answer incredible is how revealing it was. It sounds like Purdy is placing too much pressure on himself.

That is probably why he is holding onto the ball for way too long. He’s trying to look for those intermediate-to-deep shots. He leads the league in throws to the intermediate part of the field. He also leads the league in passes past the sticks, so Purdy is trying to make the splash plays.

However, what made the 49ers click in the second half was the short passes. Purdy took those options instead of pressing for the longer down-the-field ones. He allowed his skilled players to make something happen with the ball in their hands. It is part of why the 49ers are last in the league in yards after the catch.

Purdy isn’t trying to get the ball in his receiver’s hands and let them work. He is trying to go for that chunk play instead. He was able to reassess and pivot to trusting in his teammates, which is what he acknowledged. You have to wonder if he is placing that pressure because Christian McCaffrey is out.

McCaffrey has been a part of every start with Purdy, so with him out, Purdy is trying to compensate by being that chain mover with downfield throws. But he needs to stop doing too much and be himself. Continue to use the short area, then look for a chunk play on occasion. It is why he was so good last season.

Perhaps this is the game that will get Purdy to play consistently again moving forward. He doesn’t need to shoulder the burden. He has great players around him. Utilize them and play like yourself again so that the offense can return to its high-level form.