Purdy Struggles as Browns Down 49ers

49er QB Brock Purdy, last year's Mr. Irrelevant, came into the game having not lost a start that he played from beginning to finish. That was until this weekend, when he struggled in the rainy conditions without number 1 WR Deebo Samuel. Purdy completed less than half of his passes, going 12/27 on the day with 125 yards, a touchdown, and an interception to go with it; his first interception of the season. Purdy was under duress all game from the great Browns defensive front. Getting sacked three times and hit six times, the Browns showed Purdue many looks, causing a lot of disruption in the pocket. Cleveland did a fantastic job stopping the run in this game, especially stopping Christian McCaffery before he left in the third quarter due to injury. Holding the 49ers to a season-low in rushing yards with 108, Cleveland did the best any team has so far against this high-powered rushing attack.

Despite Purdy's struggles, this game was close to the end and came down to a missed field goal to decide the victor. The 49ers‘ elite defense also put in an impressive showing. They forced two interceptions off PJ Walker, who struggled in his first start of the year. Walker completed 18/34 passes for 192 yards without throwing for a touchdown. New addition Randy Gregory registered a sack along with reigning defensive player of the year Nick Bosa. San Fran got frequent pressure on PJ Walker throughout the night as they logged 9 QB hits as well.

While playing well for most of the game, the Niner's defense struggled to stop the run in the second half, leading to multiple scores. Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt carried the brunt of the role at running back, rushing for a combined 131 yards out of 160 on the day. Hunt also came up with a touchdown. With the Brown's defense playing out of their mind, the offense managed the clock in the fourth with a seven-minute drive and almost ten minutes of possession time in the quarter. Keeping a struggling offense on the sideline and not allowing them to establish a rhythm late ultimately enabled the Browns to win.

A game that did not see the scoreboard get lit up was still an entertaining matchup: the highest-level defenses going toe to toe with one another to overcome lackluster offensive showings. For San Francisco, once they are healthy, things should come back to form. Until then, the potential absence of McCaffery and Deebo could throw a wrench in their Super Bowl aspirations. Cleveland escapes this one with a much-needed W and will look to continue to build against the Colts next week.