Brock Purdy Takes Responsibility For 49ers' Super Bowl LVIII Loss, But It Was Not Really His Fault

   

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San Francisco 49ers

To his credit, San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy took responsibility for his team's loss in the Super Bowl this past Sunday.

As I mentioned earlier in my review of the game, it actually caught me by surprise that apparently many people blasted Purdy, and felt that he cost the 49ers the game. From my perspective, he played well, and gave the team a very good chance to win. 

Think about it: the 49ers played well early on, when the Chiefs seemed to get off to a very sluggish start, on both sides of the ball. Kansas City's defense was not playing exceptionally well, but it proved to be a case of bending, but not breaking. They indeed seemed to tighten up quite a bit once the 49ers were in serious scoring position, with the exception of that one trick play which resulted in the Christian McCaffrey touchdown. 

Maybe he could have helped the team s core more points, and put more pressure on KC. Again, though, I think you have to credit the Chiefs for tightening up specifically when the Niners seemed to be threatening to score. In the second half, it felt like KC's defense really turned it up several notches, and possibly outplayed the 49ers defense.

Still, to his credit as it showed maturity, Purdy accepted responsibility for the loss:

“When you have a good offense like the Chiefs do, and [know] what Mahomes can do, for us it’s like, ‘Alright, we have to score touchdowns,'" Purdy said after San Francisco's loss to Kansas City. "We had opportunities to do that, I think. We shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and operations, and stuff. I got to be better in terms of leading the guys and how I handle things in the huddle, and telling them what to expect -- stuff like that. At the end of the day, we have the team [and] the offense to score touchdowns and I think I failed to put our team in position to do that.”

He continued:

“The first thing that comes to mind is: When you have an opportunity like we did to really put some points up on them and take it -- you got to take it, man,” Purdy added postgame. “It’s the Super Bowl, a good team in the Chiefs on the other side. We had opportunities to [extend the lead] and we all fell short of it. I think that’s what eats at me. I feel like we could’ve, sort of- we had opportunities, man, to sort of lap them and get up on them, and we failed to do that." 

Still, I actually felt that he played well, and proved to manage that offense quite well. It felt to me from the get go that Purdy was helping his team and giving them a very good chance to win in a tight game. Perhaps the 49ers could have scored more points at times when they got into scoring position. But Purdy also got them into scoring position, and KC's defenders really did step up, applying serious pressure, often rushing Purdy and getting in his face, forcing him to release early. It broke his rhythm on some level, but again, that's not so much on Purdy but to the credit of the Chiefs and their defense.

Yet despite that, the 49ers took the lead three different times in the fourth quarter, and took a lead in overtime. That's not bad. He did not make some glaring mistake that really cost his team. And the fact that so many high profile quarterbacks to defend his performance - including Drew Brees, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Joe Montana - makes it feel like this loss really does not fall on his shoulders. 

Purdy takes ownership of 49ers' Super Bowl LVIII loss to Chiefs By Joaquin Ruiz • Published February 11, 2024 • Updated on February 11, 2024

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/brock-purdy-ownership-loss-super-bowl-lviii-chiefs/1702228/