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How Brock Purdy’s scrambles ‘hurt’ 49ers in Week 5 loss to Cardinals – NBC Sports Bay Area and California
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How Brock Purdy’s scrambles ‘hurt’ 49ers in Week 5 loss to Cardinals – NBC Sports Bay Area and California

SANTA CLARA – In the 49ers’ 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, Brock Purdy again showed his ability to evade defenders, but coach Kyle Shanahan explained that can disrupt the timing of the attack on some plays.

The 49ers coach spoke to local media via conference call on Monday and shared that while extending playing time can be very beneficial to the team, there is a fine line where the timing of the game can go haywire and the result may be detrimental.

“Yes, always,” Shanahan said. “That’s why you try to hide it when those things happen, good or bad. Last week I thought it really helped and he played with it a few times, but I think I also said last week there were a few where it hurt us.

In the 49ers’ Week 4 win over the New England Patriots, Purdy completed two of his four attempts for 27 yards as he scrambled out of the tackle box, according to ProFootballFocus. Purdy also scrambled twice for 12 yards, both for first downs.

There were two occasions on Sunday when Purdy scrambled, ending in a crucial loss of distance.

“There’s always good and bad in both things,” Shanahan said. ‘You hope that the good outweighs the bad, and it does. But there were a few in particular, that sack on second-and-14, that were difficult to overcome.

On Sunday, Purdy completed two of his four attempts for 12 yards after clambering out of the tackle box, but he was also sacked twice. The first sack occurred on the 49ers’ second drive, when the offense occurred at the Cardinals’ 6-yard line, in a third-and-goal situation.

The play error pushed the team back to the 10-yard line where Jake Moody kicked a successful field goal.

Purdy scrambled four times for 33 yards during the game; three of which resulted in first downs to keep drives alive. However, the quarterback sack Shanahan was referring to was a mistake that could have changed the outcome of the game.

Purdy’s second sack came while scrambling on the second drive of the third quarter, again in the red zone. It was a second-and-14 situation and Purdy was fouled out for a loss of nine yards.

The sack pushed the offense back to the 27-yard line and out of field goal range for punter Mitch Wishnowsky, who had taken over kicking duties from Moody who left the game before halftime with an ankle injury.

There were several mistakes across the board in the game, but losing the chance to make a field goal in the third quarter was a mistake the 49ers couldn’t overcome.

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