Red zone woes continued for the San Francisco 49ers in their Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Turnovers will be the highlighted factor for why they fumbled away this game, but it is the failure to score touchdowns in the red zone that did the 49ers in. Yes, Christian McCaffrey’s absence plays a role in the 49ers’ inefficiency to finish drives when they get there.
However, this offense has enough talent to come away with more touchdowns than they are putting up. It is not an excuse they can continue to harp on. The red zone woes need to be fixed immediately, which Brock Purdy is taking ownership of.
“Obviously, it starts with me, I’m the guy with the ball. So being aggressive to certain guys and matchups and giving guys chances. So I’ve just got to be hard on myself with that,” said Purdy. “Obviously, you want to be smart and protect the ball, but when we’ve got a matchup and a good look, we’ve got to rip it. And so, I’ve just got to be better and more aggressive down there. And then just collectively as a unit, offensive unit, once we get down there, like all of us, our mindset has to be we’ve got to punch this in. Obviously, we know we can settle for field goal, but we’ve got to hold ourselves to a higher standard and cross the goal line.”
Purdy is once again proving his most underrated trait, and that is accountability. He is absolutely correct in putting himself at the forefront of the red zone woes. He hasn’t been good enough. Every time the 49ers get there, it is like he doesn’t know what to do. He’s lacking conviction.
There were plenty of opportunities where the 49ers could’ve emerged with a touchdown on several of their red zone trips. One example is in the second quarter on second-and-five at the Cardinals’ five-yard line with 7:49 to go. Purdy had George Kittle open running route into the flat to the left side of the field. He needs to hit Kittle in stride to give him a chance to reach for the pylon.
Instead, he throws it behind Kittle which puts him off balance. Kittle would fall to the ground as soon as he caught the ball. A touchdown looked certain since he had a few steps on the nearest defender with three yards needed to get to the end zone.
You have to wonder if Purdy is starting to feel increased pressure on his shoulders. Outside of the red zone, he looks excellent, but when he gets there he sputters. Now, Purdy isn’t the only player at fault for the red zone woes, but as he stated, he is the one with the ball and a leader of the team.
He has to be better. He can’t miss wide-open receivers so much and fail to execute routine throws. The 49ers would’ve won the game if he delivered a better ball to Kittle on that second-down play in the second quarter. Purdy knows he has to be better or the 49ers will continue to be mediocre in the red zone.
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