What Purdy and Bosa learned about the 49ers after missing the playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Not many things went right for the 49ers during the 2024 NFL season, and that domino effect resulted in San Francisco being eliminated from playoff contention before the team played a game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
After their 29-17 defeat At Hard Rock Stadium, which left the 49ers with a 6-9 record on the year, quarterback Brock Purdy and defensive end Nick Bosa told reporters what they learned about their team during a rare down year.
“It’s a little difficult,” Purdy said. “We’ll really see after the season, just the theme of each game and all that kind of stuff, where we need to be better and stuff. But off the top of my head, it just hasn’t been clean football at all.” areas. I feel like we’re hurting ourselves offensively, and then when the defense stops, we have to take advantage of it last year, we did very well, the last two years, and we played team football for four quarters and I felt like we were pretty dominant. (last year).
“So this year, everything has been unpredictable, and the momentum as a whole team and as a unit has been good. And that depends a lot on me for our offense. I have to get our guys going and be on top.” things, and definitely learn that. But more than anything, it’s like we have a really good team and we have good players and a lot of the guys central to what we’ve done the last few years, and that’s what hurts. “You’ve got that type of guys and culture here, and we just haven’t been able to get it done in some games.”
has been a Up-and-down season for Purdy and the 49ers offense, but mostly down. After bursting onto the scene in 2022, then breaking records and earning NFL MVP votes in his first full season as San Francisco’s starting quarterback in 2023, things haven’t been as easy for the 24-year-old. years in 2024.
Brock Purdy has started 40 games for the #49ers in the regular season and playoffs (excluding the 2022 NFC title game, when he injured his elbow). Here’s the breakdown of 1st 20 vs. 2nd 20:
Passer rating: 116.6 to 93.6
Yards/att: 9.6 to 8.1
TD-INT: 39-9 to 26-15
Record: 17-3 to 10-10—Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 23, 2024
In Sunday’s loss to the DolphinsWhich was one of his best performances this year, Purdy completed 65 percent (26 of 40) of his pass attempts for 313 yards and a touchdown with one interception and a passer rating of 95.1. On the season, Purdy has compiled a passer rating of 94.4, which ranks 15th in the NFL.
But amid injuries to star offensive weapons, including Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey, the offense has struggled to put up the same numbers as in 2023, averaging more than 30 fewer yards per game this season (365.1 ) than last year (396.2). Combine that with San Francisco’s defensive woes in 2024, and it’s been a recipe for a non-postseason campaign.
The struggles of this season have taught Bosa to appreciate when the team is completely healthy and performing well, like in previous years.
“I have learned that this league is very tough, we have been at the top for a long time and sometimes things don’t go the way you want,” Bosa told reporters. “And a lot of that is because of what we’ve done, obviously, but we just have to appreciate playing this game. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever played a game where we didn’t really have a chance.” in the playoffs, so it was a different feeling (today), but it’s always a blessing to be on the field and be a part of the Niners.”
The 49ers still have pride of play entering the final two games of the 2024 season. And heading into the 2025 campaign, there are certainly plenty of lessons from this season that they can take advantage of.