{"id":403047,"date":"2025-11-25T06:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T06:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/403047\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T06:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T06:53:11","slug":"49ers-panthers-takeaways-christian-mccaffrey-helps-sf-overcome-brock-purdy-ints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/403047\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers-Panthers takeaways: Christian McCaffrey helps SF overcome Brock Purdy INTs"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matt Barrows, Vic Tafur, Joe Person and Alex Valdes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brock Purdy struggled, but Christian McCaffrey didn\u2019t. The do-it-all running back topped 100 yards from scrimmage for the 10th time this season to lead the San Francisco 49ers to a 20-9 victory<\/a> over the Carolina Panthers at Levi\u2019s Stadium on Monday night.<\/p>\n

McCaffrey\u2019s 89 yards rushing and 53 yards receiving helped the 49ers compensate for Purdy\u2019s three interceptions as San Francisco (8-4) kept pace in the tough NFC West.<\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers (6-6) squandered a chance to take the NFC South lead over Tampa Bay (6-5), as Bryce Young threw two interceptions, both picked off by 49ers safety Ji\u2019Ayir Brown.<\/p>\n

Ride the CMC train<\/p>\n

The game plan, well before Purdy threw three interceptions in the first half, was to ride McCaffrey against his former team. The first five plays went to McCaffrey, and he finished with 31 touches on the day. McCaffrey ran 24 times for 89 yards and a touchdown, and he caught seven passes for 53 yards.<\/p>\n

Before the game, McCaffrey said he hadn\u2019t circled the matchup against the Panthers team that traded him to the 49ers in 2022. But he seemed a little extra excited after his 12-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, a play in which he was barely touched as Trent Williams and Jake Brendel cleared the left side. McCaffrey leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,581. \u2014 Vic Tafur, 49ers senior writer<\/p>\n

Luck ran out for Purdy<\/p>\n

Purdy, who saw two bad passes get dropped by Arizona Cardinals defenders last week, wasn\u2019t nearly as lucky in the first half Monday. Three Purdy passes \u2014 the first to Jauan Jennings<\/a>, the next two to Ricky Pearsall \u2014 were snapped up by Panthers defensive backs for interceptions. The second was perhaps the most egregious since Purdy, facing third-and-6 in Panthers territory, had plenty of room to run and pick up the first down. Instead, he saw Pearsall flashing at the goal line but didn\u2019t throw it deep enough or lead Pearsall away from the defender. Instead, cornerback Mike Jackson caught up with the play and made the interception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ball is going to the right spot,\u201d 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told ESPN\u2019s sideline reporter at halftime. \u201cHe just left it a little behind them, and one threw a little bit late. He just has to throw it on time. He\u2019ll make the corrections. He\u2019ll make the throws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Purdy\u2019s passer rating, 133.5 against Arizona, was 48.4 at the half, though he lifted it to 58.5 with short attempts in the second half. He has only one game in which he\u2019s thrown more interceptions: a Christmas night loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, when he threw four. \u2014 Matt Barrows, 49ers senior writer<\/p>\n

SF safeties starred<\/p>\n

Brown and Malik Mustapha might have had their best outings since they became the 49ers\u2019 starting safety duo in Week 8. Mustapha was full of energy early, charging in from the deep safety position to jolt Rico Dowdle on the Panthers\u2019 opening drive. Mustapha also had a big third-down hit inside the 10 later in the first half, one that forced Carolina to settle for a field goal.<\/p>\n

Brown, meanwhile, thwarted another Panthers touchdown early on when he grabbed an ill-advised Young pass in the back of the end zone. Brown got Young again in the fourth quarter, when he fought through contact with Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan for an interception that essentially sealed the game. Mustapha led the 49ers with seven tackles; Brown was third with five. \u2014 Barrows<\/p>\n

Panthers grounded<\/p>\n

So much for that high-flying Panthers\u2019 passing offense. A week after Young broke Cam Newton\u2019s single-game franchise record with 448 passing yards in a win at the Atlanta Falcons, the third-year QB couldn\u2019t get anything going downfield. Young\u2019s 29-yard TD pass to McMillan was the Panthers\u2019 only explosive one of the game. Worse, Young threw a pair of interceptions, including a momentum-killing pick in the end zone when the Panthers had first-and-goal at the 1 on their first offensive possession. Young was 18-of-29 passing for 169 yards and a 60.8 passer rating. \u2014 Joe Person, Panthers senior writer<\/p>\n

Carolina D gets banged up<\/p>\n

The Panthers\u2019 already banged-up defense tried to keep the game close in the first half before wearing down in the second. With the 49ers holding a 15-minute edge in time of possession, the Panthers lost the war of attrition. Cornerback Jaycee Horn, who tied his career high with two interceptions in the first half, didn\u2019t play a snap in the second half and was ruled out with a concussion.<\/p>\n

Corey Thornton, Horn\u2019s replacement, left with an ankle injury in the third quarter and did not return. That meant the Panthers were down to their fourth CB (Chau Smith-Wade) and fourth and fifth linebackers. Carolina already was without both starting LBs, then saw Claudin Cherelus exit in the first half with a concussion. They\u2019d better get healthy in a hurry: The Los Angeles Rams (9-2) visit Charlotte on Sunday. \u2014 Person<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Matt Barrows, Vic Tafur, Joe Person and Alex Valdes Brock Purdy struggled, but Christian McCaffrey didn\u2019t. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":403048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[8996,1232,9005,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-403047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-carolina-panthers","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115609023690153045","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}