After the 49ers' 42-10 win over the Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 5, many were asking just how long San Francisco could remain unbeaten.
The answer? Just seven more days.
The 49ers lost in Week 6 at the hands of the Browns. Cleveland handed San Francisco a 19-17 defeat in a grind-it-out defensive battle that saw Brock Purdy and Co. struggle for the first time all season.
San Francisco unsurprisingly entered the game heavily favored to win the contest. It wasn't just because of the 49ers' romp over the Cowboys. The Browns were set to start PJ Walker at quarterback with Deshaun Watson out and while Cleveland has a good defense, many wondered whether the team's offense would do enough to keep pace with the 49ers.
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So, how did the Browns defeat the 49ers? Here's a breakdown of the key areas, plays and drives that ultimately swung the game in Cleveland's favor.
Christian McCaffery, Deebo Samuel injuries
The Browns' defense did a good job of limiting the 49ers throughout the day, but they did get some help from the injury bug. San Francisco lost both Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey during the game in Cleveland.
Samuel left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. He got treatment in the blue medical tent on the sideline and didn't return to the game before being ruled out at halftime.
McCaffrey suffered an oblique injury in the defeat, but he actually attempted to return to the game. He briefly got on the field after first being deemed questionable to return, but that didn't last. He came out shortly after seeing another snap and went back to the locker room. After that, he was declared out.
Without Samuel and McCaffrey, Purdy and the 49ers looked helpless. Before their final drive in the second half, they had just 21 total yards of offense in the frame. They were only able to score once after halftime, and that touchdown was largely thanks to a PJ Walker interception that set San Francisco up with great field position at the Cleveland 8-yard line.
Overall, the 49ers had just 215 yards of offense and 17 points in the game, both of which were season lows. That can be traced back to the absences of McCaffrey and Samuel as well as the struggles of Brock Purdy.
INJURY UPDATES: Christian McCaffrey | Deebo Samuel
Brock Purdy's worst game as a pro
Purdy may have been shorthanded during the game, but it's hard to ignore just how poorly he played against Cleveland. He struggled against a strong Browns defense and posted his worst game as a 49er while taking his first career regular-season loss.
Purdy completed just 12 of 27 passes for 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception against the Browns. He was inaccurate throughout the day and struggled to connect with Brandon Aiyuk all afternoon, overthrowing his top receiver several times as the San Francisco offense sputtered.
Emerson intercepts Purdy! Browns looking to take the lead
— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2023
📺: #SFvsCLE on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/B4mQvLOt8O pic.twitter.com/nu4pZOKc1v
Purdy never quite looked comfortable without his top weapons available and while under more pressure than usual. That's why the 49ers stalled out so frequently during the contest. It's also why he logged a career-low passer rating of just 55.3 in the loss. Before Sunday, he had never logged a passer rating lower than 87.3 in any of his 13 starts.
Purdy was able to position the 49ers for a potential game-winning kick, but he still made far too many mistakes to guide the team to victory. As such, there's no denying that his struggles played a major part in San Francisco's defeat.
Even so, Kyle Shanahan deflected blame onto himself rather than his young quarterback during his postgame news conference.
"It wasn’t just Brock. It was everybody," Shanahan said. "Everybody had their turn on offense and it starts with me."
MORE: Why Brock Purdy is among the cheapest starting quarterbacks in the NFL
Kyle Shanahan's questionable play-calling
If you need a microcosm of how badly the 49ers offense played on Sunday, you need only look at their penultimate drive. At the time, the team was holding a one-point lead on the Browns with 3:21 left in regulation.
San Francisco's goal should have been to gain yardage and eat some clock — or at least force the Browns to use their remaining timeout. Instead, they used up just 25 seconds and gave the Browns plenty of time with which to mount what turned out to be a game-winning drive.
What happened? Kyle Shanahan got a bit too cute with the play-calling. Rather than running the ball, Shanahan opted to try to pass it with Brock Purdy. The QB was pressured on the first snap and ultimately was whistled for intentional grounding. That put the 49ers behind the chains in a second-and-21 situation.
From there, Shanahan continued to pass the ball in the hopes of getting a first down. Aiyuk managed to gain 10 yards on second down, but he stepped out of bounds, stopping the clock. Then, Purdy fired another incompletion on third down, forcing the 49ers to punt.
Certainly, that series deserves some scrutiny, as the 49ers didn't accomplish any of their goals. The Browns still had timeouts at their disposal and were gifted a chance to mount a go-ahead drive with just under three minutes left in regulation.
That was more than enough time with which to work, as Cleveland managed to complete its go-ahead drive in just 1:16 of game-time.
MORE: Why Brock Purdy has found so much success in Kyle Shanahan's system
Controversial penalties on Browns' go-ahead drive
Of course, it's worth noting that the Browns' drive was aided by a couple of controversial penalty calls. The most notable of the two was an unnecessary roughness penalty called on Tashaun Gipson on the drive's third play.
The Browns were facing a third-and-10 from their own 26-yard line when PJ Walker tossed a pass to Elijah Moore. The ball was a bit high and the third-year wide-out couldn't grab it. However, Gipson hit Moore hard, and the officials called him for hitting a defenseless receiver.
It looked, however, like Gipson had avoided hitting Moore in the head and neck area.
Should this have been a penalty on 49ers DB Tashaun Gipson? pic.twitter.com/qVyWS62FhY
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) October 15, 2023
That call ultimately allowed Cleveland to continue its drive. So, too, did a defensive holding penalty that gifted the Browns another first down. That call was questionable, but it was less consequential since it occurred on a first down.
So, the 49ers have the right to complain at least about the penalty on Gipson. Even so, the 49ers still had a chance to render that play inconsequential.
Jake Moody's missed field goal
Despite their offensive struggles in the second half, the 49ers managed to move the ball 52 yards on nine plays during the two-minute drill. That set rookie kicker Jake Moody up for a potential game-winning field goal.
The 41-yard attempt was set up in the middle of the field; Moody had made a 57-yard field goal earlier in the season, so it was presumed that he would be able to make that kick.
While Moody had the leg needed for the game-winner, it slid just wide to the right of the goalposts.
Jake Moody's kick is NO GOOD ❌
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 15, 2023
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/D8a0Nvn8Oq
MORE: Who is the 49ers kicker? Why San Francisco spent third-round pick on Jake Moody
Many might blame Moody for the defeat, but Shanahan was a bit more charitable in his postgame news conference.
"It's always tough to miss that last kick, but that happens in football," he told reporters. "They played better than us today. And that was the last play, but there was a lot more today than just that."
Indeed, it just wasn't the 49ers' day. They had plenty of issues on offense, some key penalties on defense and one key special teams mistake that swung the game in favor of the Browns.
As such, the 49ers are no longer undefeated. But at 5-1, they are still among the best teams in the NFL. Now, they just need to hope that the injuries to McCaffrey and Samuel aren't too serious so they can continue to make a potential Super Bowl push.
