Brock Purdy unravels early with three first-half INTs, but 49ers still lead Panthers on strength of defense

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw three interceptions across his team's first four drives against the Carolina Panthers. It's the first time a player has thrown three interceptions on his team's first four offensive drives of a game since Purdy did it on Christmas Day, 2023.

Purdy started off the game well enough as San Francisco marched down the field methodically, covering 72 yards on 15 plays, and Purdy found Jauan Jennings for a 12-yard touchdown. Then things started to fall apart. Deep in his own territory, Purdy tried a deep ball down the middle to Jennings, but the ball came out late and didn't have enough velocity, allowing Jaycee Horn to step in front.

The 49ers defense got a goal-line stand, with Ji'Ayir Brown picking off Bryce Young, but Purdy gave it back again, this time trying for Ricky Pearsall in the end zone. Mike Jackson made the athletic grab.

Purdy completed the unwanted trifecta when Horn undercut a ball intended for Pearsall. Unlike the first two throws, this one was more of a case of Purdy being fooled by the coverage, as the replay below shows: Horn came across the field to earn the takeaway.

Purdy has missed much of the season due to injury. He suffered a "variant of turf toe" as well as a shoulder injury in Week 1 and returned in Week 4 -- only to aggravate the turf toe injury. The 49ers went 5-3 with Mac Jones as the starter, but coach Kyle Shanahan was unequivocal when reinstating Purdy as starter ahead of Week 11.

"We've got a lot of confidence in Brock, and we know Brock will play at a high level too as long as he's healthy."

The second part of that statement hasn't been true, though. Purdy has multiple interceptions in three of his four games this season, and through the first half, he had just one touchdown compared to seven interceptions on throws 15 or more yards downfield.

The 49ers led 10-3 at halftime, making Purdy the first quarterback to lead by at least seven points at halftime despite throwing three first-half interceptions since Ben Roethlisberger in 2018.