49ers hope final drive instills confidence in Aiyuk, Jennings despite missed kick
CLEVELAND — Brandon Aiyuk caught Brock Purdy’s quick pass, slanted toward midfield, and raced past four Browns defenders, with a potential game-winning score in his sights.
“I wish,” Aiyuk said in the 49ers’ locker room after Sunday’s 19-17 loss.
Instead, Aiyuk was tackled at the Browns’ 43-yard line for a 25-yard gain, but ensuing receptions by him (8 yards) and Jauan Jennings (9 yards) vaulted the 49ers into field-goal range, or so it seemed until Jake Moody’s 41-yard miss in the final seconds.
“Just a lot of emotions,” Jennings said afterward. “Just us having each other’s back with players going down and others having to step up.
“To get the ball there, to be able to kick a field goal, it meant a lot to us players on the sideline,” Jennings added. “Whether Jake made it or missed it, we were locked in for that moment. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
As off-kilter as the 49ers’ passing attack was Sunday, their final drive fueled hope and re-instilled confidence that Aiyuk and Jennings can carry more of the load in Deebo Samuel’s absence.
Samuel left with a shoulder injury in the first quarter that will require further testing and recovery. Meanwhile, Brock Purdy struggled against the Browns’ suffocating defense – from a strong pass rush to their sticky man-to-man coverage.
Then, with 100 seconds remaining, Purdy and the 49ers got the ball for a final comeback bid.
“I’ll say we had a chance to win at the end,” Aiyuk said, “and we just didn’t capitalize, even though we should never have let it come down to the end.”
Aiyuk caught just 4-of-10 targets. His only reception in the first half was a 33-yarder on an eventual field-goal drive for a 10-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, Purdy and Aiyuk connected on only 1-of-4 targets until that aforementioned 25-yard connection.
Their mindset?
“Just put one drive together, despite what happened throughout the course of the game,” Aiyuk said. “Brock’s always pretty steady. We just didn’t capitalize. We didn’t play the football we know how to up until the end there, and it was too late.”
The 49ers (5-1) must stew more than a week until their next game, which comes Monday night at the Minnesota Vikings (2-4).
Jennings had just two receptions Sunday. The first was a 17-yarder to the Browns’ 32 on a second-quarter drive that stalled because of a delay-of-game penalty, a sack and two incompletions targeting tight ends Ross Dwelley and George Kittle. Jennings’ second catch was more of his signature variety, as his 9-yard reception converted a third-and-2 situation to the Browns’ 26 with 45 seconds remaining.
“Those type of losses, they teach you a lot about your team,” Jennings said. “This team didn’t flinch when he missed. I don’t think we’ll ever flinch.”
Jennings and Aiyuk are willing targets if the 49ers must forge ahead for a bit without Samuel. And Kittle, after a three-touchdown game, should come away with more than the lone 1-yard catch he had Sunday.
Ray-Ray McCloud saw more reps in place of Samuel and played 41 of 62 snaps, but he wasn’t targeted, other than taking two end-around runs for 23 yards. Also ignored was rookie Ronnie Bell, who played just one offensive snap.
Purdy finally found a rhythm in the clutch with Aiyuk and Jennings, saying a “sense of urgency” aided the connections.
“We got up to the ball and we just ran some plays that we all were comfortable with, just get the ball to the playmakers and get it in their hands,” he said.
“B.A. did a great job of creating separation, getting some space, making guys miss, just the tempo, you know, focus,” Purdy added. “But the plays and stuff that we had drawn up earlier in the game and stuff, they’re there, and so that’s something I have to look myself in the mirror and be better at and make the throws.”
Purdy’s first interception since New Year’s Day – a streak spanning 248 passes – came when he targeted Aiyuk, and Purdy took the blame for what he called “a bad ball on my end.”