SI:AM | The Niners Have Serious Problems

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Fortunately, I didn’t have to see the sloppy Jets-Giants game for myself on TV—listening to it on radio, driving home from a wedding was misery enough.

In today’s SI:AM:

⛏️ The Niners’ QB problem

???? Duke’s big recruiting win

⚾ Scherzer vs. Pfaadt

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Brock Purdy turns into a pumpkin

The 49ers are suddenly sputtering.

After losing to the Bengals yesterday at home, 31–17, San Francisco has dropped three in a row to fall to 5–3, behind the Seahawks (5–2) in the NFC West.

One common thread during the losing streak has been the poor play of quarterback Brock Purdy, who threw two back-breaking interceptions yesterday and now has thrown five picks in his last three games.

His first pick yesterday came on a first-and-goal from the Bengals’ 8-yard line with the Niners trailing 17–10. Purdy was trying to find Elijah Mitchell in the flat but failed to recognize Germaine Pratt rushing toward him. Pratt made an athletic play to swat the ball out of the air and catch it. He would have had a pick-six if he hadn’t barely stepped out of bounds.

Purdy’s second pick came on his very next throw. The Niners were on their own 20, and Purdy failed to see linebacker Logan Wilson lurking in an underneath zone. He threw it right to him. (Something went terribly wrong on the play, because Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle were running right next to each other when Purdy threw the ball.) Wilson’s return set Cincinnati up in the red zone, and Joe Burrow threw a touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase on the next play.

Purdy’s poor play raises questions about just how far this Niners team can go, Gilberto Manzano writes:

It’s probably not a coincidence that Purdy has struggled without Deebo Samuel, who injured his shoulder in the Week 6 loss to the Browns. Purdy probably will bounce back when Samuel returns to the field, but it’s concerning that Purdy has struggled this much without a complete offense. The 49ers traded Trey Lance in the summer because they were confident Purdy was the right QB to guide them to a Super Bowl. Now they might have doubts with how many misfires and turnovers Purdy has had lately.

Part of the problem, Manzano adds, is that the San Francisco defense hasn’t lived up to its reputation during this losing streak. In his limited time as a starter, Purdy’s strength has been limiting mistakes, allowing the defense to carry the Niners to victory. But the defense allowed 160 rushing yards (its most of the season) in the Week 6 loss to a Browns team that struggled to move the ball through the air with PJ Walker at quarterback. Last week against the Vikings, the Niners allowed 452 total yards, their most of the season. This week, they allowed 400.

The Niners allowed more than 350 total yards only twice last season (in a loss to the Chiefs and an overtime win over the Raiders). San Francisco might have survived these lackluster defensive performances if they hadn’t also coincided with the first two multi-interception games of Purdy’s NFL career.

Let’s not discount the Bengals’ role in yesterday’s game, though. After stumbling to a 1–3 start, Cincinnati has now won three in a row to improve to 4–3 and keep pace in a tight AFC North race. Winning on the road against a team that entered the year as a top Super Bowl contender is just what the Bengals needed to give them a boost of confidence as they begin a difficult five-game stretch that includes games against the Bills, Ravens, Steelers and Jaguars.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Duke landed the No. 1 recruit in men’s college basketball this morning. Kevin Sweeney explains what it means for Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer’s reputation.
• Tom Verducci previews the World Series Game 3 pitching matchup between an all-time great and a rookie.
• Emma Baccellieri wrote about another significant factor in this World Series: the Diamondbacks’ willingness to lay down sacrifice bunts.
• Key injuries in yesterday’s games solidified which teams should be sellers at tomorrow’s NFL trade deadline, Conor Orr writes.
• Kirk Cousins is reportedly out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
• Playing an away game at their home stadium caused some confusion for one Jets player. 
• Former NHL player Adam Johnson died after a freak accident in a game in England.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Tua Tagovailoa’s 42-yard touchdown bomb to Tyreek Hill.

4. The Commanders’ stopping the Eagles’ tush push on the goal line.

3. Matthew Stafford’s touchdown catch with an injured thumb.

2. Stephen Curry dribbling circles around Dillon Brooks.

1. The bonkers ending to the Johns Hopkins football team’s game to remain undefeated.

SIQ

Tom Lensch, a quarterback at NAIA Dana College, set the all-division college football record for pass attempts in a game on this day in 2004. How many times did he throw?

• 77
• 89
• 96
• 101

Friday’s SIQ: Which fielder recorded the final putout in Game 4 of the World Series on Oct. 27, 2004, when the Red Sox clinched their first championship in 86 years?

• Bill Mueller
• David Ortiz
• Johnny Damon
• Doug Mientkiewicz

Answer: Doug Mientkiewicz. The Cardinals were the home team, which meant, at the time, that there was no DH. So David Ortiz started the game at first base, but Mientkiewicz came on in the bottom of the seventh inning as a defensive replacement.

The final out came when Keith Foulke got Edgar Rentería to hit a chopper back to the mound. Foulke tossed the ball to Mientkiewicz at first for the title-clinching 27th out.

What happened next became a major controversy in Boston. Mientkiewicz told ESPN in 2011 that when his wife joined him on the field about 20 minutes after the game ended, she realized Mientkiewicz still had the ball in his glove. He stuck it in her purse. The next day, MLB authenticated the baseball, but Mientkiewicz maintains that neither the league representative who handled the authentication nor Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, who was also in the room, asked for the ball. A couple of months later, Mientkiewicz joked in an interview with a Boston Globe reporter that selling the ball could put his kids through college.

While Mientkiewicz wasn’t serious, the wisecrack helped turn the ball’s fate into a national news story. The Red Sox even sued Mientkiewicz before the two sides agreed that it would be sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

In an interview earlier this year, Mientkiewicz said he refused to wear his World Series ring for two years and that the final straw was Lucchino shooting down Mientkiewicz’s suggestion that the ball be placed in the Fenway Hall of Fame, with a portion of ticket sales being donated to a local cancer charity.

“I go, ‘Well, why don’t you put a dollar to every ticket you sell to go to the Jimmy Fund in honor of the players?’” Mientkiewicz recalled. “His exact quote to me was, ‘Players don’t tell us what to do with our money.’ I was like, ‘Okay, motherf---er. You ain’t f---ing getting it then.’ And then I became the villain.”