The Cincinnati Bengals have now ripped off three straight wins with the latest arguably the most impressive. Zac Taylor's club was able to travel across the country and upset the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium, 31-17.
It was a pristine day for Joe Burrow, who looks the healthiest he's been all season coming off of the Week 7 bye. He was sharp early and led the Bengals on back-to-back touchdown drives to build up an early lead and at one point completed a career-high 19 straight passes. He finished his day 28 of 32 passing for 283 yards and three touchdowns. The quarterback -- who had dealt with a calf injury dating to the summer -- was also spry with his legs, rushing for 43 yards on the day.
As for the 49ers, they have now dropped three consecutive games. It was a rare turnover-filled afternoon for Brock Purdy, who had two interceptions and a fumble. The last pick proved to be a key turning point in the loss as the Bengals were able to extend their lead to two scores immediately following his errant throw that was snagged by Logan Wilson. One play after that interception, Burrow connected with Ja'Marr Chase -- who had 10 catches for 100 yards in the win -- for a dagger 17-yard touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
Purdy completed 22 of his 31 passes for 365 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. He also rushed for 57 yards and had that lost fumble. George Kittle was his go-to target, catching nine of his 11 targets for 149 yards. Christian McCaffrey rushed for 54 yards and tied the NFL record with 17 consecutive games with a touchdown as he ran for a goal-line score in the first half, albeit in the losing effort.
For more on this game, check out our takeaways below.
Cincinnati is starting to look like the team that we've come to know under Joe Burrow in recent seasons, and that's largely because the quarterback's health is moving in a positive direction in recent weeks. Coming off the bye, Burrow looks the healthiest he's been all season and was extremely efficient, completing 87.5% of his passes in the win. He had an answer for anything that the 49ers defense was throwing his way and picked the secondary apart. The offense also carried the baton nicely from the defense which was able to create several turnovers. While Burrow was easing his way down the field, the defense for Cincinnati is what really shined in the second half, forcing three key turnovers. The two interceptions were massive swings in the winning effort and kept San Francisco at an arm's length en route to the upset. The Bengals also played a rather clean game with just one penalty.
San Francisco seemed to lack energy at times in this game, particularly on offense. While the Bengals began this game with back-to-back scoring drives, the Niners sandwiched their lone touchdown drive of the first half with three-and-outs. That inability to string scoring drives together found themselves in a hole at the half, and then three second-half turnovers by Brock Purdy helped put the game away in favor of Cincinnati. Purdy's two interceptions were especially troubling because they either helped the Bengals put points off the board or took a scoring opportunity away for his offense. Defensively, the 49ers had trouble containing Joe Burrow, who seemed to pick them apart throughout the afternoon and never really seemed super disrupted even when he was sacked three times.
The key swing was Purdy's interceptions, which came on back-to-back throws in the second half. The second-year quarterback had helped bring the Niners offense all the way to the Cincinnati 8-yard line when he rolled out to his right and tried to loft a pass to Elijah Mitchell for what would have been a touchdown and tied the game at 17 had they completed the play. However, Purdy's throw was a bit late, which allowed Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt to tip the ball and pick it off, eliminating the scoring opportunity altogether.
On the the very next 49ers offensive possession, Purdy was again picked off by Logan Wilson, which gave the ball back to Cincinnati inside the red zone, which they cashed in on one play later with Burrow throwing a touchdown to Chase to go up by two scores.
This wasn't a herculean effort, but Christian McCaffrey's goal-line touchdown in the first quarter was historic. The 49ers running back tied former Baltimore Colts running back Lenny Moore for the all-time NFL record with 17 straight games with a touchdown (including playoffs). McCaffrey surpassed Hall of Famers John Riggins and O.J. Simpson last week and will have an opportunity to break the record in Week 10 when San Francisco travels down to Jacksonville for a game against the Jaguars.
From here, the Bengals will head back to Cincinnati and gear up for a "Sunday Night Football" matchup with the Buffalo Bills. As for the Niners, they'll be able to do some self-scouting while on the Week 9 bye.
And that'll do it. The Bengals rip off three straight wins to get above .500 and make a statement with an upset win over the 49ers. As for San Francisco, they have reached rock bottom going into the bye, losing three consecutive games. The break may come at a good time as Kyle Shanahan can self-scout and fix his team's skid.
The dagger in Santa Clara. Joe Mixon blows this game wide open with a five-yard touchdown run to make it 31-17 for Cincinnati. That concludes a 10-play, 78-yard drive that chewed over five minutes of clock and extended the lead. A backbreaker.
This is Ja'Marr Chase's fifth career game with 10 receptions, 100 receiving yards, and a touchdown reception. That's tied for the most such games in the first three seasons of a career all-time.
That's a remarkable throw by Joe Burrow to hit Chase perfectly on the sideline for him to tap both feet in to move the chains. The clock keeps ticking in favor of Cincinnati.
Christian McCaffrey keeps the Niners in this game with a touchdown reception from Purdy. The 49ers quarterback hasn't been stellar in this second half, but he has performed well on the run including that TD to CMC.
That's the third catch for Aiyuk that has gone for over 20 yards.
Not a trend 49ers fans want to see: Brock Purdy has two passing touchdowns and seven interceptions in the second half when tied or trailing in his career.
Brock Purdy now has back-to-back games with two or more interceptions. He had zero such games in his career prior to last week.
And then the follow-up score by Chase one play later.
Great interception by Logan Wilson
The defense is OWNING this second half. Another turnover! Brock Purdy is picked off on his second consecutive throw. The Bengals quickly answer for a Joe Burrow touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase to go up by two scores. That could be the dagger with 13:04 to play in the game.
Monster call in favor of Cincinnati. The Chase fumble was ruled an incomplete pass, which allowed them to punt the ball away. Roughly a 25-yard swing in field position. The 49ers would have had the ball at midfield and now will begin at their own 25-yard line.
Back-to-back monumental turnovers. Cincinnati had an opportunity to really bleed clock and possibly go up by two scores had they converted a third-and-7 from the San Francisco 45-yard line. However, Ward forces a fumble off of Chase to give the Niners the ball back at midfield. This will get looked at to see if Chase had full possession. If he didn't this would result in an incomplete. Huge call coming up.
Oh my goodness. What an incredible interception by Pratt. Purdy was trying to loft the ball to Mitchell for what would have absolutely been a touchdown and Pratt got his hand in to record the pick. A monster swing that eliminates a scoring drive for San Francisco.
That's an iffy first-down call on the direct snap to Juszczyk. If I were Zac Taylor, I would have challenged that. Seemed awfully close.
Another catch and another chunk play for Aiyuk. Whenever San Francisco has gone to the wide receiver, it's led to big gains. The play-action has also been helpful to Purdy on a number of those throws.
Monster three-and-out for this 49ers defense. Let's see if Brock Purdy and the offense can get something going to knot things up at 17.
Joe Burrow's 20-yard scramble just tells you how confident he is with his calf at the moment. That's clearly no longer an issue for him, which is a great sign for the Bengals not just for this week but for the weeks ahead.
Joe Burrow's first pass of the second half -- which feel incomplete -- snaps a run of 19 straight completions (a new career high).
Oh boy. Irv Smith coughs up the football and eliminates what would have been a scoring drive for the Bengals right before the half. Brutal.
Joe Burrow has now thrown 18 straight completions, a new career high.
Joe Mixon has been running extremely hard today. He's rushed seven times for 55 yards so far.
The Bengals might have gotten away with a facemask on that scramble by Purdy. Moody connects on the 36-yard field goal to bring the Niners within four of the Bengals. Purdy is making plays with his legs today and leads the team with 43 yards on the ground.
Both of Aiyuk's catches today show the receiver with a tremendous amount of space thanks to his precise route-running. It barely looks like the Bengals were covering him.
Both defenses have been able to get each quarterback off of their spot and have sent them on the run. San Francisco finally gets home with a third-down sack of Burrow, which leads to Evan McPherson missing the 50-yard field goal. Much-needed momentum shift for San Francisco.
According to CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, Trey Hendrickson is questionable to return with a left ankle injury. Added that it was heavily taped.
CBS cameras showed that Hendrickson had his ankle stepped on. Hobbled to the sideline.
