Sports

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy played a sloppy first half in Monday night's game against the Panthers, but his team still leads 10-3 at the halftime break.

Purdy opened the game by leading a 15-play touchdown drive that ate up nearly nine minutes, but then threw interceptions on each of the team's next three possessions. The 49ers defense had an interception of its own and held the Panthers to one field goal before the 49ers were able to drive for Matt Gay's first field goal since joining the Niners.

The 49ers looked like they might be able to drive for even more points, but Purdy misfired on three straight passes before the 47-yard kick with a minute to play in the first half. Purdy ended the half 14-of-23 for 114 yards while Christian McCaffrey picked up 83 yards on 17 touches.

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young wasn't any better than Purdy in the first 30 minutes. He followed up Purdy's first interception by trying to force a ball to tight end Mitchell Evans in the end zone and 49ers safety Ji'Ayir Brown picked it off to keep the Panthers off the board.

Young finished the half 6-of-10 for 28 yards and, per ESPN, the Panthers are the first team to trail at halftime after a three-interception half since Week 12 of the 2021 season. They'll have a chance to start turning things around when they receive the opening kickoff of the third quarter.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is having a nightmare of a first half, but his team still leads the Panthers.

Purdy has thrown interceptions on three straight drives, including a pair of passes that cornerback Jaycee Horn has picked off. Horn's second one set the Panthers up at the 49ers' 33-yard line and Carolina picked up two first downs before a pass to running back Chuba Hubbard lost three yards on a third down from the 4-yard line.

Ryan Fitzgerald came in for a field goal and the Panthers cut the 49ers' lead to 7-3 with 2:28 left in the first half.

Horn's first interception set the Panthers up in the red zone and they drove the ball to the 1-yard line before quarterback Bryce Young's ill-advised throw to tight end Mitchell Evans was picked off by 49ers safety Ji'Ayir Brown.

After Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Cowboys, during which the Eagles blew a 21-0 lead, Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley said of the opponents, "They wanted it a little more."

Meeting with reporters on Monday, Coach Nick Sirianni was asked about Barkley's perception.

"Obviously, we want to go out and put our best effort out at every point, and I felt like when I watched the tape, I saw the effort sky high on both sides of the ball [and] on special teams," Sirianni said. "Obviously, they went and they got the win. There are always things that factor into it as far as our determination, our effort. I saw that it was high and we all have to be there. I think, like I said, we were. Obviously, Saquon felt something last night and he's got a great pulse for everything. But as you look at the tape — which obviously after the game, we don't have the luxury of looking at the tape before we go in and talk to you guys, but I felt like the effort was really, really high in that game."

Coaches always want to rely on the tape. But the tape is disconnected from the reality. The feeling. The emotion. The momentum.

The Cowboys seized the momentun, and the Eagles couldn't get it back. Analyzing coaching film doesn't reveal how it felt for the players on the field. Barkley felt it. The Cowboys dealt it.

And the Eagles now have to deal with figuring out how to get their edge back before Black Friday's visit from the Bears.