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Heading into halftime Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers’ offense was in trouble.
Quarterback Brock Purdy was generating explosive plays, but he wasn’t quite as efficient as usual with a 63-percent completion rate. In particular, San Francisco’s offense struggled on third down, converting just two of seven opportunities.
With the 49ers down 10-6 at the break, Purdy had a moment of self-reflection.
“Definitely thought I had some missed opportunities — obviously for big plays — but just completions in general in that first half, especially on third downs,” Purdy told reporters after the game. “For me, I was just being real with myself. I knew that I had to be better, especially for our team.
“Defense was doing a great job in that first half, and for us, I feel like we just stalled on third downs, and a lot of that was on me. So, went into halftime, just talked about our plan for the second half. For my mindset, it was like, I got to get back to basics and keep things simple in my mind, and still playing with conviction but being aggressive, and just trusting in my guys. So that was the mindset, and I thought we went out and for the most part executed a lot better.”
Whatever Purdy did to reset his mentality certainly worked.
In the second half, the 49ers quarterback didn’t take as many downfield shots — passing for only 109 yards — but his efficiency took a significant jump. He completed 80 percent of his passes, and San Francisco converted six of nine third downs.
That helped spur a massive third-quarter turnaround for the 49ers, who outscored the Cowboys 21-0 over that span and eventually won 30-24.
Perhaps being real with yourself is the secret key to all of life’s issues.