CLEVELAND – Win No. 9 in the 49ers’ seemingly playoff-bound season came in 26-8 fashion Sunday. But it wasn’t looking too secure until a third-quarter swing.
The 49ers clung to a 10-8 lead when, well, let’s hear from referee Brad Allen.
“Boom, this way!” Allen shouted on a live mic, signaling that 49ers linebacker Luke Gifford had recovered the Browns’ botched snap on fourth-and-1 from the Cleveland 33-yard line.
Away the 49ers went on a 16-0 scoring spree in the second half, locking up a third straight win and their first in Cleveland since 1984.
Just a half-game back of the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams, the 49ers (9-4) now enter their long-awaited bye week, the latest ever in an NFL regular season. Players will be excused after a light workout Tuesday.
“I love where we’re at right now,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. ” … We’ll be able to come back from (the bye) with four games to play for a chance to get in the playoffs. It’s all you can ask for.”
Not until the second half did the 49ers dominate like an NFC challenger. Meanwhile, the Browns looked every bumbling bit of a 3-9 club with rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders making his first home start.
Once Sanders threw his only touchdown pass 39 seconds before halftime, 49ers counterpart Brock Purdy came alive. Purdy directed a field-goal drive just before the half, and while he finished with just 168 passing yards, he committed no turnovers and was sacked just once, on Myles Garrett’s NFL-leading 19th sack.
Purdy’s marquee moment came 1 1/2 minutes before the fourth quarter. On third-and-goal, Purdy scored on a 2-yard, zone-read keeper once Garrett bit on a fake handoff to Christian McCaffrey. That triggered an unusual sight: Purdy doing the “Dougie” dance all alone in the end zone, as promised.
“He told us he was going to do that if he scored, so we had pressure on him to do it, so he couldn’t let them down,” Shanahan said.
“I’ve always been able to Dougie but I haven’t done it publicly,” Purdy said. “My wife can tell you I annoy her in the kitchen. That’s where I got my practice. …Yeah, I told the team, ‘We’re scoring, we’re going to have some fun and I’m going to hit the Dougie.’”
Purdy kept that drive alive with a 14-yard completion to George Kittle on third down at the Browns’ 4-yard line, but only after McCaffrey earlier converted a third-and-2 run. The 49ers had taken over at the Browns’ 32 thanks to Gifford falling on tight end Harold Fannin’s botched snap on fourth-and-1.
“I just saw the ball on the ground and jumped on it,” Gifford said of his first fumble recovery as a 49er. “That’s the defense making plays and getting in that position in the first place.”
The ball again bounced the 49ers’ way shortly thereafter as Darrell Luter Jr. recovered a muffed punt return at the Browns’ 18-yard line early in the fourth quarter. That led to Jennings, their third-down specialist, making a third-and-goal touchdown catch from the 7.
The 49ers’ defense and special teams came through with plenty of highlights, too, in the team’s coldest game this season: 35 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of 8 degrees amid 24-mph winds.
Matt Gay’s field goal with four minutes left capped the 49ers’ scoring spree, which he actually began just before halftime when he banked in a 25-yard field goal for a 10-8 lead. That end-of-half scoring drive came to life on Purdy completions to Ricky Pearsall (13 yards), Jennings (12) and Kittle (33 yards, at the 7-yard line).
The Browns had pulled ahead 8-7 when, after nine consecutive runs to midfield, Sanders floated a 34-yard touchdown pass to Fannin, who slipped past Gifford then beat Renardo Green and Ji’Ayir Brown to the goal line. Another 49ers gaffe — 12-men-on-the-field for a point-after kick — prompted the Browns to go for a two-point conversion that Quinshon Judkins scored off a direct snap for an 8-7 lead, 39 seconds before halftime.
The 49ers, though, improved to 8-0 when leading at halftime.
McCaffrey put the 49ers ahead 7-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter, capitalizing on Skyy Moore’s career-long 66-yard punt return to the Browns’ 16-yard line. After throwing away an option pass on second down, McCaffrey had a 12-yard catch to the 2-yard line, then ultimately punched in his eighth rushing touchdown in eight games (after none in the first four games). McCaffrey found a scoring lane between left guard Spencer Burford and center Jake Brendel.
McCaffrey finished with 53 yards on 20 carries, and 21 yards on four receptions.
On the injury front, the 49ers’ casualties included fullback Kyle Juszczyk (ribs), linebacker Nick Martin (concussion) and left guard Ben Bartch (foot). Juszczyk, who notched his 300th career reception on the game’s first snap, was reported injured early in the fourth quarter. Martin sustained a first-half concussion on a fourth-down stop, and Bartch was lost to a foot injury late in the third quarter; Bartch had rotated with Burford for four games since coming off injured reserve.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit looked vulnerable to screen passes and runs up the middle early in the game. But a slew of highlights offset those Browns yards.
Setting the tone late in the first quarter was safety Malik Mustapha combining with ex-Browns defensive tackle Jordan Elliott to stuff Judkins for a 1-yard loss on that fourth-and-1 run from the 20.
Clelin Ferrell notched two sacks, and Keion White recorded his first full sack with the 49ers.
Sanders finished 16-of-25 for 149 yards with the one touchdown and no turnovers. His first drive ended with him overthrowing an open Jerry Jeudy some 35 yards downfield. Sanders’ final snap was a 6-yard run before he slid down in 49ers territory, on a fourth-and-26 play.
The 49ers’ final snap was Mac Jones taking a knee and Kendrick Bourne doing a backflip in the victory formation into the bye week.
“It will be great for everybody,” Kittle said of the bye. “If you’re 100% healthy, you’re probably not playing the game right, not playing with enough effort or grit. Everybody will take a little time, rest up, work out a bit and be ready to roll and hit the ground running.”
Next game: Dec. 14 at home against the Tennessee Titans, who bring a 1-11 record here next Sunday against the Browns.
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