Ji’Ayir Brown’s interceptions outweigh Brock Purdy’s in 49ers’ ‘MNF’ win

SANTA CLARA For much of the season the state of the ers defense could be summed up by two numbers One varied from week to week seemingly only growing larger with every passing injury The other remained persistently consistently the same The number of All-Pro selections watching from the suite level of Levi s Stadium was the same as it has been since Fred Warner joined Nick Bosa with season-ending injuries but that other number the one that was stuck at zero for seven weeks has begun to budge in a big way the past two weeks We opened that can of worms and now we re just flying safety Malik Mustapha mentioned after San Francisco s win over the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football We re dialed in The can of worms is the ers ability to take the ball away from their opponents something the crew had done just once via interception through its first games On a night when their own quarterback Brock Purdy tossed three before halftime it was the two hauled in by Ji Ayir Brown that will be remembered from the - win I consistently pride myself on being a ballhawk the third-year safety noted It s just been slow Just keeping at it keep going Keep taking it battle by contest waiting on your opportunity I was able to capitalize It only took weeks but Brown didn t have to wait long for his opportunity Monday night After San Francisco marched down the field on a methodical scoring drive to open the encounter Carolina quarterback Bryce Young had the Panthers on the verge of a touchdown to match Purdy s first interception gave Carolina the ball in San Francisco territory and Mustapha made a touchdown-saving tackle at the -yard line when Young took off out of the pocket One play later Carolina walked away empty-handed after Brown came down with Young s pass intended for tight end Mitchell Evans in the back of the end zone Linebacker Curtis Robinson who made his first start called Brown s first interception one of the bigger plays we ve had this year especially in the moment of the contest that it came Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir reported the immediate response to Purdy s pick was a big message that changed the program of the championship I was just so happy that he caught it with just the lack of turnovers this year Lenoir declared Brown s second pick of the evening sealed the win with left to play and the group leading by points It also gave the ers a second takeaway for the second straight week the first time they have strung together multiple games in a row with more than one turnover We knew it s something that we were going to hone in on Mustapha commented of the turnovers And now you know we got us a sparse more Last week Lenoir and Mustapha each grabbed one interception in a - win at Arizona but the defense still allowed second-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett to set an NFL record with completions for yards passing They held the Panthers to total yards their best defensive showing since Week in Seattle Coach Kyle Shanahan believes the group is just beginning to hit its stride Ever since losing Fred and stuff it s been a bunch of young guys guys who haven t had their opps yet Shanahan revealed And I think each week you can feel them in practice get better and better It s not perpetually that development on Sunday or on Monday but in the current era it was Related Articles Kurtenbach The ers got away with one against the Panthers It better be one-and-done What the ers reported after beating the Panthers ers Studs and Duds The Niners dominate while Brock Purdy implodes Instant analysis of ers - win despite Panthers three interceptions of Purdy Live ers-Panthers updates Niners win in primetime showdown Injuries have forced players into unfamiliar roles including Brown who had to heal from ankle surgery during training camp and then win back his starting job San Francisco was already without its leading linebacker Warner and was also missing his replacement Tatum Bethune That created the opportunity for Robinson to make his first NFL start in a full-circle moment The Stanford product suffered a season-ending knee injury last year according to Shanahan no less than minutes after he had been communicated he would get the chance to start the following week Almost a year later Robinson made one solo tackle and assisted on two others in his first NFL start That was one of the hardest things I ve ever experienced it s still hard to talk about Robinson commented So to be able to come out healthy from this event and for it to have gone the way it went I m more grateful than I can even explain