The Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers squared off on Monday night to round out a great Week 12 schedule. The 49ers got off to a hot start, scoring a touchdown on a 15-play drive to start the game, but Brock Purdy threw three interceptions on their next three drives. Fortunately, their defense was able to get some key stops and maintain their lead into the first half.

In the second half, both teams scored a touchdown in the third (Panthers failed the 2-point conversion) to make it 17-9 entering the fourth quarter. The 49ers quickly responded to Carolina’s score with a field goal to make it a two-score game once again. The Panthers had a chance to make it a one-score game, but a costly interception from Bryce Young sealed the game for the 49ers.

It wasn’t the most thrilling game of the weekend, but the 49ers earned a big win and stayed within striking distance of the Rams in the NFC West. Here were my takeaways from Monday’s game.

Brock Purdy…

Brock Purdy finally returned from injury last week, and he looked great, throwing for 200 yards and three scores while completing 68 percent of his passes. The 49ers scored 41 points and beat the brakes off the Cardinals, but on Monday night, Purdy didn’t look nearly as good.

Purdy looked good on their opening drive, leading the 49ers on a 15-play touchdown drive to get off to a 7-0 start, but he threw three interceptions on their next three drives. It’s not like any of them were super great plays, either. They were either bad throws or bad decisions from Purdy.

He did settle in a bit and help lead the 49ers to a win, but man, those three interceptions certainly did not look good. He’s going to need to be much better, especially with the Colts, Bears, and Seahawks still on the schedule.

This may be Bryce Young’s last year in Carolina

I’ve always been a Bryce Young believer, but it’s getting harder and harder to defend him. I know he had a record-breaking game a couple of weeks back, but if you take that game out of the equation, Young is averaging 168 yards per game and has 11 touchdowns to seven interceptions. Then tonight, Young threw two costly interceptions, one of which came while the Panthers were down by 11 and in field goal range in the fourth quarter with a chance to make it a one-score game.

I don’t think the Panthers have given Young a real chance to succeed, but the NFL is a business, and if the results aren’t there, they’re going to make changes. I’d love to see what he can do behind a good offensive line and with some good receivers, but I don’t know if we ever will. If Carolina goes a different direction this offseason, there’s no guarantee Young is a starter in 2026.

I still believe he’s got something in him. He may never be a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback, but he can still have a pretty solid career as a borderline starter.

Why didn’t Carolina run it more?

I know the Panthers were trailing for basically the entirety of this game, but why did they not run the football more? They were never trailing by such a significant amount that they couldn’t run it, but Dave Canales just refused to give Rico Dowdle the ball.

When the Panthers did run the ball, they had a lot of success. With 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, they only ran it 12 times, but had 67 rushing yards (5.6 average). Dowdle had six of those carries and had 38 yards (6.3 average). Why they abandoned the run so early and tried to win the game with Bryce Young’s arm is beyond me.

I know it’s a pass-first league, but when you have a quarterback with as many limitations as Young, you need to establish the run to win games. They’ve been able to do that for most of the year, which is why they have six wins, but when you take away their ground game, they’re very easy to stop.

The 49ers need to get Ricky Pearsall more involved

Ricky Pearsall started the year on fire. In his first three games, Pearsall caught 16 passes for 281 yards and had two 100-yard games. With Deebo Samuel leaving, Pearsall filled that WR1 void, but ever since he returned from his injury, he hasn’t been the same.

Pearsall’s played two games since returning from a sprained PCL. In those two games, he played 91 total snaps, 57 of which were pass plays. He was targeted just seven times and had caught just five passes for 46 yards in those two games. I was hoping he’d get some more work this week, but Purdy looked his way just four times, which resulted in two catches for six yards.

Jauan Jennings has stepped up in Pearsall’s absence, but he’s not a true WR1. Pearsall has proven he can be that for the 49ers; he’s just not getting the same amount of targets he was early in the season. If the 49ers can get him more involved, I think their offense can take that next step, and they can be a threat in the NFC.