The San Francisco 49ers sure heard what Patrick Peterson said prior to Sunday’s game, noting the 49ers offense had “tells” and predicting he’d intercept Brock Purdy. And they seemed to use it as fuel to attack him. By the game’s end, Peterson allowed a pair of touchdowns as the San Fran routed the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-7 to open up the season.
As captured by Inside The NFL, following the 49ers’ first touchdown, an eight-yard score to WR Brandon Aiyuk, the receivers sat on the bench making fun of Peterson’s comment.
You can hear the comments at around the :38 mark, made by teammate and fellow WR Deebo Samuel to Aiyuk.
“Left him there. I thought he said he had all the tells,” Samuel said.
“Come on now. He ain’t got them,” Aiyuk responded.
Here’s a look at the score, Peterson slipping as he tried to match Aiyuk out of his break. He’d later say a new pair of cleats caused him to lose his balance and he swapped out shoes shortly after that moment.
Purdy and the 49ers did little wrong against the Steelers. Their offense stayed on schedule as RB Christian McCaffrey tore them up for 169 yards from scrimmage, the most in a Week One game against the Steelers since Emmitt Smith’s 174 in 1994.
According to our charting, Peterson had a 140.0 QB rating against when targeted, giving up three completions for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Later in the half, Aiyuk would “Moss” him for another score in the end zone.
The camera crew also caught an exchange between Purdy and Peterson after the game, dapping each other up as Peterson made amends for his comments.
“It wasn’t personal,” Peterson told Purdy. “You know it wasn’t personal, baby. Keep doing your thing, baby.”
Purdy responded in kind, telling him he was Peterson’s biggest fan growing up. As recently rediscovered, Purdy and Peterson took a photo together in 2017 and again last season during a joint practice between the Minnesota Vikings (where Peterson played in 2022) and 49ers.
Sunday, they met not to take a photo but to play against each other. And it was Purdy who came up large while Peterson looks to bounce back.
Peterson addressed his comments on today’s episode of his podcast, crediting the 49ers for a solid performance and lamenting his own missed opportunities to take the ball away. He ended by saying he doesn’t regret his comments, though he didn’t make any big proclamations in Tuesday’s show.
