An eventful first half in Santa Clara has ended with the Ravens up 16-12 on the 49ers.
The final three points of the half came off the foot of Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who hit a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter. The kick was set up by a 30-yard run by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on a third-and-16 play and it was Tucker’s third field goal of the half.
Jackson’s scrambling paid off on that play, but it bit the Ravens in the rear end in the first quarter when he tripped over umpire Alex Moore in the end zone and was flagged for intentional grounding for a throwaway that failed to reach the line of scrimmage. Jackson is 16-of-27 for 129 yards through the air and he’s run for 39 yards.
The 49ers had a chance to score a touchdown before that safety, but quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted by Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton in the end zone. Hamilton got another pick off a Marlon Humphrey deflection in the second quarter and Humphrey had an interception of his own to make it the first three-interception game of Purdy’s NFL career.
That’s not great for his MVP bid, but another 49er candidate bolstered his case. Running back Christian McCaffrey scored his 21st touchdown of the season to tie Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert for the league lead and he has 101 yards from scrimmage so far on Monday.
It’s been an entertaining first 30 minutes at Levi’s Stadium and the final 30 minutes will likely give us a Super Bowl favorite moving into the final two weeks of the regular season.
