That was an absolute throttling.
If you were a 49ers fan hoping to find Christmas Day joy, you'll need to find it in gifts or company. San Francisco's hopes of securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC remain encouraging, but delayed by a 33-19 loss that might be a second reality check of the season.
The MVP debate swings in Lamar Jackson's favor
The narrative around MVP hinged largely upon this game. Brock Purdy and Lamar Jackson were the favorites. Christian McCaffrey was a top-five candidate with an avenue towards putting himself seriously in the conversation.
*ding ding ding*
Jackson remains on pace to become the first NFL quarterback to pass for more than 3,700 yards and rush for 900 yards. It's clear watching him, especially on games like Monday night, that he is a constant problem.
His ability to feed balls into tight windows at outrageous arm angles, combined with his knack for buying time, means that defenses have an impossible task. They have to try and pressure him, while containing him, and remaining sound in coverage.
Sometimes that's just not possible. And with fewer weapons than Purdy has, in such a public, high-stakes game, this has to make him the odds-on favorite.
Penalties, mistakes catch up with the 49ers
It hasn't happened all that often this season, but the 49ers' penalties punished them. They had eight for 92 yard Monday night.
When they did happen, like Tashaun Gipson Sr.'s 1-2 punch of defensive pass interference and personal foul, they were costly.
But it was an all-around bad effort. Fred Warner and the defense remained sloppy as tacklers, whiffing frequently on the likes of Jackson, Zay Flowers and others.
Granted, those are extraordinarily difficult players to tackle, but it's a problem that's been present in multiple weeks, and extended to players like Justice Hill and Gus Edwards. It needs to be corrected.
And then there were drops and bad hands from the skill position players. It seemed like every ball was bobbled or nearly dropped. On the whole, it seemed like a game in which the 49ers weren't fully committed. It was a game they should have had bookmarked for months, and they didn't seem ready. That's a bit worrisome.
Brock Purdy's rare turnover woes
For the first time him in his career, Brock Purdy threw three interceptions in a half. Despite that, the Ravens only went into the first half with a 16-12 lead before kicking off to the 49ers in the second.
It was an objectively head-scratching display, and one which will likely be overblown online and in the days to come. His first interception was the most damning.
Star second-year safety and human swiss army knife Kyle Hamilton fooled Purdy, who made a bad read. Hamilton looked, for a moment, like he was dropping lower in coverage, but he never actually vacated his zone. Purdy left it right in Hamilton's lap for a touchdown-preventing pick.
The second interception was a deflection on a screen that Purdy could be criticized for not pump faking or trying to alter his arm angle, but was otherwise poor luck, getting deflected into the arms of Marlon Humphrey.
The third was an off-schedule play that was broken up en route to George Kittle and took an unlucky deflection towards Hamilton.
Everyone seemed wildly aware of those three interceptions... except for Purdy. He and the offense responded with a touchdown drive that involved a dicey, inch-perfect screen to Christian McCaffrey in a crowded area.
But that wasn't the end of it. Down 11 in the third quarter, Purdy threw another one as his arm got hit from behind and fluttered into the arms of Patrick Queen. He became the first 49ers quarterback to have a four-INT game since Colin Kaepernick in 2015.
The next play? A touchdown to Zay Flowers to put the Ravens up by 18. It was two touchdowns in 18 seconds.
On the whole, Purdy was poor, but some of his worst throws weren't the ones that were intercepted. He threw balls behind, some near hospital balls, and looked as uncertain as he ever has this season.
But this may be more of a story about the caliber of the Ravens defense and caliber of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. He varied coverages, disguised pressures, and left a 49ers offense that always has answers, stupefied.
Purdy was bad, but the Ravens' defense was excellent. Is it a blueprint for other teams going forward? Possibly, but most defenses stick to what they do best.
More than anything, this sets the stage for a potential rematch in what would be an outrageously entertaining Super Bowl.