SANTA CLARA, California. On the night when San Francisco 49ers were without an All Pro tight end. George Kittle and All Pro left tackle Trent Williams For everything except one clickthe weight of their playoff position fell right into the quarterback's lap Brock Purdy.
Pardee was up to the task. After Purdy's five touchdowns (two rushing, three passing), the Niners survived Chicago Bears 42-38 in a crazy shootout on Sunday Night Football. San Francisco has scored more than 40 points in consecutive games for the first time since November 1995.
With the win, the 49ers improve to 12-4 and will enter the tournament. Seattle Seahawks on saturday evening There's a lot on the line: the NFC West division title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. This could mean even more for the Niners as Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi's Stadium.
To achieve any of these goals, the Niners will undoubtedly be counting on Purdy to continue to perform as one of the league's best and most effective defenders.
“This is his best [football] right now”, correct tackle Colton McKivitz said. “And this is the moment when he needs his strength. That's what this team needs, an offense to come and score and score a lot… The way he plays, it's amazing. To have a leader like that who goes out and commands the crowd and plays at that level is a huge confidence booster.”
While Purdy has had his hot streaks since becoming San Francisco's starting quarterback in 2022, there's an argument to be made that he's playing better than ever on a team that doesn't have anywhere near the star power of those teams.
Purdy's tenacity showed on Sunday night in a game that almost came down to which team had the ball last. After going for a pick-6 on the first play of the game, Purdy came back with a near-flawless effort. He finished 24 of 33 for 303 yards and three scores with an interception, adding six carries for 28 yards and two more scores.
Including Monday night's win over Indianapolis Colts in which Purdy scored five touchdowns.he now has at least five total points in two straight games. He is the first Niner quarterback to accomplish this feat, and one of only six quarterbacks to ever do so in at least two consecutive games, joining Tom Brady (2007). Russell Wilson (2020), Deshaun Watson (2017), Ben Roethlisberger (2014) and Daunte Culpepper (2004).
Purdy also became the first 49ers quarterback to throw at least three passes and two rushing touchdowns in a game since Jeff Garcia did it against Cardinals in the 14th week of 2003. Of his 33 passing attempts, Purdy made only two throws wide of the net against Chicago.
“I thought Brock had a heck of a game,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Brock tried his best, made some great plays in this game. Maintained some kicks, made some outside plays and he's a killer out there…he's playing as well as he can right now.”
There are plenty of numbers to back up the idea that Purdy has played as well as any quarterback in the NFL since returning from a right big toe injury in Week 11. During that time, Purdy ranks third in the NFL in QBR (80.0) and touchdown passes per game (2.67), second in completion percentage above expectations (7.5%), ninth in passing yards per game (242.3), fifth in yards per attempt (7.9) and has the lowest WAR percentage in the league (10.3%).
At the core of Purdy's success is a better understanding of when to use his legs to gain yards and create space to throw. That was on full display during his third-quarter touchdown run. Kyle Juszczyk in which he evaded several defenders and found Juszczyk alone in the end zone on a play that Shanahan said made him “extremely nervous” and then “extremely happy.”
“It’s just one of those things where it’s football and it’s going to happen,” Purdy said. “How can I be smart beyond the game design but still look down because guys are moving and working and there are explosive plays there. I feel like it's something that I kind of continue to learn as I play. It's part of my game.”
Purdy and the 49ers now have a second straight short week of preparation before Sunday's matchup with the Seahawks. As in 2019, the NFC's top seed will come down to a final week matchup against Seattle with significant playoff stakes. The 49ers won that game when linebacker Dre Greenlaw took over Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister for the first time as time expired to send the 49ers to victory and an eventual appearance in Super Bowl LIV.
Although Shanahan wasn't thrilled about another short week after NFL announces schedule On Sunday night, he made sure his team knew what was in store for them in Week 18.
“It's huge,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been so proud of the guys all year, proud of today. It feels damn good to be able to play for first place and these guys deserve it.”
